SPOKANE, Wash. -- Paula McNamee wasn't sure what to do. Should see run around and hug a teammate? After all her Stanford women's volleyball team had just defeated Penn State to win the 1997 NCAA title.

Should she start dancing and celebrating? She should see find her coach and embrace him?

McNamee did none of the above, at least at first. She just stood there, soaked in the atmosphere and smiled. She had made it.

"This is what I have been looking forward to the last five years," McNamee said.

Sure, McNamee had been a part of the 1994 and 1996 Stanford title teams, but this was different. She watched those teams mostly from the bench, infrequently contributing and rarely playing when a match was on the line. This season was what she dreamed of when she came to Stanford all the way from the esteemed Sidwell Friends High School in Washington, D.C.

"The other championships were nice, but I was on the bench," McNamee said. "Being out there when we actually won the point, I didn't know what to do. I just stood there for a second and absorbed all the excitement around me. It was absolutely amazing."

And so was McNamee's play during the Final Four. The 6-foot middle blocker totaled 33 kills, 11 blocks and six digs in wins over Long Beach State and Penn State on her way to a berth on the all-tournament team.

"That's the best I've seen her play," Nittany Lion coach Russ Rose said Saturday after McNamee recorded 20 kills and 10 blocks during Stanford's five-game championship match win. "I'm just really proud of her. She's a great kid. Here she is in her fifth year. She hasn't had an opportunity to play very much, and she was ready when the bell rang."

Before the 1997 season, when the bell rang for the Stanford women's volleyball team to take the court, McNamee usually just sat and watched. She redshirted the 1993 season and then saw minimal time during the 1994, 1995 and 1996 campaigns. Heck, the 20 kills she registered in the 1997 NCAA title match were three more than the 17 she finished with during the entire 1996 season.

"She got a chance to be our starter at the beginning of the year, and she's just developed as the year went on," Stanford coach Don Shaw said. "She's always been one of our hardest workers, and she's one of our leaders. It's great to see her go out in a blaze of glory like she did."

It was McNamee -- playing on a Cardinal team filled with All-Americans and players with more impressive resumes -- who finally got a chance to play in a Final Four and responded in grand fashion. McNamee's story is one of perseverance and hard work. It should be told by coaches to their players who may not be getting the playing time they crave. It should be told by motivational speakers and written about in "Chicken Soup for the Heart."

"I think that's what national championships are about, and I think that's what good stories are about," Rose said. "And I think that's a great story."