Annual american volleyball tournament
TheNCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament is an annual event organized by theNational Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the national champion of women's collegiatevolleyball among itsDivision I members in theUnited States . It has been contested every winter since 1981, except 2020.[ 1]
Penn State won the most recent tournament, defeatingLouisville 3–1 atKFC Yum! Center inLouisville, Kentucky .
Stanford has been the most successful program, with nine national titles.
From 1970 through 1980, before the NCAA governed women's collegiate athletics, theAssociation for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women conducted the women's collegiate volleyball championships.
Volleyball was one of twelve women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with theAIAW for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same twelve (and other) sports; however, after a year of dual women's championships, the NCAA won the fight and assumed the AIAW's authority and membership.
The first NCAA championship tournament was held in 1981, with 20 schools competing for the title. The tournament expanded gradually, moving to 28 teams in 1982, 32 in 1986, 48 in 1993, 56 in 1997, and finally to its current size of 64 in 1998.
There is also anNCAA Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship , which until 2012 was open to members of all three NCAA divisions,, as there are far fewer men's programs than women's. However, starting in the 2011–12 school year (2011 women's season, 2012 men's season), aDivision III championship was established. The National Collegiate championship now involves only Division I andII members; under NCAA rules, D-II schools can compete under D-I rules in any sport that does not have a dedicated D-II national championship.
The following is a list of Division I champions and runners-up with the champion's overall record, city, site and other national semifinal participants. SeeAssociation for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championships for the Division I volleyball champions from 1970 to 1981. NOTE: In 1981 there were both NCAA and AIAW champions.
NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship[ 2] Year Host City Host Arena Final Third Place Final / Semifinalists Winner Score Runner-up Third Place Score Fourth Place 1981 Los AngelesUCLA ) Pauley Pavilion USC (27–10)3–2 UCLA San Diego State 3–0 Pacific 1982 Stockton, California Pacific )Alex G. Spanos Center Hawaiʻi (33–1)3–2 USC San Diego State 3–2 Stanford 1983 Lexington, Kentucky Kentucky )Memorial Coliseum Hawaiʻi(2) (34–2) 3–0 UCLA Stanford 3–1 Pacific 1984 Los AngelesUCLA ) Pauley Pavilion UCLA (33–6) 3–2 Stanford Pacific 3–1 San Jose State 1985 Kalamazoo, Michigan Western Michigan )Read Fieldhouse Pacific (36–3) 3–1 Stanford USC 3–2 UCLA 1986 Stockton, California Pacific )Alex G. Spanos Center Pacific(2) (39–3) 3–0 Nebraska Texas , Stanford1987 Indianapolis Market Square Arena Hawaiʻi(3) (37–2) 3–1 Stanford Illinois , Texas1988 Minneapolis Minnesota )Williams Arena Texas (34–5) 3–0 Hawaiʻi Illinois, UCLA 1989 Honolulu, Hawaii Hawaiʻi )Blaisdell Arena Long Beach State (32–5)3–0 Nebraska UT Arlington , UCLA1990 College Park, Maryland Maryland )Cole Field House UCLA(2) (36–1) 3–0 Pacific LSU , Nebraska1991 Los AngelesUCLA ) Pauley Pavilion UCLA(3) (31–5) 3–2 Long Beach State LSU,Ohio State 1992 Albuquerque, New Mexico New Mexico )University Arena Stanford (31–2) 3–1 UCLA Long Beach State,Florida 1993 Madison, Wisconsin Wisconsin )UW Field House Long Beach State(2) (32–2) 3–1 Penn State BYU , Florida1994 Austin, Texas Texas )Frank Erwin Center Stanford(2) (32–1) 3–1 UCLA Penn State, Ohio State 1995 Amherst, Massachusetts Massachusetts )Mullins Center Nebraska (32–1) 3–1 Texas Stanford,Michigan State 1996 Cleveland ,Ohio Cleveland State )CSU Convocation Center Stanford(3) (31–2) 3–0 Hawaiʻi Nebraska, Florida 1997 Spokane, Washington Washington State )Spokane Arena Stanford(4) (33–2) 3–2 Penn State Long Beach State, Florida 1998 Madison, Wisconsin Wisconsin )Kohl Center Long Beach State(3) (36–0) 3–2 Penn State Nebraska, Florida 1999 Honolulu, Hawaii Hawaiʻi )Stan Sheriff Center Penn State (36–1) 3–0 Stanford Long Beach State, Pacific 2000 Richmond, Virginia VCU )Richmond Coliseum Nebraska(2) (34–0) 3–2 Wisconsin Hawaiʻi, USC 2001 San Diego San Diego State )Cox Arena Stanford(5) (33–2) 3–0 Long Beach State Arizona , Nebraska2002 New Orleans New Orleans )New Orleans Arena USC(2) (31–1) 3–1 Stanford Hawaiʻi, Florida 2003 Dallas Reunion Arena USC(3) (35–0) 3–1 Florida Hawaiʻi,Minnesota 2004 Long Beach, California Long Beach State )Long Beach Arena Stanford(6) (30–6) 3–0 Minnesota USC,Washington 2005 San Antonio UTSA )Alamodome Washington (32–1) 3–0 Nebraska Santa Clara ,Tennessee 2006 Omaha, Nebraska Nebraska )Qwest Center Nebraska(3) (33–1) 3–1 Stanford UCLA, Washington 2007 Sacramento, California Sacramento State )ARCO Arena Penn State(2) (34–2) 3–2 Stanford California , USC2008 Omaha, Nebraska Nebraska )Qwest Center Penn State(3) (38–0) 3–0 Stanford Nebraska, Texas 2009 Tampa, Florida South Florida )St. Pete Times Forum Penn State(4) (38–0) 3–2 Texas Hawaiʻi, Minnesota 2010 Kansas City, Missouri UMKC )Sprint Center Penn State(5) (32–5) 3–0 California Texas, USC 2011 San Antonio UTSA )Alamodome UCLA(4) (30–6) 3–1 Illinois Florida State , USC2012 Louisville, Kentucky Louisville )KFC Yum! Center Texas(2) (29–4) 3–0 Oregon Michigan , Penn State2013 Seattle, Washington Washington )KeyArena Penn State(6) (34–2) 3–1 Wisconsin Texas, Washington 2014 Oklahoma City Oklahoma )Chesapeake Energy Arena Penn State(7) (36–3) 3–0 BYU Stanford, Texas 2015 Omaha, Nebraska Nebraska )CenturyLink Center Omaha Nebraska(4) (32–4) 3–0 Texas Kansas , Minnesota2016 Columbus, Ohio Ohio State )Nationwide Arena Stanford(7) (27–7) 3–1 Texas Minnesota, Nebraska 2017 Kansas City, Missouri UMKC &Kansas )Sprint Center Nebraska(5) (33–4) 3–1 Florida Penn State, Stanford 2018 Minneapolis, Minnesota Minnesota )Target Center Stanford(8) (34–1) 3–2 Nebraska BYU, Illinois 2019 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Duquesne )PPG Paints Arena Stanford(9) (30–4) 3–0 Wisconsin Baylor , Minnesota2020 [ a] Omaha, Nebraska Nebraska )CHI Health Center Omaha Kentucky (24–1)3–1 Texas Washington, Wisconsin 2021 Columbus, Ohio Ohio State )Nationwide Arena Wisconsin (31–3) 3–2 Nebraska Louisville ,Pittsburgh 2022 Omaha, Nebraska Nebraska )CHI Health Center Omaha Texas(3) (28–1) 3–0 Louisville Pittsburgh,San Diego 2023 Tampa, Florida South Florida )Amalie Arena Texas(4) (28–4) 3–0 Nebraska Pittsburgh, Wisconsin 2024 Louisville, Kentucky Louisville )KFC Yum! Center Penn State(8) (35–2) 3–1 Louisville Pittsburgh, Nebraska 2025 Kansas City, Missouri Kansas )T-Mobile Center 2026 San Antonio, Texas UTSA )Alamodome 2027 Columbus, Ohio Ohio State )Nationwide Arena
^ Due toCOVID-19 , the NCAA moved its 2020–21 championship events in fall sports from fall 2020 to spring 2021. The NCAA is labeling the tournament as the "2020" edition, but the season as "2020–21". Schools with national championships — 9 championships,
– 8 championships,
– 5 championships,
– 4 championships,
– 3 championships
– 2 championships,
– 1 championship
Team Number Year won Stanford 9 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2016, 2018, 2019 Penn State 8 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2024 Nebraska 5 1995, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2017 Texas 4 1988, 2012, 2022, 2023 UCLA 4 1984, 1990, 1991, 2011 Hawaiʻi 3 1982, 1983, 1987 Long Beach State 3 1989, 1993, 1998 USC 3 1981, 2002, 2003 Pacific 2 1985, 1986 Kentucky 1 2020 Washington 1 2005 Wisconsin 1 2021
Results by team and year [ edit ] • First Round (48 teams 1993 through 1996, 56 teams 1997, 64 teams 1998 through present, except 2020 ) 20 28 32 Second Round (20 teams 1981, 28 teams 1982 through 1985, 32 teams 1986 to present ) 16 Round of 16 QF Quarterfinals SF Semifinals RU National Runner-up CH National Champion 16 32 The team achieved the placement shown, but the participation was later vacated. These vacated appearances are not included in the total columns.Starting in 1993, the top 4 teams in each region were seeded. The 4 teams seeded No. 1 are shown withdouble underline , and 12 teams seeded between No. 2 and No. 4 are shown withdotted underline .
Champions by decade [ edit ] 1
Long Beach State, Texas, UCLA, USC
2
Nebraska, Stanford, USC
Winners of two or more consecutive championships [ edit ] Wins Team Years 4 Penn State 2007–2010 2 Hawaiʻi 1982, 1983 Pacific 1985, 1986 UCLA 1990, 1991 Stanford 1996, 1997, 2018, 2019 USC 2002, 2003 Penn State 2013, 2014 Texas 2022, 2023
Common matchups in Championship Final [ edit ] # of Times Matchup Record Years Played 4 Penn State vs Stanford Penn State 3–1 1997, 1999, 2007, 2008 3 Nebraska vs Texas Nebraska 2–1 1995, 2015, 2023 Stanford vs UCLA Stanford 2–1 1984, 1992, 1994 2 Hawaiʻi vs Stanford Tied 1–1 1987, 1996 Long Beach State vs Penn State Long Beach State 2–0 1993, 1998 Nebraska vs Stanford Tied 1–1 2006, 2018 Nebraska vs Wisconsin Tied 1–1 2000, 2021
Champions by state State Wins Years won California 21 1981, 1984–1986, 1989–1994, 1996–1998, 2001–2004, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019 Pennsylvania 8 1999, 2007–2010, 2013, 2014, 2024 Nebraska 5 1995, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2017 Texas 4 1988, 2012, 2022, 2023 Hawaii 3 1982, 1983, 1987 Kentucky 1 2020 Washington 1 2005 Wisconsin 1 2021
Final Four appearances [ edit ] Team Number Champion Runner-up Semifinalist Stanford 23 9 8 6 Cal 2 0 1 1 Arizona 1 0 0 1 UCLA 12 4 4 4 USC 10 3 1 6 Washington 5 1 0 4 Oregon 1 0 1 0 Nebraska 17 5 6 6 Penn State 14 8 3 3 Minnesota 6 0 1 5 Wisconsin 6 1 3 2 Illinois 4 0 1 3 Ohio State 2 0 0 2 Michigan State 1 0 0 1 Michigan 1 0 0 1 Florida 8 0 2 6 LSU 2 0 0 2 Kentucky 1 1 0 0 Tennessee 1 0 0 1 Texas 14 4 5 5 BYU 3 0 1 2 Baylor 1 0 0 1 Kansas 1 0 0 1 Pittsburgh 4 0 0 4 Louisville 3 0 2 1 Florida State 1 0 0 1 Pacific 7 2 1 4 Santa Clara 1 0 0 1 San Diego 1 0 0 1 Hawaiʻi 9 3 2 4 Long Beach State 8 3 2 3 San Diego State 2 0 0 2 San Jose State 1 0 0 1 UT Arlington 1 0 0 1
Current conference key [ edit ] Pac 12 Big Ten SEC Big 12 ACC West Coast Big West Mountain West WAC
Highest attendance:21,860 (2024 Louisville-Penn State championship match) Lowest attendance for a championship match:0 2020 )[ 3] [ a] Lowest seed to win championship:11 (Stanford, 2004) Lowest seed in championship game:Unseeded (BYU, 2014) Most championships:Stanford (9) Most consecutive championships:Penn State (4, 2007–10) Most consecutive postseason victories:Penn State (26) Most championships by a head coach:Russ Rose Most championships by conference:Pac-12 (17) Most appearances in championship match:Stanford (17) Most semifinal appearances:Stanford (23) Most semifinal appearances without a championship:Florida (8) Undefeated seasons (since 1981): Long Beach State (1998), Nebraska (2000), USC (2003), Penn State (2008, 2009) [ 2] [ 4]
^ The lowest attendance for a championship match with no artificial attendance restrictions was 2,000 for the 1983 final. Most Outstanding Player [ edit ] In 1991 and now annually since 1996, the NCAA has awarded the most outstanding player(s) of the NCAA championship.[ 2]
Organizations
National teams
Professional leagues
NCAA competitions
Defunct leagues
Categories
Tournaments Records & statistics Rankings
2025 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament
United States
— 9 championships,
– 8 championships,
– 5 championships,
– 4 championships,
– 3 championships
– 2 championships,
– 1 championship
