2000 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

The 2000 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on November 30, 2000 with 64 teams and ended December 16 when Nebraska defeated Wisconsin 3 games to 2 in Richmond, Virginia for the program's second NCAA title.

Nebraska became the second team in NCAA history to finish the season undefeated, as they joined Long Beach State from 1998 to pull off the feat. The win gave John Cook his first national title in just his first year as Nebraska's head coach. Wisconsin, for whom Cook was the previous head coach, made the program's first Final Four appearance.

This was the last season that the NCAA used side out scoring, switching to rally scoring in 2001.

Records

For the third straight year, the tournament field remained fixed at 64 teams. The Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-10 tied for the most bids in the 2000 NCAA Tournament with six bids each. The top six seeds each came from different conferences, the only such instance of this in the 64-team era. Nebraska went undefeated en route to a national championship, joining 1998 Long Beach State and later teams 2003 USC and 2008-09 Penn State as undefeated national champions.

Central RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordAlabama A&MSWACAutomatic31-28ArizonaPac-10Auto (shared)25-4Ball StateMACAt-large25-69BYUMountain WestAutomatic24-6CincinnatiConference USAAt-large24-9George WashingtonAtlantic 10Automatic25-5HofstraAmerica EastAutomatic23-10LouisvilleConference USAAutomatic26-7MichiganBig TenAt-large18-13MissouriBig 12At-large24-61NebraskaBig 12Automatic28-0Notre DameBig EastAutomatic25-616Ohio StateBig TenAt-large21-9PrincetonIvy LeagueAutomatic20-8South CarolinaSECAt-large21-6Utah StateBig WestAt-large21-9 West RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordArizona StatePac-10At-large17-11Cal State SacramentoBig SkyAutomatic21-11DavidsonSouthernAutomatic24-11DukeACCAt-large21-125HawaiiWACAutomatic27-1Long Beach StateBig WestAt-large22-7Loyola MarymountWest CoastAt-large20-84MinnesotaBig TenAt-large28-3Robert MorrisNortheastAutomatic21-15San Jose StateWACAt-large22-912Santa ClaraWest CoastAutomatic26-4StanfordPac-10At-large18-11Texas TechBig 12At-large24-813UC Santa BarbaraBig WestAt-large23-7UtahMountain WestAt-large22-7UTSASouthlandAutomatic24-8 Pacific RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordArk.-Little RockSun BeltAutomatic23-6Cal PolyBig WestAt-large16-11ColoradoBig 12At-large16-116Colorado StateMountain WestAt-large30-414FloridaSECAutomatic27-4Georgia StateTrans AmericaAutomatic28-9Georgia TechACCAt-large25-7James MadisonCAAAutomatic21-9North CarolinaACCAutomatic26-711Penn StateBig TenAt-large27-5RadfordBig SouthAutomatic28-6South FloridaConference USAAt-large28-5Southeast Missouri StateOhio ValleyAutomatic22-8TennesseeSECAt-large23-93USCPac-10Auto (shared)25-2Washington StatePac-10At-large18-9 Mideast RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordBucknellPatriotAutomatic17-14FairfieldMAACAutomatic26-6HoustonConference USAAt-large21-10Kansas StateBig 12At-large20-8Loyola (IL)Midwestern CollegiateAutomatic22-8Michigan StateBig TenAt-large17-12MilwaukeeMidwestern CollegiateAt-large23-4Morgan StateMEACAutomatic25-15Northern IowaMissouri ValleyAutomatic28-4Oral RobertsMid-ContinentAutomatic21-112PacificBig WestAutomatic26-310PepperdineWest CoastAt-large23-6Texas A&MBig 12At-large19-815UCLAPac-10At-large22-7Western MichiganMACAutomatic25-57WisconsinBig TenAutomatic28-3

Central Regional (Lincoln)

West Regional (Honolulu)

Pacific Regional (Los Angeles)

Mideast Regional (Madison)

Final Four – Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA

National Semifinals Teams Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4NEB 15 15 9 15HAW 3 12 15 10 Nebraska vs. Hawaii Aided by 23 team blocks, top seeded Nebraska cruised past Hawaii in four sets. Nebraska junior Jenny Kropp had 16 kills to lead the way for the Huskers. Sophomore outside hitter Lily Kahumoku led Hawaii with 18 kills, while freshman Kim Willoughby had 15.

Teams Game 1 Game 2 Game 3WISC 15 15 15USC 10 9 9 Wisconsin vs. Southern California Appearing in the program's first ever Final Four, Wisconsin swept USC to earn a spot in the title match against Nebraska.

National Championship: Nebraska vs. Wisconsin Teams Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5NEB 15 9 7 15 15WISC 9 15 15 2 9

Nebraska jumped on top to start out the match, with a block giving NU the first game, 15-9. In the second game, Wisconsin raced out to the 13-4 lead before winning, 15-9, to tie the match at one game a piece.

Leading 5-4 in the third game, Wisconsin pulled away by winning eight straight points to go up 13-4. Nebraska responded with three straight points of their own to cut the lead to 13-7, before two Badger kills ended the game, 15-7, to put the Badgers up 2-1 on the undefeated Huskers.

Nebraska responded strongly in set 4, crushing the Badgers, 15-2, to force a fifth game. In the decisive fifth game, Nebraska raced out to the 4-0 lead. Nebraska continued to roll, going up 11-5. Nebraska earned championship point on a kill, before Laura Pilakowski crushed her 23rd kill of the match to seal the victory.

The national title capped a season in which the Huskers achieved much success. The Huskers became just the second team in NCAA history to finish the season undefeated with a national title, joining the 1998 Long Beach State squad. Nebraska, ranked No. 1 in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches poll for 14 straight weeks, swept 26 of its 33 opponents in 2000. It was Nebraska head coach John Cook's first season with the program. Cook was previously the head coach at Wisconsin.

NCAA Tournament records

There are three NCAA tournament record that were set in the 2000 tournament that still stands.

Total attacks in NCAA tournament (team record) - Wisconsin, 1019 (56 vs. Bucknell, 178 vs. UNI, 182 vs. Kansas State, 260 vs. UCLA, 152 vs. Southern California, 191 vs. Nebraska). Total digs, tournament (team record) - Wisconsin, 200 (26 vs. Bucknell, 72 vs. UNI, 71 vs. Kansas State, 99 vs. UCLA, 67 vs. Southern California, 75 vs. Nebraska). Hitting percentage, tournament (individual record - min. 75 attempts) - .564%, Marissa Dalee, University of Arizona (.588 vs. Alabama A&M, .667 vs. Michigan, .294 vs. BYU, .654 vs. Nebraska).

References