The NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament is an annual event organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the national champion of women's collegiate volleyball among its Division I members in the United States. It has been contested every winter since 1981, except 2020.
Texas A&M won the most recent tournament, defeating Kentucky 3–0 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Stanford has been the most successful program, with nine national titles.
History From 1970 through 1980, before the NCAA governed women's collegiate athletics, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women conducted the women's collegiate volleyball championships.
Volleyball was one of twelve women's sports that were added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with the AIAW for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same twelve (and other) sports. After only a year of dual women's championships, the NCAA wrested control from and supplanted the AIAW, absorbing most of its 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 an NCAA 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), a Division III championship was established. The National Collegiate championship now involves only Division I and II 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.
Champions 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. See Association 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 ChampionshipYear Host city(University)Host ArenaFinal Third Place Final / SemifinalistsWinner Score Runner-up Third Place Score Fourth Place1981 Los Angeles(UCLA) Pauley Pavilion USC (27–10)3–2 UCLA San Diego State3–0 Pacific1982 Stockton, California(Pacific) Alex G. Spanos Center Hawaii (33–1)3–2 USC San Diego State3–2 Stanford1983 Lexington, Kentucky(Kentucky) Memorial Coliseum Hawaii (34–2)3–0 UCLA Stanford3–1 Pacific1984 Los Angeles(UCLA) Pauley Pavilion UCLA (33–6)3–2 Stanford Pacific3–1 San Jose State1985 Kalamazoo, Michigan(Western Michigan) Read Fieldhouse Pacific (36–3)3–1 Stanford USC3–2 UCLA1986 Stockton, California(Pacific) Alex G. Spanos Center Pacific (39–3)3–0 NebraskaTexas, Stanford1987 Indianapolis Market Square Arena Hawaii (37–2)3–1 StanfordIllinois, Texas1988 Minneapolis(Minnesota) Williams Arena Texas (34–5)3–0 HawaiiIllinois, UCLA1989 Honolulu, Hawaii(Hawaii) Blaisdell Arena Long Beach State (32–5)3–0 NebraskaUT Arlington, UCLA1990 College Park, Maryland(Maryland) Cole Field House UCLA (36–1)3–0 PacificLSU, Nebraska1991 Los Angeles(UCLA) Pauley Pavilion UCLA (31–5)3–2 Long Beach State LSU, Ohio State1992 Albuquerque, New Mexico(New Mexico) University Arena Stanford (31–2)3–1 UCLA Long Beach State, Florida1993 Madison, Wisconsin(Wisconsin) UW Field House Long Beach State (32–2)3–1 Penn State BYU, Florida1994 Austin, Texas(Texas) Frank Erwin Center Stanford (32–1)3–1 UCLA Penn State, Ohio State1995 Amherst, Massachusetts(Massachusetts) Mullins Center Nebraska (32–1)3–1 Texas Stanford, Michigan State1996 Cleveland, Ohio(Cleveland State) CSU Convocation Center Stanford (31–2)3–0 Hawaii Nebraska, Florida1997 Spokane, Washington(Washington State) Spokane Arena Stanford (33–2)3–2 Penn State Long Beach State, Florida1998 Madison, Wisconsin(Wisconsin) Kohl Center Long Beach State (36–0)3–2 Penn State Nebraska, Florida1999 Honolulu, Hawaii(Hawaii) Stan Sheriff Center Penn State (36–1)3–0 StanfordLong Beach State, Pacific2000 Richmond, Virginia(VCU) Richmond Coliseum Nebraska (34–0)3–2 WisconsinHawaii, USC2001 San Diego(San Diego State) Cox Arena Stanford (33–2)3–0 Long Beach State Arizona, Nebraska2002 New Orleans(New Orleans) New Orleans Arena USC (31–1)3–1 Stanford Hawaii, Florida2003 Dallas Reunion Arena USC (35–0)3–1 Florida Hawaii, Minnesota2004 Long Beach, California(Long Beach State) Long Beach Arena Stanford (30–6)3–0 MinnesotaUSC, Washington2005 San Antonio(UTSA) Alamodome Washington (32–1)3–0 NebraskaSanta Clara, Tennessee2006 Omaha, Nebraska(Nebraska) Qwest Center Nebraska (33–1)3–1 StanfordUCLA, Washington2007 Sacramento, California(Sacramento State) ARCO Arena Penn State (34–2)3–2 StanfordCalifornia, USC2008 Omaha, Nebraska(Nebraska) Qwest Center Penn State (38–0)3–0 StanfordNebraska, Texas2009 Tampa, Florida(South Florida) St. Pete Times Forum Penn State (38–0)3–2 TexasHawaii, Minnesota2010 Kansas City, Missouri(UMKC) Sprint Center Penn State (32–5)3–0 CaliforniaTexas, USC2011 San Antonio(UTSA) Alamodome UCLA (30–6)3–1 IllinoisFlorida State, USC2012 Louisville, Kentucky(Louisville) KFC Yum! Center Texas (29–4)3–0 OregonMichigan, Penn State2013 Seattle, Washington(Washington) KeyArena Penn State (34–2)3–1 Wisconsin Texas, Washington2014 Oklahoma City(Oklahoma) Chesapeake Energy Arena Penn State (36–3)3–0 BYU Stanford, Texas2015 Omaha, Nebraska(Nebraska) CenturyLink Center Omaha Nebraska (32–4)3–0 TexasKansas, Minnesota2016 Columbus, Ohio(Ohio State) Nationwide Arena Stanford (27–7) 3–1 Texas Minnesota, Nebraska2017 Kansas City, Missouri(UMKC & Kansas) Sprint Center Nebraska (33–4)3–1 Florida Penn State, Stanford2018 Minneapolis, Minnesota(Minnesota) Target Center Stanford (34–1)3–2 NebraskaBYU, Illinois2019 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania(Duquesne) PPG Paints Arena Stanford (30–4) 3–0 Wisconsin Baylor, Minnesota 2020 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, Pittsburgh2022 Omaha, Nebraska(Nebraska) CHI Health Center Omaha Texas (28–1) 3–0 Louisville Pittsburgh, San Diego2023 Tampa, Florida(South Florida) Amalie Arena Texas (28–4) 3–0 Nebraska Pittsburgh, Wisconsin2024 Louisville, Kentucky(Louisville) KFC Yum! Center Penn State (35–2) 3–1 Louisville Pittsburgh, Nebraska2025 Kansas City, Missouri(Kansas) T-Mobile Center Texas A&M (29–4) 3–0 Kentucky Pittsburgh, Wisconsin2026 San Antonio, Texas(UTSA) Alamodome 2027 Columbus, Ohio(Ohio State) Nationwide Arena
Statistics
Team titles
Team Number Year won 9 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2016, 2018, 2019 8 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2024 5 1995, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2017 4 1988, 2012, 2022, 2023 4 1984, 1990, 1991, 2011 3 1982, 1983, 1987 3 1989, 1993, 1998 3 1981, 2002, 2003 2 1985, 1986 1 2020 1 2025 1 2005 1 2021
Results by team and year
Champions by decade
1980s 3 Hawaiʻi
2 Pacific
1 Long Beach State, Texas, UCLA, USC
1990s 4 Stanford
2 Long Beach State, UCLA
1 Nebraska, Penn State
2000s 3 Penn State
2 Nebraska, Stanford, USC
1 Washington
2010s 3 Penn State, Stanford
2 Nebraska
1 Texas, UCLA
2020s 2 Texas 1 Kentucky 1 Penn State 1 Texas A&M 1 Wisconsin
Winners of two or more consecutive championships
Wins Team Years 4 Penn State 2007–20102 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 # of Times MatchupRecordYears Played4Penn State vs StanfordPenn State 3–11997, 1999, 2007, 20083Nebraska vs TexasNebraska 2–11995, 2015, 2023Stanford vs UCLAStanford 2–11984, 1992, 19942Hawaii vs StanfordTied 1–11987, 1996Long Beach State vs Penn StateLong Beach State 2–01993, 1998Nebraska vs StanfordTied 1–12006, 2018Nebraska vs WisconsinTied 1–12000, 2021
Champions by state +Champions by stateStateWinsYears wonCalifornia211981, 1984–1986, 1989–1994, 1996–1998, 2001–2004, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019Pennsylvania81999, 2007–2010, 2013, 2014, 2024Nebraska51995, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2017Texas51988, 2012, 2022, 2023, 2025Hawaii31982, 1983, 1987Kentucky1 2020Washington12005Wisconsin12021
Final Four appearances Team Number Champion Runner-up Semifinalist Stanford 23 9 8 6 Cal 2 0 1 1 Pittsburgh 5 0 0 5 Louisville 3 0 2 1 Florida State 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 18 5 6 7 Penn State 14 8 3 3 Minnesota 6 0 1 5 Wisconsin 7 1 3 3 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 2 1 1 0 Tennessee 1 0 0 1 Texas 14 4 5 5 Texas A&M 1 1 0 0 BYU 3 0 1 2 Arizona 1 0 0 1 Baylor 1 0 0 1 Kansas 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 Pac 12Big TenSECBig 12ACCWest CoastBig WestMountain West WAC
Records Highest attendance: 21,860 (2024 Louisville-Penn State championship match) Lowest attendance for a championship match: 0 (2020) 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 (7) 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)
Most Outstanding Player In 1991 and now annually since 1996, the NCAA has awarded the most outstanding player(s) of the NCAA championship. Year Most Outstanding Player School 1991 Natalie Williams Antoinnette White UCLA Long Beach State 1996 Kerri Walsh Stanford 1997 Terri Zemaitis Penn State 1998 Misty May Lauren Cacciamani Long Beach State Penn State 1999 Lauren Cacciamani Penn State 2000Greichaly Cepero Nebraska 2001 Logan Tom Stanford 2002 Keao Burdine Southern California 2003 Keao Burdine Southern California 2004 Ogonna Nnamani Stanford 2005 Christal Morrison Washington 2006 Sarah Pavan Nebraska 2007 Megan Hodge Penn State 2008 Megan Hodge Penn State 2009 Destinee Hooker Texas 2010 Deja McClendon Penn State 2011 Rachael Kidder UCLA 2012 Bailey Webster Texas 2013 Micha Hancock Penn State 2014 Megan Courtney Penn State 2015 Mikaela Foecke Nebraska 2016 Inky Ajanaku Stanford 2017 Mikaela Foecke Kelly Hunter Nebraska 2018 Morgan HentzKathryn Plummer Stanford 2019 Kathryn Plummer Stanford 2020 Madison Lilley Kentucky 2021 Anna Smrek Wisconsin 2022 Logan Eggleston Texas 2023 Madisen Skinner Texas 2024 Jess Mruzik Penn State 2025 Kyndal Stowers Texas A&M
See also AIAW Intercollegiate Women's Volleyball Champions NAIA Volleyball Championship NCAA men's volleyball tournament (National Collegiate division) NCAA Division II women's volleyball tournament NCAA Division III men's volleyball tournament NCAA Division III women's volleyball tournament American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)
References
External links NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball