The 2022 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's volleyball national champion for the 2022 season. The 42nd edition of the tournament began on December 1, 2022, in various college campuses across the country, location determinations were chosen based on participating teams seedings. The tournament concluded with the championship game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on December 17, when Texas defeated Louisville 3–0. The win gave Texas its 4th national title and first since 2012.
The 2022 NCAA tournament was the first time that 32 teams were seeded (previously, only 16 national seeds were awarded). For the first time since 2013, Texas earned the number 1 overall seed. Louisville, defending 2021 NCAA champion Wisconsin, and Stanford, rounded out the overall number 2–4 national seeds. Penn State, the no. 4 regional seed in the Wisconsin bracket, earned its 42nd straight bid to the NCAA tournament, remaining the only Division I team to participate in every NCAA tournament since its inception in 1981.
Among the Power Five conferences, the SEC led all conferences with seven bids, followed by the Big Ten and Pac-12 with six each, and the ACC and Big 12 with five each.
Throughout the first two rounds of play, only one top four regional seeded team failed to advance to the Sweet 16 (No. 4 Creighton in the Stanford regional). The Big Ten conference recorded the best win/loss record in the first two rounds, going 11–1 in matches played and advancing 5 of 6 teams to the Sweet 16. Additionally, only three non-Power five conference teams advanced past the second round (San Diego, Marquette, and Houston). The wins gave Houston the program's first NCAA tournament match win since the 1994 tournament.
Texas, Louisville, Pittsburgh, and San Diego advanced to the final four. Pittsburgh's upset win over Wisconsin and Texas's defeat of Ohio State snapped a 14-year streak of at least one Big Ten conference team in the final four. Stanford and Oregon's losses also shut out the Pac-12 from advancing, marking the first time in the 42-year history of the NCAA tournament that no final four teams came from the Big Ten or Pac 12 conference. San Diego advanced to its first final four in school history after upsetting Stanford 3–2. Louisville and Pittsburgh advanced to its second straight final four, setting up a rematch between the ACC foes; they split their regular season matches, handing each other its only conference loss of the season as they ultimately won a share of the conference title.
Tournament Schedule and Venues
First and Second Rounds (Subregionals) December 1–4 Gregory Gymnasium, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas) Al McGuire Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Host: Marquette University) Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky) Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego, California (Host: University of San Diego) Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln) Ferrell Center, Waco, Texas (Host: Baylor University) L&N Federal Credit Union Arena, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville) O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida (Host: University of Florida) Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: University of Pittsburgh) UW Field House, Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin) Maples Pavilion, Palo Alto, California (Host: Stanford University) Rec Hall, University Park, Pennsylvania, (Host: Penn State University) Covelli Center, Columbus, Ohio (Host: Ohio State University) Maturi Pavilion, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota) Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Oregon (Host: University of Oregon) Sokol Arena, Omaha, Nebraska (Host: Creighton University)
Regional Semifinals and Finals December 8 & 10 Austin Regional, Gregory Gymnasium (Host: University of Texas) Louisville Regional, Freedom Hall (Host: University of Louisville) Madison Regional, Wisconsin Field House (Host: University of Wisconsin) Palo Alto Regional, Maples Pavilion (Host: Stanford University)
National Semifinals and Championship December 15 & 17 CHI Health Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln)
Qualifying Teams
Automatic Qualifiers
ConferenceTeamConferenceRecordACCLouisville17–1America EastUMBC7–3AmericanHouston19–1Atlantic 10Loyola Chicago17–1Atlantic SunFlorida Gulf Coast13–3Big 12Texas15–1Big EastCreighton17–1Big SkyNorthern Colorado13–3Big SouthHigh Point14–2Big TenWisconsin19–1Big WestHawaii19–1ColonialTowson15–1C-USARice13–1HorizonWright State18–0IvyYale13–1MAACQuinnipiac10–8MACBowling Green15–3MEACDelaware State11–3Missouri ValleyNorthern Iowa17–1Mountain WestUtah State11–7NortheastFairleigh Dickinson9–5Ohio ValleyTennessee State10–8Pac-12Stanford19–1PatriotColgate14–2SECFlorida15–3SouthernSamford11–5SouthlandSoutheastern Louisiana13–5SWACFlorida A&M15–1SummitSouth Dakota16–2Sun BeltJames Madison15–1 West CoastSan Diego18–0WACStephen F. Austin11–3
Tournament seeds
+Austin RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 1 1Texas Big 12 Automatic 22–1 2 8Minnesota Big Ten At–Large 20–8 3 7Ohio State Big Ten At–Large 19–9 4 14Marquette Big East At–Large 27–3 5 20Georgia Tech ACC At–Large 20–7 6 25Southern California Pac-12 At–Large 21–10 7 30Florida State ACC At–Large 19–10 8 32Towson Colonial Automatic 29–1 51Ball State MAC At–Large 24–8 266Fairleigh Dickinson Northeast Automatic 17–15 38Georgia SEC At–Large 22–7 52High Point Big South Automatic 23–9 41Northern Iowa Missouri Valley Automatic 26–7 138Southeastern Louisiana Southland Automatic 25–7 221Tennessee State Ohio Valley Automatic 19–15 47Wright State Horizon Automatic 28–3+Palo Alto RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 1 5Stanford Pac-12 Automatic 24–4 2 6San Diego West Coast Automatic 27–1 3 10Kentucky SEC At–Large 20–7 4 12Creighton Big East Automatic 27–4 5 18Houston American Automatic 28–3 6 22Western Kentucky C-USA At–Large 28–3734Washington State Pac-12 At–Large 22–98 36Hawaii Big West Automatic 22–6 50Auburn SEC At–Large 21–8 42Bowling Green MAC Automatic 22–9 74Loyola Chicago Atlantic 10 Automatic 25–8 48LSU SEC At–Large 15–13 89Northern Colorado Big Sky Automatic 22–8 45Pepperdine West Coast At–Large 19–10 40South Dakota Summit Automatic 29–3 24UNLV Mountain West At–Large 26–4+Madison RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 1 4Wisconsin Big Ten Automatic 25–3 2 3Pittsburgh ACC At–Large 27–3 3 11Florida SEC Automatic 23–5 4 19Penn State Big Ten At–Large 24–7 5 17UCF American At–Large 27–1 6 31Iowa State Big 12 At–Large 25–5 7 26BYU West Coast At–Large 21–6 8 37Washington Pac-12 At–Large 20–10 66Colgate Patriot Automatic 24–5 211Florida A&M SWAC Automatic 21–12 33Florida Gulf Coast Atlantic Sun Automatic 26–6 21James Madison Sun Belt Automatic 24–4 252Quinnipiac MAAC Automatic 14–14 39TCU Big 12 At–Large 16–10 73UMBC America East Automatic 17–8 29Yale Ivy League Automatic 23–2+Louisville RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 1 2Louisville ACC Automatic 26–2 2 9Nebraska Big Ten At–Large 24–5 3 13Oregon Pac-12 At–Large 23–5 4 16Baylor Big 12 At–Large 23–6 5 15Rice C-USA At–Large 26–3 6 23Arkansas SEC At–Large 20–8 7 35Miami (FL) ACC At–Large 19–10 8 27Purdue Big Ten At–Large 20–10 44Colorado Pac-12 At–Large 20–10 177Delaware State MEAC Automatic 23–6 28Kansas Big 12 At–Large 18–10 49Loyola Marymount West Coast At–Large 18–9 122Samford Southern Automatic 19–12 53Stephen F. Austin WAC Automatic 26–4 56Tennessee SEC At–Large 17–13 46Utah State Mountain West Automatic 22–10
Bracket
Austin, TX Regional
Schedule
First round
Second round
Regional semifinals
Regional finals
Region all-tournament team
The following players were named to the Texas regional all-tournament team:
Logan Eggleston (Texas) – Most Outstanding Player Zoe Fleck (Texas) Asjia O'Neal (Texas) Emily Londot (Ohio State) Gabby Gonzales (Ohio State) Hattie Bray (Marquette) Jenna Wenaas (Minnesota)
Palo Alto, CA Regional
Schedule
First round
Second round
Regional semifinals
Regional finals
Region all-tournament team
The following players were named to the Stanford regional all-tournament team:
Gabby Blossom (San Diego) – Most Outstanding Player Katie Lukes (San Diego) Grace Frohling (San Diego) Kendall Kipp (Stanford) Kami Miner (Stanford) Elena Oglivie (Stanford) Kortlyn Henderson (Houston)
Madison, WI Regional
Schedule
First round
Second round
Regional semifinals
Regional finals
Region all-tournament team
The following players were named to the Wisconsin regional all-tournament team:
Courtney Buzzerio (Pittsburgh) – Most Outstanding Player Rachel Fairbanks (Pittsburgh) Chiamaka Nwokolo (Pittsburgh) Devyn Robinson (Wisconsin) Anna Smrek (Wisconsin) Marina Markova (Florida) Seleisa Elisaia (Penn State)
Louisville, KY Regional
Schedule
First round
Second round
Regional semifinals
Regional finals
Region all-tournament team
The following players were named to the Louisville regional all-tournament team:
Anna DeBeer (Louisville) – Most Outstanding Player Aiko Jones (Louisville) Claire Chaussee (Louisville) Mimi Colyer (Oregon) Brooke Nuneviller (Oregon) Morgan Lewis (Oregon) Ally Batenhorst (Nebraska)
Final Four
National Semifinals
Game Recap Texas defeated San Diego in the first semifinal match. San Diego was making its first final four appearance in school history and Texas was making its 14th final four. San Diego won the opening set in extra points, 28–26, before Texas came back to win the next three with scores of 25–16, 25–18, 25–20. Texas was led by junior outside hitter Madisen Skinner who had 17 kills on .394 hitting percentage and 2022 AVCA Player of the Year Logan Eggleston finished with 16 kills, nine digs, a team-high five blocks and one service ace. Texas was held to their second-lowest hitting percentage of the season at .248 but out–blocked San Diego 12–9 and held the Toreros to their worst hitting night of the season at .112.
In the second semifinal, Louisville defeated Pittsburgh 3–2. The teams, who are both in the ACC conference, handed each other its only conference loss of the season, as they both went 17–1 in conference play to claim a share of the title. Both teams were making their second straight (and second overall in school history) NCAA final four appearance. After going back-and-forth in the first four sets, Louisville won the fifth set with a runaway score of 15–2 to advance to its first national title match in school history, and became the first ACC team to advance to a championship match. In the match, three Louisville players had season-best performances: libero Elena Scott finished with a career-high 28 digs, middle blocker Phekran Kong set a career record with 11 blocks, including four in the fifth set, and outside hitter Anna DeBeer had a career best five service aces. Louisville was led by Claire Chaussee with 25 kills, including four in the fifth set, hitting .429 and added three kills and three blocks. Pittsburgh was led by Courtney Buzzerio with 13 kills and Serena Gray with 10 kills.
National Championship
Game Recap
Texas won its third NCAA (and fourth overall) national championship after defeating Louisville in three sets. Texas became the first overall number one seed to win the championship since Stanford in 2018. Texas was ranked number 1 for most of the 2022 season and was led by six All-Americans.