The 2020 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on April 14, 2021, and concluded on April 24 at the

CHI Health Center Omaha CHI Health Center Omaha is an arena and convention center in the central United States, located in the North Downtown neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. Operated by the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), the facility has a ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. The tournament field was announced on April 4, 2021. Typically held in the fall, this edition of the tournament was held in the spring due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

beat

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the final to claim the first national volleyball championship not only for Kentucky, but also for its home of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

Tournament schedule and venues

First round, second round and Regional semifinals (April 14, 15 and 18) *

(Convention Center),

(Host:

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

) Regional Finals, National semifinals and championship (April 19, 22 and 24) *

(Arena),

(Host:

) All games were played at the CHI Health Center Omaha. Twelve courts were built in the Convention Center portion of the building, 8 for practices and 4 for games. Attendance was limited to 80 people per game for the first and second rounds, mostly consisting of team family members. Additional fans were admitted as teams went home. Games moved from the convention center to the CHI Health Center Omaha arena for the Regional Finals, semifinals, and National Championship.

Qualifying teams

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams automatically qualified for the 2020 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament. Only 30 conference champions received automatic qualifiers after the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

and

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

chose not to have a 2020 fall or 2021 spring season. This was the first tournament appearance for North Carolina A&T and Utah Valley.

Tournament seeds

Bracket

Top Left Regional

Schedule

First round

Second round

Regional semifinals

:Due to BYU's "No Sunday Play" policy, the BYU regional semifinal was moved to April 17.

Regional final

Bottom Left Regional

Schedule

First round

Second round

Regional semifinals

Regional final

Top Right Regional

Schedule

First round

Second round

Regional semifinals

Regional final

Bottom Right Regional

Schedule

First round

Second round

Regional semifinals

Regional final

Final four

National semifinals

National Championship

Final Four All-Tournament Team

*Madison Lilley – Kentucky (''Most Outstanding Player'') *Alli Stumler – Kentucky *Avery Skinner – Kentucky *Brionne Butler – Texas *Logan Eggleston – Texas *Samantha Drechsel – Washington *Devyn Robinson – Wisconsin

Media coverage

For the first time ever all matches will air on the ESPN Family of networks. Rounds 1 and 2 will stream on

ESPN3 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications ...

. Initially ESPN didn't plan to provide commentators for these rounds. After criticism from fans and coaches they changed course and announced they would provide commentary for the first two rounds. The regional semifinals will have select matches on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

and

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...

with the remainder on ESPN3. All regional finals will air on ESPN2 or ESPNU,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

will carry the semifinals, and ESPN2 will carry the National Championship. ''First & Second Rounds'' *Mike Monaco (Court 1 Afternoon) *Courtney Lyle (Court 1 Evening) *Matt Schick (Court 2 Afternoon) *Sam Gore (Court 2 Evening) *Sam Ravech (Court 3 Wed. Afternoon) *

Eric Frede Eric Frede is an American sportscaster who has worked for NESN since 2002. He was previously the play-by-play announcer for NESN College Football Saturday broadcasts until he left NESN and joined NBC Sports Boston and is currently an anchor for ...

(Court 3 Thurs. Afternoon) *Tyler Denning (Court 3 Evening) *Alex Perlman (Court 4 Afternoon) *

Paul Sunderland Paul Benedict Sunderland (born March 29, 1952) is an American professional sportscaster who resides in Los Angeles, California. He worked as the indoor volleyball play-by-play announcer for NBC Olympics’ coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics, ...

(Court 4 Evening) ''Regional semifinals & Regional Finals'' *Eric Frede and Katie George (Court 1 Sun. Afternoon) *Courtney Lyle and Missy Whittemore (Court 3 Sun. Afternoon, Mon. Afternoon) *Paul Sunderland and Salima Rockwell (Court 1 Sun. Evening, Mon. Evening) *Tyler Denning and Jenny Hazelwood (Sat., Court 3 Sun. Evening) ''Semifinals & National Championship'' *Paul Sunderland, Salima Rockwell, and

Holly Rowe Holly Rowe (born June 16, 1966) is an American sports telecaster currently working for the sports television network ESPN. Rowe is best known as a sideline reporter for college football games which are telecast on ESPN. Rowe made Utah Jazz team ...

Records by Conference

*The R32, S16, E8, F4, CM, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the Round of 32 (second round), Round of 16 (third round), quarterfinals (Elite Eight), semi-finals (Final Four), Championship Match, and National Champion, respectively. *The following conferences failed to place a team into the round of 32: America East,

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

, MAAC, Missouri Valley,

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

, Southern,

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

, SWAC,

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

, and the WAC. The conference's records have been consolidated in the other row.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament, 2020 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's volleyball season

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

April 2021 sports events in the United States

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Volleyball in Nebraska Sports competitions in Nebraska Women's sports in Nebraska