The NCAA Division III women's volleyball tournament is the annual event that decides the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

s in

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

from teams in

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

contested by the

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 ...

each winter since 1981 except in 2020, when all D-III championship events were canceled due to

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Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

is the most successful program, with ten national titles. Juniata is the most recent champions, defeating Trinity (TX) in the 2022 final.

History

From 1970 through 1980, before the NCAA governed women's collegiate athletics, the

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

alone 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 the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

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 conquered the AIAW and usurped its authority and membership. The NCAA added a Division III men's championship in 2012, which at the time was the newest NCAA-sponsored championship. That distinction has since passed to the

NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship The NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship is an NCAA-sanctioned tournament to determine the national champions of collegiate women's beach volleyball. It is a National Collegiate Championship featuring teams from Division I, Division II and Div ...

, an all-divisions women-only championship launched in 2016.

Champions

*See Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Champions for the Division III volleyball champions from 1979 to 1981. NOTE: In 1981 there were both NCAA and AIAW champions.''

Records

* Most championships: Washington University in St. Louis (10), UC San Diego (8) * Undefeated Seasons: Washington University in St. Louis (1992), Central (IA) (1999), Johns Hopkins (2019)

Summary

* Schools highlighted in pink are closed or no longer sponsor athletics. * Schools highlight in yellow have reclassified to another NCAA division.

References

External links

*
NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ncaa women's volleyball tournament Volleyball, Women's Women's volleyball competitions in the United States