The NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament is an annual event organized by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

to determine the national champion of women's collegiate

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 ...

among its Division I members in the

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. It has been contested every winter since 1981, except 2020.

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

won the most recent tournament, defeating

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

3–1 at

KFC Yum! Center The KFC Yum! Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is named after the KFC restaurant chain and Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC. Adjacent to the Ohio River waterfront, it is located on Ma ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

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 The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

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 a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

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 won the fight and assumed the AIAW's authority and 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 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 Third ...

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 sys ...

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 The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics and to administer national championships. During its existence, the AIAW and its predecessor, the Division for Girls' and Women's ...

for the Division I volleyball champions from 1970 to 1981. NOTE: In 1981 there were both NCAA and AIAW champions.''

Statistics

Team titles

Results by team and year

Champions by decade

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Winners of two or more consecutive championships

Common matchups in Championship Final

Champions by state

Final Four appearances

Current conference key

Records

* Highest attendance: 21,860 (2024 Louisville-Penn State championship match) * Lowest attendance for a championship match: 0 (

2020 The year 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 even ...

) * 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.

References

External links

*
NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ncaa women's volleyball tournament

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 ...

NCAA Women's Vol

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...