NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament: History, Upsets, and Memorable Moments

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women's Volleyball Tournament is an annual high-stakes competition that determines the national champion of women's collegiate volleyball among its Division I members in the United States. The tournament has a rich history, marked by memorable upsets, dominant teams, and exceptional individual performances. This article delves into the history of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament, highlighting significant moments and providing an overview of its structure and evolution.

Historical Overview

The NCAA added women's volleyball to its championship program in the 1981-82 school year, marking its engagement in a battle with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. The first NCAA championship tournament was held in 1981, with 20 schools competing for the title. Before the NCAA governed women's collegiate athletics (from 1970 through 1980), the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women alone conducted the women's collegiate volleyball championships.

The NCAA conducts separate tournaments for Division I, Division II, and Division III institutions. This differs from NCAA men's volleyball because there are far more NCAA member schools offering women's volleyball. Until the 2011-12 school year (2012 men's season-NCAA women's volleyball is a fall sport, while men's volleyball is a spring sport), there was no official divisional structure in men's collegiate volleyball, and all men's teams, regardless of their divisional affiliation, were eligible to compete for the same NCAA championship. In the sport of beach volleyball, the NCAA conducts a women-only, all-divisions championship.

Tournament Structure and Evolution

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.

From 1994 through 1997, some teams would have to play in a play-in game to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The losers of these games are not considered by the NCAA to have participated in the NCAA Tournament. Starting in 1993, the NCAA seeded the top 4 seeds in each region. This was expanded to the top 8 seeds in each region in 2022.

Due to COVID-19, the NCAA moved its 2020-21 championship events in fall sports from fall 2020 to spring 2021.

Memorable Upsets in the NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament has seen its fair share of upsets, where lower-ranked teams defy expectations and defeat higher-seeded opponents. These upsets add excitement and unpredictability to the tournament, making it a captivating event for fans. Here are some notable upsets throughout the history of the tournament:

2010: Missouri Defeats No. 4 Washington

Missouri's victory over No. 4 Washington in 2010 stands out as a significant upset. At 30-2 and an RPI ranking of fourth, some felt the Panthers were deserving of a top-four seed. Nonetheless, the Missouri Valley champs couldn't defend home court in the first match of the tournament against a Missouri team that snuck into the tournament. Missouri went on to lose in the regional semifinals to No. 12 Duke, but this result is about as close as volleyball has come to the basketball equivalent of a double-digit seed knocking off a No. 2.

2011: Kansas State Beats No. 2 Nebraska

In 2011, Kansas State, ranked 26th in RPI entering the tournament, pulled off a significant upset by defeating No. 2 Nebraska. Winners of the Big Ten in its first year as a member, Nebraska was a hot pick to win the national championship. No. 2 seeds get upset in the tournament, no doubt. It just rarely happens in the first weekend, to Nebraska, in front of about 8,000 people in Lincoln.

2012: Michigan Advances to National Semifinals

Like 2014 BYU, Michigan is one of the unseeded teams to advance to the national semifinals. Both runs were incredible, but this one was a greater upset for it came basically on the road - in California - against the No. 1 RPI team, Stanford.

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2013: American Defeats No. 8 Duke

American's victory over No. 8 Duke in 2013 was a notable upset. Ranked 45th in RPI to start the tournament to Duke’s No. 12 RPI ranking, American provided the biggest surprise of the first weekend and the only time a national seed has lost to a team from the Patriot League. The Eagles, who won 34 games that year, also took a set from No. 6. Any time a national seed gets beat in the first weekend, it’s an upset. When it comes to an automatic bid in straight sets, it’s a bit more shocking.

American was still good after its 2013 run, and it pulled off a more shocking upset against Kentucky, which was 21st in RPI. It seems that when American pulls off these upsets, the match isn’t ever in doubt. It swept the Wildcats before losing to Ohio State in straight sets in the second round.

2014: BYU's Semifinal Run

BYU's journey to the national semifinals in 2014 as an unseeded team was remarkable. There have been just a handful of teams that have made it to the national semifinals as an unseeded team. The Cougars also beat No. 11 Arizona, No. 6 Florida State and No. 16 Nebraska to make it to the semifinals. They would fall to Penn State in the title match, but their run is still remembered well four years later.

2019: Cincinnati Takes Down No. 6 Pittsburgh

In the 2019 NCAA DI women's volleyball tournament, there were two pretty big upsets with Cincinnati taking down No. 6 Pittsburgh (No. 1 in RPI).

2019: Louisville Upsets No. 2 Texas

Louisville pulled off an upset of No. 2-seeded Texas to advance to the program's first appearance in the final eight of the tournament. Texas was a strong favorite going in. The Longhorns sported very strong offensive numbers and held the No. 1 spot for a good portion of the second half of the regular season. The thing about Texas this season was that no one had beaten them at Gregory Gymnasium. Louisville took the first two sets 25-22 before losing the next two. But the Cardinals finished off the upset with a 15-12 win in the fifth set. The Cardinal were led by a career-best 23 kills from redshirt freshman Aiko Jones. This win was the biggest upset of the 2019 volleyball tournament.

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Other Notable Upsets

2002: Temple beat No. Can you imagine Penn State losing on its home court in the second round of the tournament today? Me neither. To date, it is Temple’s only trip to the regional semifinals.
2005: Santa Clara over No.
2005: No. 15 Tennessee over No.
2010: No. 16 Purdue over No.
2010: Tulsa over No.
2013: Purdue over No.
2014: Arkansas Little-Rock beat No.
2025: Cal Poly over No.
2025: No. 3 Texas A&M beat No.

The Current Landscape

The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament continues to be a highly competitive event, showcasing the best collegiate volleyball talent in the United States. The current season, the 2025 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament, promises to deliver exciting matches and memorable moments.

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