Women's Volleyball Championship Information

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2027 DI Women's Volleyball Championship

Columbus, OH | Nationwide Arena

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What is the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship?

The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship is the annual tournament that determines the national champion of women's college volleyball in the United States. The most prominent version is the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, which features the top Division I college teams.

How teams qualify

The tournament consists of 64 teams. There are two ways to get in:

  1. Automatic bids (31 teams)
    Conference champions automatically qualify by winning their conference tournament or meeting conference qualification rules.
  2. At-large bids (33 teams)
    The NCAA selection committee chooses the remaining teams based on factors such as:
    • Win-loss record
    • Strength of schedule
    • Results against ranked opponents
    • Head-to-head results
    • Overall season performance

The committee announces the field on Selection Sunday.

How the bracket works

The championship is a single-elimination tournament with 64 teams.

The progression looks like this:

  • First Round (64 teams)
  • Second Round (32 teams)
  • Regional Semifinals ("Sweet 16")
  • Regional Finals ("Elite Eight")
  • National Semifinals ("Final Four")
  • National Championship Match

If a team loses once, its season is over. Every match is played as a standard collegiate volleyball match (best 3 out of 5 sets).

The tournament is divided into four regions, each with seeded teams. Similar to basketball's March Madness, multiple No. 1 seeds exist because each region has its own bracket.

What happens during the tournament?

Early rounds

The first and second rounds are usually hosted on campus sites by selected schools. Higher-seeded teams often host these matches.

Regionals

The remaining 16 teams compete in regional tournaments. Four regional champions emerge.

Final Four

The four regional champions advance to the national semifinals.

Championship Match

The semifinal winners meet to determine the national champion.

History of the championship

The NCAA began sponsoring women's volleyball championships in 1981. Before that, national championships were conducted by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW).

The tournament started with just 20 teams and gradually expanded:

  • 20 teams (1981)
  • 28 teams (1982)
  • 32 teams (1986)
  • 48 teams (1993)
  • 56 teams (1997)
  • 64 teams (1998–present)

Today, more than 340 Division I programs compete nationwide.