On December 5th, 64 teams kicked off regional play for the 33rd NCAA women’s volleyball tournament. Teams represented 31 conferences; however, the tournament was essentially a competition between the Big Ten and the Pac 12.
There were 4 Big 10 teams and 3 Pac-12 teams in the quarterfinals. Although Penn State defeated Wisconsin in the finals, the match of the tournament saw Penn State defeat Stanford after being down 9-6 in game 5.
Michigan was the only Big Ten team that did not win a match. All other teams had winning records and conference teams won a total of 23 matches while losing 7.
|
Big Ten |
Won |
Lost |
| Penn State | 6 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 5 | 1 |
| Purdue | 3 | 1 |
| Nebraska | 3 | 1 |
| Illinois | 2 | 1 |
| Michigan State | 2 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 2 | 1 |
| Michigan | 0 | 1 |
| Conference Total | 23 | 7 |
The Pac 12 was also well represented by 9 teams. Only ASU didn’t win a round and 5 teams won a match before bowing out. Conferences teams were 15-9 in championships.
|
PAC 12 |
Won |
Lost |
| Washington |
4 |
1 |
| Southern California |
3 |
1 |
| Stanford |
3 |
1 |
| Arizona |
1 |
1 |
| California |
1 |
1 |
| Colorado |
1 |
1 |
| Oregon |
1 |
1 |
| Utah |
1 |
1 |
| Arizona St. |
0 |
1 |
| Conference Total |
15 |
9 |
The Big Ten and Pac-12 teams won 38 of the 63 matches played in the championships. That is dominance!
Five of the 8 teams representing the SEC won their first round match, but lost in the second round. Overall the conference had a modest performance.
|
SEC |
Won |
Lost |
| Florida |
1 |
1 |
| Kentucky |
1 |
1 |
| LSU |
1 |
1 |
| Missouri |
1 |
1 |
| Texas A&M |
1 |
1 |
| Alabama |
0 |
1 |
| Arkansas |
0 |
1 |
| Georgia |
0 |
1 |
| Conference Total |
5 |
8 |
Of the 4 ACC teams, only Florida State posted a winning record.
|
ACC |
Won |
Lost |
| Florida St. |
2 |
1 |
| Duke |
1 |
1 |
| Miami (FL) |
0 |
1 |
| North Carolina |
0 |
1 |
| Conference Total |
3 |
4 |
The Big 12 was represented by 4 quality teams.
|
Big 12 |
Won |
Lost |
| Texas |
4 |
1 |
| Kansas |
2 |
1 |
| Oklahoma |
1 |
1 |
| Iowa St. |
0 |
1 |
| Conference Total |
7 |
4 |
There were 4 conferences that had a total of 8 teams. Each of these had representatives in either the round of 16 or 32.
|
School |
Conference |
Won |
Lost |
|
| Hawaii | Big West |
1 |
1 |
|
| Cal St. Northridge | Big West |
1 |
1 |
|
| UC Santa Barbara | Big West |
0 |
1 |
|
| San Diego | West Coast |
2 |
1 |
|
| BYU | West Coast |
2 |
1 |
|
| Marquette | Big East |
1 |
1 |
|
| Creighton | Big East |
1 |
1 |
|
| American Univ. | Patriot |
2 |
1 |
|
| Total |
10 |
8 |
||
In total, the 41 teams that represented these 9 conferences had a combined record of 63-40.
Then there were the other 23 teams from 22 conferences. Generally speaking, these teams were admitted to the tournament because they were conference champions. While these teams and conferences all have solid programs, they are not competitive with the top teams or conferences.
None of the teams from these conferences won a match. In fact they only won 6 sets while losing 69 sets. Only Colorado State played a “close” match, losing 3-2 to Cal State Northridge.
| School | Conference | Sets Won | Sets Lost |
| Louisville | AAC |
0 |
3 |
| New Hampshire | America East |
0 |
3 |
| Duquesne | Atlantic 10 |
0 |
3 |
| Jacksonville | Atlantic Sun |
0 |
3 |
| Idaho St. | Big Sky |
1 |
3 |
| Charleston So. | Big South |
1 |
3 |
| Radford | Big South |
0 |
3 |
| UTSA | Conference USA |
0 |
3 |
| Milwaukee | Horizon |
0 |
3 |
| Yale | Ivy |
1 |
3 |
| Fairfield | Metro Atlantic |
0 |
3 |
| Ohio | Mid-American |
0 |
3 |
| Hampton | Mid-Eastern |
0 |
3 |
| Wichita St. | Missouri Valley |
1 |
3 |
| Colorado St. | Mountain West |
2 |
3 |
| LIU Brooklyn | Northeast |
0 |
3 |
| Morehead St. | OVC |
0 |
3 |
| Ga. Southern | Southern |
0 |
3 |
| Central Ark. | Southland |
0 |
3 |
| Alabama St. | Southwestern |
0 |
3 |
| IUPUI | Summit |
0 |
3 |
| Texas St. | Sun Belt |
0 |
3 |
| New Mexico St. | Western Athletic |
0 |
3 |
| Total |
6 |
69 |
It is clear from the results that there are two if not three or four tiers of play within the NCAA Division I teams. The good news is that these 64 programs offer athletic opportunities for 600-700 of the country’s top women volleyball players.
Congratulations to Penn State on their championship season!