2021 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament explained

Year:2021
Finalfourarena:Nationwide Arena
Finalfourcity:Columbus, Ohio
Champions:Wisconsin
Titlecount:1st
Runnerup:Nebraska
Gamecount:10th
Semifinal1:Louisville
Finalfourcount:1st
Semifinal2:Pittsburgh
Finalfourcount2:1st
Coach:Kelly Sheffield
Coachcount:1st
Mop:Anna Smrek
Mopteam:(Wisconsin)
Alltournamentteam:Dana Rettke (Wisconsin)
Sydney Hilley (Wisconsin)
Nicklin Hames (Nebraska)
Madi Kubik (Nebraska)
Anna Debeer (Louisville)
Leketor Member-Meneh (Pittsburgh)

The 2021 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on December 2, 2021, and ended on December 18, 2021, to determine the Division I National Champion in women's volleyball. Wisconsin won its first NCAA national championship by defeating Big Ten rival Nebraska 3–2.[1] The championship match was played in front of an NCAA record crowd of 18,755.[2]

The Final Four was held at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The national semifinals were held on December 16 and the championship match was held on December 18.[3]

Kentucky, from the Southeastern Conference, was the defending national champion. The Wildcats were eliminated in the second round to Illinois.

The tournament saw a particularly successful run by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Louisville, having gone a perfect 28-0 in the regular season, earned the first number one overall seed in conference history. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh earned the number three seed, its first top four seed in program history. Both teams utilized their home court advantages to earn their respective first trips to the national semifinals. Thus, the Cardinals and Panthers because the second and third semi-finalists from the conference in tournament history, and first since Florida State in 2011. Additionally, Georgia Tech also advanced to its first Regional Final since 2003, marking the first time the ACC had three Regional Finalists in one tournament.

While the ACC made history in the semifinals, the Cardinals and Panthers were joined by Wisconsin and Nebraska out of the Big Ten. Wisconsin made its third consecutive trip to the national semifinals, and was seeking its first title. Nebraska was the only semi-finalist who has won a National Championship, doing so five times. This tournament marked the fourteenth straight year that at least one member of the Big Ten reached the semifinal.

Tournament schedule and venues

The first two rounds, normally referred to as the subregionals, will be played at the sites of the top 16 seeds, replicating the format done in the basketball tournaments. The regionals will be played at four non-predetermined campus sites, which will be announced on December 5.[4]

First and Second Rounds (Subregionals)

Regional semifinals and finals

National semifinals and championship

Qualifying teams

The following teams automatically qualified for the 2021 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament. Unlike the 2020 tournament that consisted of only 48 teams due to COVID-19, the 2021 tournament returned to the usual format of 64 qualifying teams.

While Penn State remains as the only team to take part in all 41 tournaments, this is the first tournament appearance for Campbell, The Citadel, UIC, Mississippi State, South Alabama, and West Virginia, for a grand total of six teams.

Automatic qualifiers

ConferenceTeamConference
Record
ACCLouisville18–0
America EastUMBC12–0
AmericanUCF19–1
Atlantic 10Dayton16–0
Atlantic SunFlorida Gulf Coast15–1
Big 12Texas15–1
Big EastCreighton16–2
Big SkyNorthern Colorado13–3
Big SouthCampbell14–2
Big TenWisconsin17–3
Big WestHawai'i18–2
ColonialTowson12–4
C-USAWestern Kentucky12–0
HorizonUIC13–3
IvyBrown13–1
MAACFairfield16–2
MACBall State17–1
MEACHoward12–2
Missouri ValleyIllinois State13–5
Mountain WestBoise State10–8
NortheastSacred Heart11–3
Ohio ValleySoutheast Missouri State14–4
Pac-12Washington17–3
PatriotColgate13–3
SECKentucky17–1
SouthernThe Citadel7–9
Southland13–1
SWACFlorida A&M14–2
SummitSouth Dakota15–3
Sun BeltSouth Alabama15–1
West CoastBYU18–0
WACUtah Valley8–6

Tournament seeds

Louisville Regional
SeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord
11LouisvilleACCAutomatic28–0
87Georgia TechACCAt–Large 23–5
9 9At–Large 25–5
1621SECAt–Large20–8
31MACAutomatic25–6
173Florida A&MSWACAutomatic 22–1
204MEACAutomatic 18–12
11At–Large 24–4
35Big TenAt–Large18–11
28At–Large 21–8
49Automatic 25–6
42At–Large 14-14
29At–Large19–9
213The CitadelAutomatic14–11
129UICAutomatic20–11
18Western KentuckyAutomatic27–1
Madison Regional
SeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord
44WisconsinBig TenAutomatic25–3
55BaylorBig 12At–Large20–5
1217At–Large 19–8
1313Pac-12At–Large23–5
106PatriotAutomatic18–9
117FairfieldMAACAutomatic 24–8
33ASUNAutomatic 26–5
48At–Large 16–11
56Big SkyAutomatic24–6
37At–Large 22–5
70Automatic 20–9
26At–Large 18–10
99Texas A&M–CCAutomatic19–9
38Texas TechAt–Large17–12
22UCFAACAutomatic26–6
36Washington StatePac-12At–Large19–11
Pittsburgh Regional
SeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord
32PittsburghACCAt–Large26–3
610PurdueBig TenAt–Large23–6
1115Automatic28–1
148Big EastAutomatic30–3
90Mountain WestAutomatic24–10
40DaytonA-10Automatic 25–5
67MVCAutomatic 19–13
34At–Large 16–11
16Big EastAt–Large26–5
54At–Large 21–8
23At–Large22–8
27At–Large 20–10
63TowsonAutomatic26–4
172UMBCAmerica EastAutomatic19–11
20UtahPac-12At–Large21–8
76Utah ValleyAutomatic16–12
Austin Regional
SeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord
23TexasBig 12Automatic24–1
76KentuckySECAutomatic24–4
1012At–Large21–7
1514Pac-12Automatic24–4
73IvyAutomatic20–5
94CampbellBig SouthAutomatic 21–9
19ACCAt–Large19–9
57Automatic21–7
30Big TenAt–Large20–11
47At–Large 15–12
25At–Large25–5
24At–Large 19–6
138Sacred HeartAutomatic19–9
39San DiegoWCCAt–Large20–7
88Southeast Missouri StateOVCAutomatic26–7
43West VirginiaAt–Large19–9

Bracket

The tournament bracket was announced on November 28, 2021. Times are shown in Eastern Standard Time.

Schedule

Regional final

Schedule

Regional final

Schedule

Regional final

Schedule

Regional final

Final Four

Final Four All-Tournament Team

Media coverage

For the second consecutive season all matches aired on the ESPN Family of networks. Rounds 1 and 2 streamed on ESPN+ with the exception of Texas matches, which were televised by LHN.[5] All Sweet 16 and Elite 8 matches aired on ESPNU or ESPN+.[6] ESPN aired the national semifinals while ESPN2 aired the national championship.[7]

Rounds 1 & 2

Regional semifinals & Regional Finals

Semifinals & National Championship

Records by Conference

ConferenceBidsRecordWin %R32S16E8F4CMNC
Big Ten822–7764221
ACC613–65332
Big 1277–7331
Pac-1267–652
SEC64–631
West Coast32–311
C-USA22–22
American11–11
Atlantic 1011–11
Atlantic Sun11–11
Big East21–21
Big West11–11
MAC11–11
19 Others190–19

NCAA tournament record

The following NCAA Tournament records were broken during the 2021 tournament:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Badger Volleyball Wins National Championship. December 19, 2021 .
  2. Web site: Badger volleyball wins national championship over Nebraska.
  3. Web site: Women's college volleyball championship: Future dates and sites.
  4. Web site: 2021 NCAA DI women's volleyball championship selections announced. NCAA.com . NCAA & Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. . 28 November 2021.
  5. Web site: ESPN to Carry Every First and Second Round Match of 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, Dec. 2-4. ESPN Press Room . December 2021 . ESPN. 1 Dec 2021.
  6. Web site: NCAA Women's Volleyball Regional semifinals and finals Set for ESPN Networks, December 9 & 11. ESPN Press Room . December 7, 2021 . ESPN. 7 Dec 2021.
  7. Web site: NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament Presented by Buick: Semifinals and championship Live on ESPN and ESPN2, December 16 & 18. ESPN Press Room . December 15, 2021 . ESPN. 15 Dec 2021.

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