The AVCA Showcase, established by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, was an annual NCAA volleyball tournament that was held at the start of each fall season. In the old format, four teams, usually ranked in the top 15, compete for the showcase title. In the new format, it was changed to a conference challenge. The tournament was founded in 1995, and ten times, the showcase champion has made the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship final four, with the team winning the national championship twice.
Prior to 2005, it was called the "State Farm/NACWAA Classic". At the start of 2008, Runza Restaurants started sponsoring, thus the name becoming "Runza/AVCA Showcase".
As of 2007, the showcase champion went on to the NCAA Final Four 10 times out of 13. The only time the winner failed to advance to the Final Four was Colorado State in 2000, Texas in 2006 and Nebraska in 2007. However, only twice has the showcase champion won the NCAA Championship: Long Beach State in 1998 and Southern California in 2003. Ironically, those two schools both had undefeated records en route to the NCAA title. The only other school to go undefeated in the NCAA era (since 1981) was Nebraska in 2000.
The following table lists the past winners, runners-up, city the tournament is hosted in, and the Most Valuable Player.
Prior to 2008, the showcase was done with four teams, with the winners of the first match playing for the championship and the losers playing for third place in the consolation match.
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | City | Tournament MVP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Stanford | 3–1 8–15, 15–11, 15–13, 17–15 | Nebraska | Lincoln, Nebraska | N/A | |
| 1996 | Hawaiʻi | 3–0 | Nebraska | Normal, Illinois | Anjelica Ljungquist, Hawaii | |
| 1997 | Penn State | 3–0 15–8, 15–13, 15–9 | Stanford | Stanford, California | Bonnie Bremner, Penn State | |
| 1998 | Long Beach State | 3–2 15–7, 10–15, 15–1, 9–15, 15–12 | Southern California | Albuquerque, New Mexico | Misty May, Long Beach State | |
| 1999 | Pacific | 3–2 9–15, 16–14, 15–10, 9–15, 15–10 | Florida | Lincoln, Nebraska | Elsa Stegemann, Pacific | |
| 2000 | Colorado State | 3–2 15–8, 8–15, 15–12, 11–15, 17–15 | UCLA | Gainesville, Florida | Courtney Cox, Colorado State | |
| 2001 | Nebraska | 3–1 30–21, 32–30, 27–30, 30–24 | Pacific | Stockton, California | Nancy Metcalf, Nebraska | |
| 2002 | Stanford | 3–1 30–21, 24–30, 30–27, 30–21 | Minnesota | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Logan Tom, Stanford | |
| 2003 | Southern California | 3–0 30–22, 30–26, 31–29 | Hawaiʻi | Honolulu, Hawaii | April Ross, Southern California | |
| 2004 | Southern California | 3–2 25–30, 32–30, 26–30, 30–28, 15–12 | Minnesota | Fort Collins, Colorado | Bibiana Candelas, Southern California | |
| 2005 | Nebraska | 3–0 30–23, 31–29, 33–31 | Stanford | Omaha, Nebraska | Christina Houghtelling, Nebraska | |
| 2006 | Texas | 3–2 30–23, 24–30, 30–27, 28–30, 15–13 | Washington | Madison, Wisconsin | Michelle Moriarty, Texas | |
| 2007 | Nebraska | 3–1 30–23, 22–30, 30–18, 30–21 | UCLA | Omaha, Nebraska | Sarah Pavan, Nebraska |
In 2008, the AVCA announced that the showcase would take on a new format. Instead of four teams competing in a tradition 1st–4th place tournament, it would be two teams from an athletic conference taking on two teams from another athletic conference. The two teams from the same conference do not play each other. The tournament was held in Omaha, Nebraska at the Qwest Center through 2010, and was known as Rockvale Outlets/AVCA Showcase and was held at Penn State in 2011.
| Year | Conferences | National rank/teams/record | Records for tournament | City | All-Tournament Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Big 12 Pac-10 |
| v. Stanford: W 3–0; v. Southern California W 3–1 v. Southern California W 3–0; v. Stanford L 2–3 v. Nebraska L 0–3; v. Texas W 3–2 v. Texas L 0–3; v. Nebraska L 1–3 | Omaha, Nebraska Qwest Center | Jordan Larson (Neb.) Sydney Anderson (Neb.) Kayla Banwarth (Neb.) Destinee Hooker (Tex.) Ashley Engle (Tex.) Cynthia Barboza (Stan.) Cassidy Lichtman (Stan.) Alex Jupiter (USC) | |
| 2009 | Big Ten Big 12 |
| v. Kansas State W 3–2; v. Nebraska L 2–3 v. Nebraska W 3–0; v. Kansas State W 3–1 v. Michigan: L 0–3; v. Minnesota W 3–2 v. Minnesota L 2–3; v. Michigan L 1–3 | Omaha, Nebraska Qwest Center | Alex Hunt (Mich.) Juliana Paz (Mich.) Lexi Zimmerman (Mich.) Taylor Carico (Minn.) Lauren Gibbemeyer (Minn.) Sydney Anderson (Neb.) Brooke Delano (Neb) Kelsey Chipman (KSU) | |
| 2010 | Big 12 SEC |
| v. Kentucky W 3–0; v. Florida L 2–3 v. Florida L 1–3; v. Kentucky W 3–0 v. Iowa State: W 3–1; v. Nebraska W 3–2 v. Nebraska L 0–3; v. Iowa State L 0–3 | Omaha, Nebraska Qwest Center | Blaire Hiller (Ky.) Victoria Henson (Iowa St.) Alison Landwehr (Iowa St.) Kayla Banwarth (Neb.) Lindsey Licht (Neb.) Lauren Bledsoe (Fl.) Callie Rivers (Fl.) Kelly Murphy (Fl) | |
| 2011 | Big Ten Pac-12 |
| v. Oregon L 1–3; v. USC W 3–2 v. USC L 2–3; v. Oregon W 3–2 v. Penn State: W 3–1; v. Minnesota L 2–3 v. Minnesota W 3–2; v. Penn State L 2–3 | University Park, Pennsylvania Rec Hall | Deja McClendon (PSU) Micha Hancock (PSU) Ashley Wittman (Minn.) Jessica Granquist (Minn.) Alaina Bergsma (Ore.) Alex Jupiter (USC.) |
The following is a list of teams that participated, but never won or finished as runners-up in the tournament.
| Year(s) participated and finish | Team |
|---|---|
| 1997: 3rd | Brigham Young |
| 1995: 4th | Cal State Northridge |
| 2004: 4th | Georgia Tech |
| 1996: 4th | Illinois State |
| 2003: 4th; 2009: 4th | Kansas State |
| 1998: 4th | New Mexico |
| 2002: 3rd | Northern Iowa |
| 2006: 4th | Ohio |
| 2002: 4th | Pepperdine |
| 2007: 4th | Tennessee |
| 1997: 4th | Texas A&M |
| 2007: 4th | Utah |
| 1998: 3rd; 2001: 3rd; 2006: 3rd | Wisconsin |