The 2020 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on April 14, 2021, and concluded on April 24 at the CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. The tournament field was announced on April 4, 2021. Typically held in the fall, this edition of the tournament was held in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kentucky beat Texas in the final to claim the first national volleyball championship not only for Kentucky, but also for its home of the Southeastern Conference.
Tournament schedule and venues
First round, second round and Regional semifinals (April 14, 15 and 18) CHI Health Center Omaha (Convention Center), Omaha, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln)
Regional Finals, National semifinals and championship (April 19, 22 and 24) CHI Health Center Omaha (Arena), Omaha, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln)
All games were played at the CHI Health Center Omaha. Twelve courts were built in the Convention Center portion of the building, 8 for practices and 4 for games. Attendance was limited to 80 people per game for the first and second rounds, mostly consisting of team family members. Additional fans were admitted as teams went home. Games moved from the convention center to the CHI Health Center Omaha arena for the regional finals, semifinals, and national championship.
Qualifying teams
Automatic qualifiers
The following teams automatically qualified for the 2020 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament. Only 30 conference champions received automatic qualifiers after the Big West Conference and Ivy League chose not to have a 2020 fall or 2021 spring season. This was the first tournament appearance for North Carolina A&T and Utah Valley.
ConferenceTeamRecordACCLouisville14−2America EastUMBC11–3AmericanUCF 16−1ASUNLipscomb 17−2Atlantic 10Dayton 13−1Big 12Texas23–1Big EastCreighton 12–3 Big SkyWeber State18–1Big SouthHigh Point16–0Big TenWisconsin13–0Big WestBig West Conference season canceledColonialTowson 6–0C-USAWestern Kentucky 21–0HorizonWright State16–1IvyIvy League season canceledMAACRider7–4MACBowling Green22–1MEACNorth Carolina A&T11–1Missouri ValleyIllinois State16–5Mountain WestUNLV 12–0NortheastLIU9–5 Ohio ValleyMorehead State16–1Pac-12Washington17–3PatriotArmy West Point16–2SECKentucky19–1 SouthernSamford 15–3 SouthlandTexas A&M-Corpus Christi14–4 SWACJackson State11–0SummitSouth Dakota 15–6 Sun BeltTexas State30–8 West CoastBYU 16–1 WACUtah Valley14–5
Tournament seeds
+Top Left RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 1 28Wisconsin Big Ten Automatic 13–0 8 36Florida SEC At-Large 19–3 9 57 Ohio State Big Ten At-Large 15–3 16 13 BYU WCC Automatic 16–1 16 Bowling Green MAC Automatic 22–1 8 Creighton Big East Automatic 12–3 76 Missouri SEC At-Large 15–7 25 Morehead State OVC Automatic 16–1 100 Rider MAAC Automatic 7–4 50 South Dakota Summit Automatic 15–6 61 UCLA Pac-12 At–Large 14–6 6 Weber State Big Sky Automatic 18–1+Bottom Left RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 4 3 Texas Big 12 Automatic 23–1 5 52 Nebraska Big Ten At-Large 14–2 12 10 Baylor Big 12 At-Large 19–6 13 85 Penn State Big Ten At-Large 9–5 121 North Carolina A&T MEAC Automatic 11–1 37 Pepperdine WCC At–Large 16–3 24 Rice C-USA At-Large 16–5 49 Samford SoCon Automatic 15–3 33 Texas State Sun Belt Automatic 30–8 46 UMBC America East Automatic 11–3 42 Utah Valley WAC Automatic 14–5 18 Wright State Horizon Automatic 16–1+Top Right RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 3 21 Minnesota Big Ten At–Large 15–2 6 48 Washington Pac-12 Automatic 17–3 11 12 Louisville ACC Automatic 14−2 14 75 Utah Pac-12 At–Large 16–4 29 Dayton A-10 Automatic 13−1 34 Georgia Tech ACC At–Large 13–4 78 Lipscomb ASUN Automatic 17–2 189 LIU NEC Automatic 9−5 20 Pittsburgh ACC At–Large 16–4 58 San Diego WCC At–Large 12–4 59 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Southland Automatic 14–4 2 Towson CAA Automatic 6–0+Bottom Right RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 2 32 Kentucky SEC Automatic 19–1 7 53 Purdue Big Ten At-Large 14–6 10 54 Oregon Pac-12 At-Large 14–4 15 90 Washington State Pac-12 At-Large 11–4 1 Army West Point Patriot Automatic 16–2 17 High Point Big South Automatic 16–0 40 Illinois State MVC Automatic 16–5 70 Jackson State SWAC Automatic 11–0 15 Notre Dame ACC At-Large 14–3 5 UCF AAC Automatic 16−1 7 UNLV Mountain West Automatic 12–0 14 Western Kentucky C-USA Automatic 21–0
Bracket
Top Left Regional
Schedule
First round
Second round
Regional semifinals Due to BYU's "No Sunday Play" policy, the BYU regional semifinal was moved to April 17.
Regional final
Bottom Left Regional
Schedule
First round
Second round
Regional semifinals
Regional final
Top Right Regional
Schedule
First round
Second round
Regional semifinals
Regional final
Bottom Right Regional
Schedule
First round
Second round
Regional semifinals
Regional final
Final four
National semifinals
National championship
Final Four All-Tournament Team
Madison Lilley – Kentucky (Most Outstanding Player) Alli Stumler – Kentucky Avery Skinner – Kentucky Brionne Butler – Texas Logan Eggleston – Texas Samantha Drechsel – Washington Devyn Robinson – Wisconsin
Media coverage For the first time ever all matches will air on the ESPN Family of networks. Rounds 1 and 2 will stream on ESPN3. Initially ESPN didn't plan to provide commentators for these rounds. After criticism from fans and coaches they changed course and announced they would provide commentary for the first two rounds. The regional semifinals will have select matches on ESPN2 and ESPNU with the remainder on ESPN3. All regional finals will air on ESPN2 or ESPNU, ESPN will carry the semifinals, and ESPN2 will carry the national championship.
First & Second Rounds Mike Monaco (Court 1 Afternoon) Courtney Lyle (Court 1 Evening) Matt Schick (Court 2 Afternoon) Sam Gore (Court 2 Evening) Sam Ravech (Court 3 Wed. Afternoon) Eric Frede (Court 3 Thurs. Afternoon) Tyler Denning (Court 3 Evening) Alex Perlman (Court 4 Afternoon) Paul Sunderland (Court 4 Evening)
Regional semifinals & Regional Finals Eric Frede and Katie George (Court 1 Sun. Afternoon) Courtney Lyle and Missy Whittemore (Court 3 Sun. Afternoon, Mon. Afternoon) Paul Sunderland and Salima Rockwell (Court 1 Sun. Evening, Mon. Evening) Tyler Denning and Jenny Hazelwood (Sat., Court 3 Sun. Evening)
Semifinals & national championship Paul Sunderland, Salima Rockwell, and Holly Rowe
Records by Conference
ConferenceBidsRecordWin %R32S16E8F4CMNCSEC38–232211 1Big 1225–222111Big Ten610–66631Pac-1255–55211ACC47–4421West Coast33–331C-USA22–211Atlantic 1011–11 Big Sky11–11 Big South11–11Horizon11–11 MEAC11–11 Mountain West11–11 Ohio Valley11–11 Sun Belt11–11 12 Others120–12
The R32, S16, E8, F4, CM, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the Round of 32 (second round), Round of 16 (third round), quarterfinals (Elite Eight), semi-finals (Final Four), championship match, and national champion, respectively. The following conferences failed to place a team into the round of 32: America East, Big East, Colonial, MAAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Summit, and the WAC. The conference's records have been consolidated in the other row.
Notes
References