NCAA Ladies
November 26, 2023
The 64-team NCAA Division I ladies’s volleyball event bracket was introduced Sunday and the No. 1 seeds are Huge Ten-champion Nebraska, Pac-12-champion Stanford, Huge Ten-runner-up Wisconsin and ACC-champion Pittsburgh.
There have been, as there are yearly, some surprises. The SEC led with eight groups and the Huge 12 acquired seven. The Solar Belt Convention, which hadn’t gotten an at-large since 2011, acquired 4 groups.
High 16 seeds
The highest 4 groups, in the event that they win, get to be the hosts for the third and fourth rounds. The highest 16 are residence for the primary and second rounds:
 1. Nebraska (28-1): The Huskers had been the leaders from wire to wire. Their solely loss got here this previous Friday at Wisconsin in a season through which Nebraska dominated. Nebraska performs LIU and Delaware performs Missouri.
 2. Stanford (26-3): The Cardinal gained the Pac-12 by three video games and had few stumbles all season. Stanford performs Fresno State and Houston performs UC Santa Barbara.
 3. Wisconsin (26-3): Wisconsin was hitting on all cylinders when it swept Nebraska on Friday. The Badgers play Jackson State and Miami performs Northern Iowa.
 4. Pittsburgh (25-4): Pittsburgh went to the final two nationwide semifinals. The Panthers. loaded with freshmen, play Coppin State and USC performs UMBC.
 5. Louisville (24-4): Louisville went to the 2021 nationwide semifinals after which misplaced in final 12 months’s title match to Texas. The Cardinals play Wright State and Western Michigan performs Auburn.
 6. Oregon (26-5): The Geese completed second to Stanford and have gained 5 in a row and eight of 9. The one loss was to Stanford. Oregon performs Southeastern Louisiana and Iowa State performs Hawai’i.
 7. Texas (22-4): The defending nationwide champions dominated the Huge 12, successful by three video games. The Longhorns play Texas A&M and Texas State performs SMU.
 8. Kentucky (19-7): The Wildcats are usually not solely the SEC champions, however have gained 16 in a row, the final eight in opposition to groups within the NCAA subject, dropping simply three units alongside the best way. Kentucky performs Wofford and James Madison performs Baylor.
 9. Arkansas (25-5): The diminutive Razorbacks have confounded opponents all season lengthy and lead the SEC in opponent hitting share (.183). Arkansas performs Stephen F. Austin and TCU performs Florida State.
10. Tennessee (24-4): The Vols, who lead the SEC in hitting share (.304), had gained eight in a row earlier than inexplicably getting swept by South Carolina on Saturday. The Vols play Excessive Level and Western Kentucky performs Coastal Carolina.
11. Purdue (21-8): Purdue tied Penn State for third within the Huge Ten and has gained six in a row, which incorporates beating Penn State, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Boilermakers play Fairfield and Japanese Illinois performs Marquette.
12. Creighton (27-4): The Bluejays have gained 15 matches in a row, dropping one set throughout that point. Creighton performs Colgate and Minnesota performs Utah State.
13. Washington State (24-7): The Cougars had been teetering two weeks in the past after dropping 4 of 5. However they completed the Pac-12 common season by successful 5 in a row, together with beating USC and Arizona State. WSU performs Grand Canyon and Pepperdine performs Dayton.
14. Kansas (23-5): KU completed second to Texas within the Huge 12 after successful its final 5 and 11 of 12. The Jayhawks play Omaha and Yale performs Penn State.
15. BYU (24-6): Regardless of the league, the Cougars are postseason prepared. BYU moved from the West Coast Convention and completed third within the Huge 12. BYU performs Weber State and Georgia performs Arizona State.
16. Florida (18-9): The Gators acquired a internet hosting nod regardless of ending fifth within the SEC, dropping two of their final three. Florida, which misplaced its beginning setter and beginning center, had an RPI of 19-25 relying on the standards (the NCAA hasn’t launched its RPI since final Sunday) and a KPI of 21. The Gators play FGCU and Georgia Tech performs South Alabama.
NCAA committee chair Holly Strauss-O’Brien, the deputy director of athletics/senior ladies’s administrator at Loyola Chicago, who will be a part of us later Sunday evening on our post-selection present Zoom, advised us the final 4 in had been Miami, Texas A&M, UC Santa Barbara and Stephen Austin. We’ll ask her in regards to the final 4 out.
The primary and second rounds might be proven totally on ESPN+. Play begins Thursday.
Click on right here for the bracket at NCAA.com
Convention breakdown
The next leagues acquired multiple staff in:
SEC (8): Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas A&M, Auburn, Georgia
Huge 12 (7): Texas, Kansas, BYU, Iowa State, Houston, Baylor, TCU
ACC (5): Florida State, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Miami
Huge Ten (5): Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota
Pac-12 (5): Stanford, Oregon, Wash State, Arizona State, USC
Solar Belt (4): Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Texas State, South Alabama
Huge East (2): Creighton, Marquette
Mountain West (2): Fresno State, Utah State
WAC (2): Grand Canyon, Stephen F. Austin
Huge West (2): Hawaii, UCSB
Price noting
— Wisconsin, Purdue and Penn State are all within the prime proper quadrant of the bracket.
— The groups despatched to the No. 1 seeds embody LIU of the NEC at Nebraska, Coppin State of the MEAC at Pittsburgh, Jackson State of the SWAC at Wisconsin and Fresno State, the shock winner of the Mountain West, at Stanford.
— Pittsburgh and Louisville, in the event that they each advance, would meet within the spherical of eight.
— Three different Texas groups are at Texas, because the Longhorns play Texas A&M and SMU performs Texas State.
— Three Nebraska groups are within the subject, Nebraska, Creighton and Omaha.
— 4 groups are in for the primary time,  Coppin State, Grand Canyon, Omaha and Wofford.
— The groups with the longest successful streaks are Atlantic 10-champion Dayton (26), Convention USA-champion Western Kentucky (24), Missouri Valley-champion Northern Iowa (21), MAC-champion Western Michigan (20), Ivy League-champion Yale (17), SEC-champion Kentucky (16), American Athletic-champion SMU (15), and Huge East-champion Creighton (15).
Historical past
Texas swept Louisville for the 2022 nationwide title, its first since 2012. Within the semifinals, Texas San Diego, making its first nationwide semifinals look, and Louisville beat Pittsburgh in 5 as two ACC groups made their second and back-to-back final-four appearances.
Simply 12 applications have gained for the reason that NCAA started holding ladies’s volleyball championships in 1981: Stanford (9 occasions), Penn State (7), Nebraska (5), UCLA (4), Hawai’i (3), Lengthy Seashore State (3), USC (3), Texas (3), Pacific (2), Kentucky (1), Wisconsin (1) and Washington (1).
Kentucky of the SEC was the one staff outdoors of the Huge Ten or Pac-12 to win the crown since Texas of the Huge 12 gained in 2012 when it gained within the spring of 2021.
The NCAA committee
Listed here are volleyball-related notes in regards to the 10-member committee.
The chair is Holly Strauss-O’Brien, the deputy director of athletics/senior ladies’s administrator at Loyola Chicago. The Canadian performed at North Carolina and has been the coach at Connecticut and deputy athletics director at Hartford. She’s been at Loyola since 2018.
The 2 East members are Stacy Kosciak, SWA and deputy AD at Bowling Inexperienced, and Christian Bray, the SWA at Harvard. Strauss-O’Brien can also be listed as being a rep for the East. Kosciak is a former head coach at UNC Greensboro. Bray’s bio doesn’t present that she has been concerned in volleyball.
The South reps are Joeleen Akin, govt affiliate AD and SWA at Georgia Tech, and Chris Plonsky, the chief senior affiliate AD at Texas. Akin’s bio notes that she was a member of the DIII volleyball regional advisory committee from 2014-16.
The Southeast members are Cari Rosiek, SWA and affiliate AD at Coastal Carolina, and Jennifer Saxon, SWA and govt affiliate AD at Mississippi. Rosiek performed softball at Coastal. Saxon’s bio makes no reference to volleyball.
The West member is Amy Crosbie, SWA and govt affiliate AD at Utah State. She performed for Utah State (1997-2000) and went to the NCAA Match. She nonetheless ranks close to the highest of a few of Utah State’s stat lists. She additionally served as a Utah State assistant for 2 years earlier than transferring into administration.
The 2 Midwest members are Danielle Josetti, govt affiliate athletic director of compliance and advertising and gross sales at Marquette, and the Missouri Valley Convention’s Kirsten E. McGowan, affiliate commissioner for championship and student-athlete expertise. Josetti, who completed undergrad at Marquette, was a junior-college softball standout. McGowan is a graduate of Division II West Texas A&M the place she was a center blocker in volleyball and a observe athlete.
We may have extra VolleyballMag.com protection and options all week. Later Sunday evening, search for our Zoom with, amongst others, Stanford’s Kami Miner, Nebraska’s Lexi Rodriguez, Pitt’s Dan Fisher, Oregon’s Matt Ulmer, Wisconsin’s Kelly Sheffield, and the chair of NCAA Division I committee, Holly Strauss-O’Brien of Loyola Chicago.