Nebraska, Stanford, Wisconsin, Pitt get top 4 NCAA volleyball bracket seeds
Nebraska’s Harper Murray attacks against the Wisconsin block of Anna Smrek, left, and CC Crawford during their match this past Friday/Zach Schuster photo
The 64-team NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament bracket was announced Sunday and the No. 1 seeds are Big Ten-champion Nebraska, Pac-12-champion Stanford, Big Ten-runner-up Wisconsin and ACC-champion Pittsburgh.
There were, as there are every year, some surprises. The SEC led with eight teams and the Big 12 got seven. The Sun Belt Conference, which hadn’t gotten an at-large since 2011, got four teams.
Top 16 seeds
The top four teams, if they win, get to be the hosts for the third and fourth rounds. The top 16 are home for the first and second rounds:
1. Nebraska (28-1): The Huskers were the leaders from wire to wire. Their only loss came this past Friday at Wisconsin in a season in which Nebraska dominated. Nebraska plays LIU and Delaware plays Missouri.
2. Stanford (26-3): The Cardinal won the Pac-12 by three games and had few stumbles all season. Stanford plays Fresno State and Houston plays 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 plays Northern Iowa.
4. Pittsburgh (25-4): Pittsburgh went to the last two national semifinals. This is its highest seed yet, The Panthers play Coppin State and USC plays UMBC.
5. Louisville (24-4): Louisville went to the 2021 national semifinals and then lost in last year’s title match to Texas. The Cardinals play Wright State and Western Michigan plays Auburn.
6. Oregon (26-5): The Ducks finished second to Stanford and have won five in a row and eight of nine. The only loss was to Stanford. Oregon plays Southeastern Louisiana and Iowa State plays Hawai’i.
7. Texas (22-4): The defending national champions dominated the Big 12, winning by three games. The Longhorns play Texas A&M and Texas State plays SMU.
8. Kentucky (19-7): The Wildcats are not only the SEC champions, but have won 16 in a row, the last eight against teams in the NCAA field, losing just three sets along the way. Kentucky plays Wofford and James Madison plays Baylor.
9. Arkansas (25-5): The diminutive Razorbacks have confounded opponents all season long and lead the SEC in opponent hitting percentage (.183). Arkansas plays Stephen F. Austin and TCU plays Florida State.
10. Tennessee (24-4): The Vols, who lead the SEC in hitting percentage (.304), had won eight in a row before inexplicably getting swept by South Carolina on Saturday. The Vols play High Point and Western Kentucky plays Coastal Carolina.
11. Purdue (21-8): Purdue tied Penn State for third in the Big Ten and has won six in a row, which includes beating Penn State, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Boilermakers play Fairfield and Eastern Illinois plays Marquette.
12. Creighton (27-4): The Bluejays have won 15 matches in a row, losing one set during that time. Creighton plays Colgate and Minnesota plays Utah State.
13. Washington State (24-7): The Cougars were teetering two weeks ago after losing four of five. But they finished the Pac-12 regular season by winning five in a row, including beating USC and Arizona State. WSU plays Grand Canyon and Pepperdine plays Dayton.
14. Kansas (23-5): KU finished second to Texas in the Big 12 after winning its last five and 11 of 12. The Jayhawks play Omaha and Yale plays Penn State.
15. BYU (24-6): No matter the league, the Cougars are postseason ready. BYU moved from the West Coast Conference and finished third in the Big 12. BYU plays Weber State and Georgia plays Arizona State.
16. Florida (18-9): The Gators got a hosting nod despite finishing fifth in the SEC, losing two of their last three. Florida, which lost its starting setter and starting middle, had an RPI of 19-25 depending on the criteria (the NCAA hasn’t released its RPI since last Sunday) and a KPI of 21. The Gators play FGCU and Georgia Tech plays South Alabama.
NCAA committee chair Holly Strauss-O’Brien, the deputy director of athletics/senior women’s administrator at Loyola Chicago, who will join us later Sunday night on our post-selection show Zoom, told us the last four in were Miami, Texas A&M, UC Santa Barbara and Stephen Austin. We’ll ask her about the last four out.
The first and second rounds will be shown entirely on ESPN+. Play begins Thursday.
Click here for the bracket at NCAA.com
Conference breakdown
The following leagues got more than one team in:
SEC (8): Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas A&M, Auburn, Georgia
Big 12 (7): Texas, Kansas, BYU, Iowa State, Houston, Baylor, TCU
ACC (5): Florida State, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Miami
Big Ten (5): Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota
Pac-12 (5): Stanford, Oregon, Wash State, Arizona State, USC
Sun Belt (4): Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Texas State, South Alabama
Big East (2): Creighton, Marquette
Mountain West (2): Fresno State, Utah State
WAC (2): Grand Canyon, Stephen F. Austin
Big West (2): Hawaii, UCSB
Worth noting
— Wisconsin, Purdue and Penn State are all in the top right quadrant of the bracket.
— The teams sent to the No. 1 seeds include LIU of the NEC at Nebraska, Coppin State of the MEAC at Pittsburgh, Jackson State of the SWAC at Wisconsin and Fresno State, the surprise winner of the Mountain West, at Stanford.
— Pittsburgh and Louisville, if they both advance, would meet in the round of eight.
— Three other Texas teams are at Texas, as the Longhorns play Texas A&M and SMU plays Texas State.
— Three Nebraska teams are in the field, Nebraska, Creighton and Omaha.
— Four teams are in for the first time, Coppin State, Grand Canyon, Omaha and Wofford.
— The teams with the longest winning streaks are Atlantic 10-champion Dayton (26), Conference 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 Big East-champion Creighton (15).
History
Texas swept Louisville for the 2022 national title, its first since 2012. In the semifinals, Texas San Diego, making its first national semifinals appearance, and Louisville beat Pittsburgh in five as two ACC teams made their second and back-to-back final-four appearances.
Just 12 programs have won since the NCAA began holding women’s volleyball championships in 1981: Stanford (9 times), Penn State (7), Nebraska (5), UCLA (4), Hawai’i (3), Long Beach State (3), USC (3), Texas (3), Pacific (2), Kentucky (1), Wisconsin (1) and Washington (1).
Kentucky of the SEC is the only team outside of the Big Ten or Pac-12 to win the crown since Texas of the Big 12 won in 2012.
The NCAA committee
Here are volleyball-related notes about the 10-member committee.
The chair is Holly Strauss-O’Brien, the deputy director of athletics/senior women’s administrator at Loyola Chicago. The Canadian played at North Carolina and has been the coach at Connecticut and deputy athletics director at Hartford. She’s been at Loyola since 2018.
The two East members are Stacy Kosciak, SWA and deputy AD at Bowling Green, and Christian Bray, the SWA at Harvard. Strauss-O’Brien is also listed as being a rep for the East. Kosciak is a former head coach at UNC Greensboro. Bray’s bio does not show that she has been involved in volleyball.
The South reps are Joeleen Akin, executive associate AD and SWA at Georgia Tech, and Chris Plonsky, the executive senior associate 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 associate AD at Coastal Carolina, and Jennifer Saxon, SWA and executive associate AD at Mississippi. Rosiek played softball at Coastal. Saxon’s bio makes no reference to volleyball.
The West member is Amy Crosbie, SWA and executive associate AD at Utah State. She played for Utah State (1997-2000) and went to the NCAA Tournament. She still ranks near the top of some of Utah State’s stat lists. She also served as a Utah State assistant for two years before moving into administration.
The two Midwest members are Danielle Josetti, executive associate athletic director of compliance and marketing and sales at Marquette, and the Missouri Valley Conference’s Kirsten E. McGowan, associate commissioner for championship and student-athlete experience. Josetti, who finished undergrad at Marquette, was a junior-college softball standout. McGowan is a graduate of Division II West Texas A&M where she was a middle blocker in volleyball and a track athlete.
We will have more VolleyballMag.com coverage and features all week. Later Sunday night, look for our Zoom with, among 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.
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