The 2023 DII women's volleyball championship saw a brand-new winner as Cal State LA took down the defending champion West Texas A&M Buffaloes for its first title.
Here's a look at how the tournament works.
When did the DII women's volleyball championship begin
Prior to the formation of NCAA Division II, there were seven Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women champions, the last being Hawaii-Hilo in 1981. That same season, the NCAA DII women's volleyball championship crowned its first champion, with Sacramento State blanking Lewis in straight sets for the first title in the history of the sport.
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Building the DII women's volleyball bracket: How to get in the tournament
The DII women's volleyball championship starts with 64 teams. Twenty-three of those teams that make up the field enter the tournament via an automatic bid from winning their respective conferences. Those 23 conferences are:
- California Collegiate Athletic Association
- Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
- Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- Conference Carolinas
- East Coast Conference
- Great American Conference
- Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Great Lakes Valley Conference
- The Great Midwest Athletic Conference
- Great Northwest Athletic Conference
- Gulf South Conference
- Lone Star Conference
- Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
- Mountain East Conference
- Northeast-10 Conference
- Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
- Pacific West Conference
- Peach Belt Conference
- Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
- Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
- South Atlantic Conference
- Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Sunshine State Conference
So, how about those other 41 schools attempting to win the DII women's volleyball title? The selection committee will pick those at-large bids. If a school has a DII record of at least .500 and has played at least 60 percent of its games against a DII institution with a minimum of 15 DII matches, then it is eligible for an at-large bid.
The process begins three weeks prior to the end of the season when the regional rankings are released. These NCAA polls break the conferences into eight regions and rank the top 10 teams per region. Now, those can change over the next three weeks of course, but we start to see how the top eight from each region will pan out. In making the final selections for the 41 at-large bids, the committee looks at the following criteria:
- DII in-region winning percentage
- Overall DII winning percentage
- DII strength of schedule
- DII head-to-head competition
- Results versus common DII opponents
- In-region RPI
- In-region non-conference won-lost record
- Performance Indicator
Once the 41 at-large bids are chosen, the NCAA announces the 64-team field in a selection show right here on krikya18.com.
What does the DII women's volleyball bracket look like?
Much like March Madness, the 64-team DII women's volleyball bracket is set up in a single-elimination format. The eight regions begin play in regional tournaments and the winner advances to the final site where the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship match are all played. Once at the final site, the eight teams are seeded No. 1 through 8 and play begins with the highest-seeded teams "hosting" the lowest-seeded teams. This process of seeding at the final eight site began in 2016 and the No. 1 seed — Concordia-St. Paul in 2016 and '17, Tampa in 2018, Cal State San Bernardino in 2019, and then Tampa again in 2021 — had won every year under the new format until No. 3 West Texas A&M broke through last year.
The complete history of the DII women's volleyball championship
Concordia-St. Paul is doing its best to make the DII volleyball record books all its own. Since 2007, the Golden Bears have won nine titles, the most in the 38-year history of the DII volleyball championship. Below is a complete list of every championship match since the 1981 season.
| YEAR | CHAMPION (RECORD) | COACH | SCORE | RUNNER-UP | SITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Cal State LA (24-10) | Juan Figueroa 3-1 | West Texas A&M | Moon Township, PA | |
| 2022 | West Texas A&M (33-4) | Kendra Potts. 3-1 | Concordia-St. Paul | Seattle, Wash. | |
| 2021 | Tampa (34-2) | Chris Catanach 3-0 | Washburn | Tampa, FL. | |
| 2020 | No champion | Canceled - COVID-19 | |||
| 2019 | Cal State San Bernardino (33-0) | Kim Cherniss | 3-1 | Nebraska-Kearney | Denver, Co. |
| 2018 | Tampa (33-4) | Chris Catanach | 3-2 | Western Washington | Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| 2017 | Concordia-St. Paul (34-3) | Brady Starkey | 3-0 | Florida Southern | Pensacola, Fla. |
| 2016 | Concordia-St. Paul (32-4) | Brady Starkey | 3-0 | Alaska Anchorage | Sioux Falls, S.D. |
| 2015 | Wheeling Jesuit (39-4) | Christy Benner | 3-0 | Palm Beach Atlantic | Tampa, Fla. |
| 2014 | Tampa (33-1) | Chris Catanach | 3-0 | S'west Minnesota State | Louisville, Ky. |
| 2013 | Concordia-St. Paul (35-3) | Brady Starkey | 3-0 | BYU-Hawaii | Cedar Rapids, Iowa |
| 2012 | Concordia-St. Paul (34-4) | Brady Starkey | 3-2 | Tampa | Pensacola, Fla. |
| 2011 | Concordia-St. Paul (34-2) | Brady Starkey | 3-0 | Cal State San Bernardino | Cal State San Bernardino |
| 2010 | Concordia-St. Paul (32-4) | Brady Starkey | 3-1 | Tampa | Louisville, Ky. |
| 2009 | Concordia-St. Paul (37-0) | Brady Starkey | 3-0 | West Texas A&M | Concordia-St. Paul |
| 2008 | Concordia-St. Paul (37-1) | Brady Starkey | 3-2 | Cal State San Bernardino | Concordia-St. Paul |
| 2007 | Concordia-St. Paul (36-4) | Brady Starkey | 3-1 | Western Washington | Washburn |
| 2006 | Tampa (35-1) | Chris Catanach | 3-1 | North Alabama | West Florida |
| 2005 | Grand Valley State (32-1) | Deanne Scanlon | 3-1 | Nebraska-Kearney | Nebraska-Kearney |
| 2004 | Barry (34-1) | Dave Nichols | 3-1 | Truman | Barry |
| 2003 | North Alabama (33-7) | Matt Peck | 3-0 | Concordia-St. Paul | Cal State San Bernardino |
| 2002 | BYU-Hawaii (27-2) | Wilfred Navalta | 3-0 | Truman | West Texas A&M |
| 2001 | Barry (32-2) | Dave Nichols | 3-0 | South Dakota State | Grand Valley State |
| 2000 | Hawaii Pacific (28-0) | Tita Ahuna | 3-0 | Augustana (S.D.) | Augustana (S.D.) |
| 1999 | BYU-Hawaii (30-2) | Wilfred Navalta | 3-0 | Tampa | Battle Creek, Mich. |
| 1998 | Hawaii Pacific (31-5) | Tita Ahuna | 3-1 | North Dakota State | Kissimmee, Fla. |
| 1997 | West Texas A&M (37-1) | Debbie Hendricks | 3-2 | Barry | Cal State Bakersfield |
| 1996 | Nebraska-Omaha (35-2) | Rose Shires | 3-2 | Tampa | Central Missouri |
| 1995 | Barry (34-2) | Leonid Yelin | 3-1 | Northern Michigan | Barry |
| 1994 | Northern Michigan (32-4) | Mark Rosen | 3-1 | Cal State Bakersfield | Cal State Bakersfield |
| 1993 | Northern Michigan (38-1) | Jim Moore | 3-1 | Cal State Bakersfield | Northern Michigan |
| 1992 | Portland State (36-1) | Jeff Mozzochi | 3-2 | Northern Michigan | Portland State |
| 1991 | West Texas A&M (36-2) | Jim Giacomazzi | 3-0 | Portland State | West Texas A&M |
| 1990 | West Texas A&M (38-1) | Kim Hudson | 3-0 | North Dakota State | Cal State Bakersfield |
| 1989 | Cal State Bakersfield (21-15) | David Rubio | 3-0 | Sacramento State | Cal State Bakersfield |
| 1988 | Portland State (36-5) | Jeff Mozzochi | 3-0 | Cal State Northridge | North Dakota State |
| 1987 | Cal State Northridge (35-6) | Walt Ker | 3-2 | Central Missouri | Nebraska-Omaha |
| 1986 | UC Riverside (29-7) | Sue Gozansky | 3-0 | Cal State Northridge | Sacramento State |
| 1985 | Portland State (36-5) | Jeff Mozzochi | 3-1 | Cal State Northridge | Portland State |
| 1984 | Portland State (33-4) | Jeff Mozzochi | 3-0 | Cal State Northridge | Portland State |
| 1983 | Cal State Northridge (30- 6) | Walt Ker | 3-2 | Portland State | Florida Southern |
| 1982 | UC Riverside (31-5) | Sue Gozansky | 3-0 | Cal State Northridge | Cal State Northridge |
| 1981 | Sacramento State (28-6) | Debby Colberg | 3-0 | Lewis | UC Riverside |
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