# 2020 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

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)
Regional Finals, National semifinals and championship (April 19, 22 and 24)
* CHI Health Center Omaha (Arena), Omaha, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska)
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.
| Conference | Team | Record |
| ACC | Louisville | 14−2 |
| America East | UMBC | 11–3 |
| American | UCF | 16−1 |
| ASUN | Lipscomb | 17−2 |
| Atlantic 10 | Dayton | 13−1 |
| Big 12 | Texas | 23–1 |
| Big East | Creighton | 12–3 |
| Big Sky | Weber State | 18–1 |
| Big South | High Point | 16–0 |
| Big Ten | Wisconsin | 13–0 |
| Big West | Big West Conference season canceled | Big West Conference season canceled |
| Colonial | Towson | 6–0 |
| C-USA | Western Kentucky | 21–0 |
| Horizon | Wright State | 16–1 |
| Ivy | Ivy League season canceled | Ivy League season canceled |
| MAAC | Rider | 7–4 |
| MAC | Bowling Green | 22–1 |
| MEAC | North Carolina A&T | 11–1 |
| Missouri Valley | Illinois State | 16–5 |
| Mountain West | UNLV | 12–0 |
| Northeast | LIU | 9–5 |
| Ohio Valley | Morehead State | 16–1 |
| Pac-12 | Washington | 17–3 |
| Patriot | Army West Point | 16–2 |
| SEC | Kentucky | 19–1 |
| Southern | Samford | 15–3 |
| Southland | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 14–4 |
| SWAC | Jackson State | 11–0 |
| Summit | South Dakota | 15–6 |
| Sun Belt | Texas State | 30–8 |
| West Coast | BYU | 16–1 |
| WAC | Utah Valley | 14–5 |

### Tournament seeds

Top Left Regional :
| Seed | RPI | School | Conference | Berth type | Record |
| 1 | 28 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | Automatic | 13–0 |
| 8 | 36 | Florida | 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 Regional :
| Seed | RPI | School | Conference | Berth type | Record |
| 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 Regional :
| Seed | RPI | School | Conference | Berth type | Record |
| 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 Regional :
| Seed | RPI | School | Conference | Berth type | Record |
| 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

| First round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 14 | First round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 14 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 17 & 18 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 17 & 18 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 17 & 18 | | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 |
| | | 1 | Wisconsin | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Weber State | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Bowling Green | 1 | | Weber State | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Weber State | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Weber State | 3 | | | | 1 | Wisconsin | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | | 16 | BYU | 0 | | | | |
| Rider | 0 | | | | | | | 16 | BYU | 0 | |
| UCLA | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| UCLA | 3 | | UCLA | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | 16 | BYU | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Wisconsin | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | | 8 | Florida | 2 |
| | | 9 | Ohio State | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Missouri | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Missouri | 3 | | Missouri | 0 | | | | | | | |
| South Dakota | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| South Dakota | 0 | | | | 9 | Ohio State | 1 | | | | |
| | | | | | 8 | Florida | 3 | | | | |
| Morehead State | 3 | | | | | | | 8 | Florida | 3 | |
| Creighton | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Creighton | 2 | | Morehead State | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | 8 | Florida | 3 | | | | | | | |

### Schedule
#### Regional semifinals

    Due to BYU's "No Sunday Play" policy, the BYU regional semifinal was moved to April 17.

#### Regional final
### Bottom Left Regional

| First round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 14 | First round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 14 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 18 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 18 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 18 | | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 |
| | | 5 | Nebraska | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Texas State | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Texas State | 3 | | Texas State | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Utah Valley | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Utah Valley | 1 | | | | 5 | Nebraska | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | | 12 | Baylor | 0 | | | | |
| UMBC | 0 | | | | | | | 12 | Baylor | 0 | |
| Pepperdine | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pepperdine | 3 | | Pepperdine | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | 12 | Baylor | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 5 | Nebraska | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | 4 | Texas | 3 |
| | | 13 | Penn State | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | North Carolina A&T | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Rice | | | North Carolina A&T | 0 | | | | | | | |
| North Carolina A&T | WO | | | | | | | | | | |
| North Carolina A&T | WO | | | | 13 | Penn State | 1 | | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Texas | 3 | | | | |
| Samford | 0 | | | | | | | 4 | Texas | 3 | |
| Wright State | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wright State | 3 | | Wright State | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | 4 | Texas | 3 | | | | | | | |

### Top Right Regional

| First round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 14 | First round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 14 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 18 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 18 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 18 | | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 |
| | | 3 | Minnesota | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Georgia Tech | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Georgia Tech | 3 | | Georgia Tech | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Lipscomb | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Lipscomb | 1 | | | | 3 | Minnesota | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Pittsburgh | 3 | | | | |
| LIU | 0 | | | | | | | | Pittsburgh | 3 | |
| Pittsburgh | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pittsburgh | 3 | | Pittsburgh | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | 14 | Utah | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Pittsburgh | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | | 6 | Washington | 3 |
| | | 11 | Louisville | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | San Diego | 1 | | | | | | | |
| San Diego | 3 | | San Diego | 1 | | | | | | | |
| Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 0 | | | | 11 | Louisville | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | 6 | Washington | 3 | | | | |
| Towson | 0 | | | | | | | 6 | Washington | 3 | |
| Dayton | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Dayton | 3 | | Dayton | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | 6 | Washington | 3 | | | | | | | |

### Bottom Right Regional

| First round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 14 | First round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 14 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Second Round CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 15 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 18 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 18 | Regional semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center April 18 | | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 | Regional Finals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 19 |
| | | 7 | Purdue | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | High Point | 0 | | | | | | | |
| UCF | 2 | | High Point | 0 | | | | | | | |
| High Point | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| High Point | 3 | | | | 7 | Purdue | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | | 10 | Oregon | 1 | | | | |
| Army West Point | 1 | | | | | | | 10 | Oregon | 1 | |
| Notre Dame | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Notre Dame | 3 | | Notre Dame | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | 10 | Oregon | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 7 | Purdue | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | Kentucky | 3 |
| | | 15 | Washington State | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Western Kentucky | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Western Kentucky | 3 | | Western Kentucky | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Jackson State | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Jackson State | 0 | | | | | Western Kentucky | 0 | | | | |
| | | | | | 2 | Kentucky | 3 | | | | |
| Illinois State | 1 | | | | | | | 2 | Kentucky | 3 | |
| UNLV | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| UNLV | 3 | | UNLV | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | 2 | Kentucky | 3 | | | | | | | |

### Schedule
#### Regional final
## Final four

| National semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 22 | National semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 22 | National semifinals CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 22 | National championship CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 24 | National championship CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 24 | National championship CHI Health Center Omaha Arena April 24 |
| 1 | Wisconsin | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Texas | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Texas | 3 | 4 | Texas | 1 |
| | | | 2 | Kentucky | 3 |
| 6 | Washington | 1 | 2 | Kentucky | 3 |
| 2 | Kentucky | 3 | | | |

### 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.

## Records by Conference

| Conference | Bids | Record | Win % | R32 | S16 | E8 | F4 | CM | NC |
| SEC | 3 | 8–2 | .800 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Big 12 | 2 | 5–2 | .714 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Big Ten | 6 | 10–6 | .625 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | – | – |
| Pac-12 | 5 | 5–5 | .500 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| ACC | 4 | 7–4 | .636 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – |
| West Coast | 3 | 3–3 | .500 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| C-USA | 2 | 2–2 | .500 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| Atlantic 10 | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Big Sky | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Big South | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Horizon | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| MEAC | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mountain West | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ohio Valley | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sun Belt | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12 Others | 12 | 0–12 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
* 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.