The 2025 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament was a single-elimination tournament with 64 teams that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's volleyball national champion for the 2025 season. It was the 45th edition of the tournament. It started on December 4, 2025 on various college campuses across the United States, location determinations were chosen based on participating teams seedings. The tournament concluded with the championship game from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri on December 21, 2025, when Texas A&M swept Kentucky 3–0 to win the program's first NCAA title.
Nebraska, who went undefeated in the regular season for the first time since the program won the 2000 NCAA championship, earned the #1 overall seed, while Kentucky, Texas, and Pittsburgh rounded out the top-4 overall seeds. All four teams defeated their first and second round opponents, allowing them to host the regional rounds. The 2024 defending NCAA national champions Penn State was denied a chance at a repeat, as they were defeated in the second round by Texas. Penn State remains to be the only NCAA Division I women's volleyball program to earn a bid to all 45 NCAA Tournaments since its the inception in 1981.
The top four regional seeds advanced to the regional semifinals in all regions with the exception of the Kentucky regional, which saw unseeded Cal Poly advance after upsetting fourth-seeded Southern California in the second round. All number 1 and 3 seeds advanced to the regional finals. Texas A&M completed arguably the biggest upset of the 2025 season when it defeated top-ranked and then-undefeated Nebraska to advance to the program's first ever final four. In the other regionals, Pittsburgh advanced to the program's fifth-straight final four, while Wisconsin and Kentucky also advanced after defeating Texas and Creighton, respectively.
In the final four, Texas A&M continued their tournament run and defeated Pittsburgh in 3 sets, knocking out another #1 seed to advance to the program's first ever championship match. In the second semifinal, Wisconsin and Kentucky battled in a close match, with Kentucky prevailing 3–2. The wins guaranteed an all-SEC final for the first time in NCAA tournament history.
In the national championship match, Texas A&M swept Kentucky in three sets to win the program's first NCAA volleyball title in school history, becoming the second SEC school to earn a title after Kentucky in 2020. The 2025 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Coach of the Year, Jamie Morrison, won his first NCAA title as a coach with the win.
Tournament schedule and venues
First and Second Rounds (Subregionals) Hosted by the top 16 overall tournament seeds December 4–6
Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln) Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky) Gregory Gymnasium, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas) Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: University of Pittsburgh) Moody Coliseum, Dallas, TX (Host: Southern Methodist University) Maples Pavilion, Palo Alto, California (Host: Stanford University) Desert Financial Arena, Tempe, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University) L&N Federal Credit Union Arena, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville) Reed Arena, College Station, TX (Host: Texas A&M University) Sokol Arena, Omaha, Nebraska (Host: Creighton University) UW Field House, Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin) Holloway Gymnasium, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University) Maturi Pavilion, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota) Wilkinson Hall, Bloomington, Indiana (Host: Indiana University) Galen Center, Los Angeles, California (Host: University of Southern California) Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, Lawrence, Kansas (Host: University of Kansas)
Regional semifinals and finals
December 11–14 Lincoln Regional, Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln) Lexington Regional, Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky) Austin Regional, Gregory Gymnasium, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas) Pittsburgh Regional, Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: University of Pittsburgh)
National semifinals and championship December 18 & 21 T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri (Hosts: University of Kansas and Kansas City Sports Commission)
Qualifying teams
Automatic qualifiers Teams who won their conference championships automatically qualify +Automatic qualifiers in the 2025 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournamentConferenceTeamAmerica EastUMBCAmericanTulsaACCStanfordASUNCentral ArkansasAtlantic 10Loyola ChicagoBig EastCreightonBig SkyNorthern ColoradoBig SouthHigh PointBig TenNebraskaBig 12Arizona StateBig WestCal PolyCAACampbellCUSAWestern KentuckyHorizonWright StateIvy LeaguePrincetonMAACFairfieldMACToledoMEACCoppin StateMissouri ValleyNorthern IowaMountain WestUtah StateNECLIUOhio ValleyEastern IllinoisPatriotAmericanSECKentuckySouthernWoffordSouthlandStephen F. AustinSWACFlorida A&MSummitSt. Thomas (MN)Sun BeltArkansas StateWACUtah ValleyWCCSan Diego
Tournament seeds +Lincoln, NE RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 1 1Nebraska Big Ten Automatic 30–0 2 9Louisville ACC At–Large 24–6 3 10Texas A&M SEC At–Large 23–4 4 15Kansas Big 12 At–Large 22–10 5 19Miami (FL) ACC At–Large 26–5 6 20TCU Big 12 At–Large 20–10 7 27Western Kentucky CUSA Automatic 27–5 8 30San Diego WCC Automatic 25–4 240LIU NEC Automatic 20–8 34Kansas State Big 12 At–Large 17–9 36Tulsa American At–Large 25–6 83High Point Big South Automatic 18–9 107Campbell CAA Automatic 23–6 64Stephen F. Austin Southland Automatic 23–7 33Marquette Big East At–Large 17–10 114Loyola Chicago Atlantic 10 Automatic 17–15+Austin, TX RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 1 2Texas SEC At–Large 23–3 2 7Stanford ACC Automatic 27–4 3 11Wisconsin Big Ten At–Large 24–4 4 18Indiana Big Ten At–Large 23–7 5 24Colorado Big 12 At–Large 22–8 6 16UTEP CUSA At–Large 25–4 7 31South Dakota State Summit At–Large 23–4 8 32Penn State Big Ten At–Large 18–12 281Florida A&M SWAC Automatic 14–16 40USF American At–Large 17–12 60American Patriot Automatic 24–4 96Toledo MAC Automatic 23–10 111Eastern Illinois OVC Automatic 24–7 49North Carolina ACC At–Large 21–8 42Arizona Big 12 At–Large 16–12 122Utah Valley WAC Automatic 16–10+Pittsburgh, PA RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 1 5Pittsburgh ACC At–Large 26–4 2 8SMU ACC At–Large 25–5 3 12Purdue Big Ten At–Large 24–6 4 14Minnesota Big Ten At–Large 22–9 5 26Iowa State Big 12 At–Large 22–7 6 28Baylor Big 12 At–Large 17–9 7 21Rice American Automatic 21–9 8 22Xavier Big East At–Large 26–4 109Central Arkansas ASUN Automatic 18–11 38Florida SEC At–Large 15–11 50Arkansas State Sun Belt Automatic 22–8 115Wright State Horizon Automatic 21–10 100Fairfield MAAC Automatic 25–5 71St. Thomas (MN) Summit Automatic 21–9 45Michigan Big Ten At–Large 21–10 176UMBC America East Automatic 13–11+Lexington, KY RegionalSeedRPISchoolConferenceBerth typeRecord 1 3Kentucky SEC Automatic 25–2 2 4Arizona State Big 12 Automatic 26–3 3 6Creighton Big East Automatic 25–5 4 13Southern California Big Ten At–Large 24–6 5 17BYU Big 12 At–Large 22–8 6 25UNI MVC Automatic 25–5 7 23Tennessee SEC At–Large 20–7 8 35UCLA Big Ten At–Large 18–12 205 Coppin State MEAC Automatic 23–11 29Utah State Mountain West Automatic 23–7 39Utah Big 12 At–Large 15–14 101Northern Colorado Big Sky Automatic 17–15 85Princeton Ivy League Automatic 18–6 54Cal Poly Big West Automatic 25–7 41Georgia Tech ACC At–Large 16–13 134Wofford SoCon Automatic 17–13 RPI as of Nov. 30 2025
Bracket Lincoln, NE Regional
Schedule First Round
Second Round
Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
Region All-Tournament Team Logan Lednicky (Most Outstanding Player) – Texas A&M Kyndal Stowers – Texas A&M Ava Underwood – Texas A&M Maddie Waak – Texas A&M Rebekah Allick – Nebraska Harper Murray – Nebraska Chloe Chicoine – Louisville
Pittsburgh, PA Regional
Schedule First Round
Second Round
Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
Region All-Tournament Team Olivia Babcock (Most Outstanding Player) – Pittsburgh Brooke Mosher – Pittsburgh Marina Pezelj – Pittsburgh Kenna Wollard – Purdue Akasha Anderson – Purdue Ryan McAleer – Purdue Malaya Jones – SMU
Austin, TX Regional
Schedule First Round
Second Round
Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
Region All-Tournament Team
Mimi Colyer (Most Outstanding Player) – Wisconsin Carter Booth – Wisconsin Kristen Simon – Wisconsin Cari Spears – Texas Torrey Stafford – Texas Elia Rubin – Stanford Candela Alonso-Corcelles – Indiana
Lexington, KY Regional
Schedule First Round
Second Round
Regional Semifinals
Regional Final
Region All-Tournament Team
Brooklyn DeLeye (Most Outstanding Player) – Kentucky Eva Hudson – Kentucky Molly Tuozzo – Kentucky Lizzie Carr – Kentucky Ava Martin – Creighton Sydney Breissinger – Creighton Noemie Glover – Arizona State
Final Four
National semifinals
National championship
Final Four All-Tournament team Kyndal Stowers (Most Outstanding Player) – Texas A&M Ifenna Cos-Okpalla – Texas A&M Logan Lednicky – Texas A&M Ava Underwood – Texas A&M Eva Hudson – Kentucky Olivia Babcock – Pittsburgh
Records by conference +Overview of conference performance in the 2025 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournamentConferenceBidsRecordWin %SEC 5 15–4 .789 4 3 3 2 2 1Big Ten 9 18–9 .666 9 5 3 1 – –ACC 7 12–7 .631 6 4 1 1 – –Big East 3 4–3 .571 2 1 1 – – –Big 12 10 10–10 .500 8 2 – – – –Big West 1 2–1 .666 1 1 – – – –Missouri Valley 1 1–1 .500 1 – – – – –Mountain West 1 1–1 .500 1 – – – – – American 3 0–3 .000 – – – – – –C-USA 2 0–2 .000 – – – – – –Summit 2 0–2 .000 – – – – – –Others 20 0–20 .000 – – – – – –
The following conferences had a single team that failed to advance beyond the round of 64: America East, Atlantic 10, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, CAA, Horizon, Ivy League, MAAC, MEAC, MAC, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, SoCon, Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt, WAC, WCC. These conferences' records have been consolidated in the "Others" row.
References