2024 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

The 2024 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's volleyball national champion for the 2024 season. It was the 44th edition of the tournament. It began on December 5, 2024, in various college campuses across the country, location determinations were chosen based on participating teams seedings. The tournament concluded with the championship game at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky on December 22, 2024.

Pittsburgh earned the #1 overall seed, while Nebraska, Penn State, and Louisville rounded out the top-4 overall seeds. All four teams successfully defeated their first & second round opponents, allowing them to host the regional rounds. Penn State remains the only NCAA Division I women's volleyball program to earn a bid to all 44 NCAA Tournaments since its inception in 1981.

For the first time since the 2008 NCAA tournament, all top-4 overall seeds made it to the final four. The wins guaranteed an ACC vs. Big Ten final, as the semifinal matchups were between conference foes Pittsburgh/Louisville and Nebraska/Penn State. With Louisville and Penn State advancing to the national championship, a female head coach would be guaranteed to win the NCAA Division I championship for the first time in NCAA Division I women's volleyball history.

Penn State won the program's 8th national championship by defeating Louisville 3–1 in the final. Louisville was making its second championship match appearance in 3 years. Penn State was led by Jess Mruzik who had 29 kills. Mruzik would go on to win the NCAA Tournament MVP. Katie Schumacher-Cawley made history by being the first female Division I head volleyball coach to win the title.

Tournament schedule and venues

First and Second Rounds (Subregionals)<br> Hosted by the top 16 overall tournament seeds

• December 4 – December 7
• Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: University of Pittsburgh)
• Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln)
• Rec Hall, University Park, PA (Host: Penn State University)
• KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)
• Maples Pavilion, Palo Alto, California (Host: Stanford University)
• Sokol Arena, Omaha, Nebraska (Host: Creighton University)
• UW Field House, Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin)
• Moody Coliseum, Dallas, TX (Host: Southern Methodist University)
• Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)
• Desert Financial Arena, Tempe, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)
• Gregory Gymnasium, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas)
• Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, Lawrence, Kansas (Host: University of Kansas)
• Holloway Gymnasium, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University)
• Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, UT (Host: University of Utah)
• Ferrell Center, Waco, TX (Host: Baylor University)
• Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Oregon (Host: University of Oregon)

Regional semifinals and finals

• December 12 – December 15
• Pittsburgh Regional, Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: University of Pittsburgh)
• Lincoln Regional, Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln)
• University Park Regional, Rec Hall, University Park, PA (Host: Penn State University)
• Louisville Regional, Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)

National semifinals and championship

• December 19 & 22
• KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)

Qualifying teams

Automatic qualifiers

Teams who won their conference championships automatically qualify.

Tournament seeds

RPI as of Nov. 24 2024

Bracket

Pittsburgh Regional

Schedule

First Round

Second Round

Regional Semifinals

Regional Final

Region All-Tournament Team

• Olivia Babcock (Most Outstanding Player) – Pittsburgh
• Rachel Fairbanks – Pittsburgh
• Emmy Klika – Pittsburgh
• Brooklyn DeLeye – Kentucky
• Emma Grome – Kentucky
• Michelle Ohwobete – Oregon
• Jordan Iliff – Missouri

Louisville Regional

Schedule

First Round

Second Round

Regional Semifinals

Regional Final

Region All-Tournament Team

• Anna Debeer (Most Outstanding Player) – Louisville
• Charitie Luper – Louisville
• Elena Scott – Louisville

University Park Regional

Schedule

First Round

Second Round

Regional Semifinals

Regional Final

Region All-Tournament Team

• Jess Mruzik (Most Outstanding Player) – Penn State
• Gillian Grimes – Penn State
• Camryn Hannah – Penn State
• Izzy Starck – Penn State
• Ava Martin – Creighton
• Norah Sis – Creighton
• Madisen Skinner – Texas

Lincoln Regional

Schedule

First Round

Second Round

Regional Semifinals

Regional Final

Region All-Tournament Team

• Harper Murray (Most Outstanding Player) – Nebraska
• Andi Jackson – Nebraska
• Bergen Reilly – Nebraska
• Lexi Rodriguez – Nebraska
• Sarah Franklin – Wisconsin
• Lexie Almodovar – Dayton
• Logan Lednicky – Texas A&M

Final Four

National semifinals

Game recap

Semifinal 1: Pittsburgh vs. Louisville

The opening set was back-and-forth, it was tied 14–14 before Pittsburgh responded with a run to go up 23–16 before winning 25–21. The second set was also close, tied at 19–19, Pittsburgh would eventually take the lead 22–21 before Louisville tied it up at 23–23 after a block from senior All-American Anna DeBeer. Louisville would win the second set 25–23 to even the match at one set a piece. In the third set, Louisville won in extra points, 29–27, to take the 2–1 lead. Despite DeBeer going down with an ankle injury in the beginning of set 4, Louisville rushed out to a 9–3 lead, eventually going up 21–13. Louisville would win the fourth set 25–17 and advanced to the championship match for the second time in three seasons. Louisville was led by its outside hitter trio of DeBeer, Charitie Luper, and Sofia Maldonado Diaz, who all recorded 14 kills each. Pittsburgh was led by AVCA National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock, who had a career-high 33 kills in the match.

Semifinal 2: Penn State vs. Nebraska

Penn State and Nebraska were meeting for the second time in just 3 weeks, as Penn State defeated Nebraska 3–1 in their final regular-season conference matchup to secure a share of the conference title.

The opening set was close, with Nebraska edging out Penn State 25–23. Nebraska won the second set relatively easy, 25–18, going up 2–0 and looking poised to advance to the championship. Penn State went on a 5–0 run in the third set to take the lead, and eventually won, 25–23. In the fourth set, Nebraska went on a run to take a commanding 22–16 lead. Despite only having a 0.3% chance to win the match at that point, Penn State chipped away at Nebraska's lead. Nebraska had two match point opportunities at 24–22, but Penn State tied it at 24–24. Penn State eventually won the fourth set, 28–26, to force a fifth set. In the fifth set, Penn State was able to maintain at least a 1-point lead throughout most of the set, and eventually won on a final kill from senior outside hitter Camryn Hannah, 15–13. The win was only the second reverse sweep (when a team wins in 5 sets after being down 0–2) in the Final Four since Penn State accomplished same in the 2009 NCAA title match vs. Texas. Penn State was led by senior outside hitter Jess Mruzik and redshirt freshman Caroline Jurevicius, who had 26 kills and 20 kills, respectively. Nebraska was led by sophomore outside hitter Harper Murray and sophomore middle blocker Andi Jackson, who had 20 and 19 kills, respectively.

National championship

Game recap

Final Four All-Tournament Team

The following players were named to the final four all-tournament team:

• Jess Mruzik (Penn State) – Most Outstanding Player
• Camryn Hannah (Penn State)
• Gillian Grimes (Penn State)
• Charitie Luper (Louisville)
• Sofia Maldonado Diaz (Louisville)
• Harper Murray (Nebraska)
• Olivia Babcock (Pittsburgh)

Media coverage

Rounds 1 & 2

All matches were televised on ESPN+:

• Pittsburgh: Jeff Hathhorn, Kelsey Bonk, Amanda Silay
• Lincoln: Larry Punteney, Kathi Wieskamp
• University Park: Kasey Kreider, Jack Rachinsky
• Louisville: Jeff Milby, Stephanie Cantway
• Palo Alto: Kevin Danna, Naya Crittenden
• Omaha: Shannon Smolinski, Jon Schriner
• Madison: Joey Bonadonna, Kate McGrann
• Dallas: Chris Mycoskie, Jill Kramer

• Lexington: Dick Gabriel, Stephanie Niemer
• Tempe: Braiden Bell, Gavin Schall
• Austin: Lincoln Rose, Shelby Coppedge
• Lawrence: Leif Lisec, Jill Dorsey-Hall
• West Lafayette: Craig Combs, Max Bury
• Salt Lake City: Jim Watson, Victoria Dennis
• Waco: Hannah Sedwick, Mike Leslie
• Eugene: Saul Galvan, Lily Crane

Regional semifinals & Regional Finals

All matches televised on ESPN+ & ESPN2, with the Nebraska/Wisconsin regional also being nationally televised on ABC

• Pittsburgh: Ann Marie Anderson, Nicole Branagh, Michella Chester
• Lincoln: Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak, Katie George, Madison Fitzpatrick

• University Park: Paul Sunderland, Missy Whittemore, Shelby Coppedge
• Louisville: Eric Frede, Emily Ehman, Ciara Michel

Semifinals & National Championship

The semifinal games were televised on both ESPN and ESPN+, while the national championship game was televised on ESPN3, ESPN+, and ABC.

• Semifinals: Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak, Katie George, Madison Fitzpatrick, Emily Ehman, Michella Chester

• Finals: Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak, Katie George, Christine Williamson, Madison Fitzpatrick, Michella Chester, Emily Ehman

Records by Conference

• The following conferences had a single team that failed to advance beyond the round of 64: American, America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, CAA, Horizon, Ivy League, MAAC, MEAC, MWC, MAC, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, SoCon, Southland, SWAC, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC. The conference's records have been consolidated in the other row.

References