INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee released a top-10 listing on Sunday, Nov. 3. The committee announcement was revealed during ESPN2’s broadcast of the Minnesota vs. Purdue volleyball match.
Using the selection criteria and results through games of Saturday, Nov. 2, Texas earned the top spot in the nation with a 15-2 record. Texas was followed by Baylor (18-1) and Wisconsin (15-4), at second and third, respectively. Stanford (15-4), followed by Pittsburgh (22-1) rounded out the top five.
“The top-10 shows the great parity in the volleyball season this year with a lot of these teams facing each other. There is a lot of volleyball left to play and the committee looks forward to watching what plays out in the next month,” said Michelle Durban, chair of the committee and deputy director of athletics for student-athlete well-being/SWA at Samford.
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The remainder of the top-10 includes 2018 national championship runner-up Nebraska (18-3) at sixth, Washington (16-5) of the Pac-12 Conference, seventh, and Minnesota (16-3), another Big Ten member at eight. Southeastern Conference member, Florida (18-3) is No. 9 followed by Creighton (18-3) from the Big East in the final position.
The reveal is based on the criteria used to select and seed the 64 teams for the Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship and includes strength of schedule, Rating Percentage Index, head-to-head competition, results versus common opponents, significant wins and losses, and locations of contests.
The announcement is part of the continued team evaluations that will culminate with the final bracket, revealed during the selection show on Sunday, December 1, at 8:30 ET on ESPNU.
First and second-round competition will be held at 16 non-predetermined campus sites December 5-8 with the winning team from each of the 16 second rounds advancing to the regional round.
Regionals for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at four non-predetermined campus sites December 13-14. At each site, four teams compete in single-elimination regional semifinal competition. The two advancing teams then compete against each other in single-elimination regional final. All regional competition will air on an ESPN platform.
The winning team from each of the four regions will advance to the DI Women’s Volleyball Championship at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The national semifinals will be held December 19, at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and will air live on ESPN. The national championship will take place December 21, at 9 p.m. and will also air live on ESPN2.
