Selection Monday for the 2019 DII women's volleyball championship is creeping closer, set to air right here on NCAA.com on Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The first regional rankings that shine some light on that potential 64-team field were released Wednesday and there was plenty to walk away with.
Before we get into some takeaways from the first regional rankings, here's how the eight regions panned out:
| Region/Rank | School | In-Region Record | Overall DII record |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATLANTIC | |||
| 1 | Wheeling | 18-0 | 23-3 |
| 2 | Gannon | 19-1 | 21-5 |
| 3 | Shippensburg | 21-4 | 21-4 |
| 4 | East Stroudsburg | 21-3 | 22-5 |
| 5 | Shepherd | 21-3 | 23-3 |
| 6 | Millersville | 20-4 | 20-7 |
| 7 | Clarion | 14-6 | 16-9 |
| 8 | Seton Hill | 13-7 | 14-9 |
| 9 | Mercyhurst | 14-11 | 14-11 |
| 10 | California University of Pennsylvania | 11-11 | 11-11 |
| CENTRAL | |||
| 1 | Nebraska-Kearney | 23-0 | 24-0 |
| 2 | Minnesota Duluth | 17-2 | 20-3 |
| 3 | Concordia-St. Paul | 15-3 | 19-4 |
| 4 | Northern State | 20-3 | 20-3 |
| 5 | St. Cloud State | 14-4 | 19-4 |
| 6 | Washburn | 18-2 | 22-2 |
| 7 | Central Missouri | 14-5 | 18-7 |
| 8 | Northwest Missouri State | 16-6 | 18-6 |
| 9 | Wayne State (Nebraska) | 15-5 | 19-5 |
| 10 | Winona State | 11-5 | 18-5 |
| EAST | |||
| 1 | Molloy | 19-2 | 20-4 |
| 2 | Bentley | 18-2 | 21-4 |
| 3 | New Haven | 14-4 | 14-7 |
| 4 | Bridgeport | 20-6 | 20-6 |
| 5 | Saint Anselm | 17-5 | 17-8 |
| 6 | Stonehill | 14-8 | 14-8 |
| 7 | Georgian Court | 20-4 | 23-5 |
| 8 | Holy Family | 17-7 | 17-8 |
| 9 | Adelphi | 11-8 | 11-9 |
| 10 | Southern New Hampshire | 11-6 | 12-9 |
| MIDWEST | |||
| 1 | Lewis | 13-3 | 22-4 |
| 2 | Hillsdale | 14-3 | 19-3 |
| 3 | Missouri-St. Louis | 22-3 | 23-3 |
| 4 | Michigan Tech | 18-3 | 19-4 |
| 5 | Ashland | 22-4 | 22-4 |
| 6 | Ferris State | 15-4 | 19-5 |
| 7 | UIndy | 15-6 | 17-7 |
| 8 | Saginaw Valley State | 15-6 | 17-7 |
| 9 | Rockhurst | 18-5 | 21-6 |
| 10 | Bellarmine | 16-7 | 17-9 |
| SOUTH | |||
| 1 | Tampa | 16-2 | 19-6 |
| 2 | Lynn | 18-4 | 20-4 |
| 3 | Embry-Riddle (Florida) | 17-3 | 17-3 |
| 4 | Barry | 10-7 | 15-10 |
| 5 | Saint Leo | 11-6 | 17-8 |
| 6 | West Florida | 16-4 | 18-8 |
| 7 | Alabama Huntsville | 16-3 | 19-7 |
| 8 | Eckerd | 15-8 | 17-8 |
| 9 | Palm Beach Atlantic | 11-9 | 14-11 |
| 10 | West Georgia | 15-9 | 15-10 |
| SOUTH CENTRAL | |||
| 1 | Regis (Colorado) | 18-1 | 20-3 |
| 2 | Angelo State | 19-2 | 21-2 |
| 3 | Texas A&M-Commerce | 18-4 | 20-5 |
| 4 | Colorado School of Mines | 16-6 | 17-6 |
| 5 | Arkansas-Fort Smith | 19-5 | 20-5 |
| 6 | West Texas A&M | 17-3 | 18-4 |
| 7 | Metropolitan State University of Denver | 16-3 | 17-5 |
| 8 | Dixie State | 17-5 | 17-6 |
| 9 | Tarleton State | 11-6 | 15-9 |
| 10 | Texas Permian Basin | 14-6 | 15-6 |
| SOUTHEAST | |||
| 1 | Wingate | 24-1 | 24-1 |
| 2 | Anderson (South Carolina) | 18-3 | 19-4 |
| 3 | South Carolina Aiken | 23-2 | 23-2 |
| 4 | Queens (North Carolina) | 18-5 | 18-5 |
| 5 | Carson-Newman | 19-6 | 19-6 |
| 6 | Lander | 17-6 | 18-6 |
| 7 | Augusta | 19-7 | 20-7 |
| 8 | Flagler | 13-6 | 18-7 |
| 9 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 14-11 | 15-11 |
| 10 | Mars Hill | 14-11 | 14-11 |
| WEST | |||
| 1 | Cal State San Bernardino | 18-0 | 21-0 |
| 2 | Western Washington | 17-1 | 21-1 |
| 3 | Cal State LA | 14-3 | 15-6 |
| 4 | Alaska Anchorage | 15-6 | 16-6 |
| 5 | UC San Diego | 14-7 | 15-7 |
| 6 | Central Washington | 12-6 | 14-8 |
| 7 | Simon Fraser | 14-7 | 14-8 |
| 8 | Cal State San Marcos | 13-8 | 14-8 |
| 9 | Hawaii Hilo | 17-6 | 18-6 |
| 10 | Azusa Pacific | 18-4 | 18-4 |
DII women's volleyball championship: How the bracket works
The NCAA DII women's volleyball tournament is made up of 64 teams, eight coming from each of the above eight regions. While the regional rankings give us some insight into how the bracket may shake out, they can also change over the next three weeks. These rankings help us see who to watch and who is currently heading in the right direction.
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Of the 64 teams in the tournament, 23 earn automatic bids by winning their conference championships. The rest of the 41 at-large teams are selected based on various standards like DII strength of schedule, in-region record and in-region RPI to name a few.
Once the selections are made on Nov. 25, play begins in a single-elimination tournament with the first two rounds coming on Dec. 5-8. The final eight teams head to Denver, Colorado to play in the 2019 DII women's volleyball finals, where the new champion will be crowned on Saturday, Dec. 14.
Reigning champion Tampa is alive and well
It's been an odd year for the defending champion Spartans. They won their first four out of the gates, with impressive wins over nationally-ranked Central Missouri and Concordia-St. Paul. They then lost four in a row and six of the next eight, and suddenly the preseason No. 1 was gone from the top 25.
That's all changed. Tampa has won 15 in a row, is back in the top 25 and earned No. 1 in a tricky South Region. As we said, there's a long way to go, but the DII women's volleyball powerhouse looks like they are back on track. Tampa has never won back-to-back crowns, so getting hot down the stretch could translate to a run of historic proportions.
The Central Region is unbelievably good
This doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, as this is always one of the toughest regions in all of DII women's volleyball. After all, Concordia-St. Paul has won nine of the last 12 national championships and isn't even the No. 1 seed.
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That honor goes to Nebraska-Kearney, who is having a season to remember. The Lopers are not simply undefeated — they are undefeated in an MIAA conference that has nationally-ranked teams up and down the standings. Thus far, UNK has gone 8-0 against ranked teams in 2019, and that's downright impressive.
Just how stacked is this region? All 10 ranked teams are in the top 16 of the latest AVCA Coaches Poll.
How last year's field of 8 fared
We already mentioned that Tampa is back in its familiar No. 1 spot, but how are the rest of the DII women's volleyball finalists ranked?
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Three teams that battled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania last season join Tampa as No. 1s in the first rankings: 24-1 Wingate is atop the Southeast, Lewis sits at No. 1 in the Midwest, and Wheeling — who is a perfect 18-0 in-region — is perched atop the Atlantic.
Western Washington — which won 30-straight games to a national runners-up finish in 2018 — is sitting at No. 2 in the West, but that's because Cal State San Bernardino has yet to lose a match this season. Washburn, which is 22-2 and No. 3 in the country, sits at No. 6 in that tricky Central. Two teams from last year's quarterfinals would be out of the tournament should it start today: Tarleton State sits at No. 9 in the South Central while American International is not even amongst the first 80 teams ranked.
