Seven Teams to Compete in NCAA Volleyball Championship

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (November 27, 2022) - The Southeastern Conference led all conferences with seven teams selected for the 64-team field that will compete in the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

Florida received the automatic qualification for the SEC, while Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Tennessee joined the field with their at-large bids to the NCAA Championship.

New for this year, the top 32 teams are seeded nationally in pods of four and placed within four regions. Per the established bracketing principles, the top seeds are provided the opportunity to host. Additionally, team pairings are determined within the pods (ones paired with eights, twos paired with sevens, threes paired with sixes and fours paired with fives) and assigned geographically within their pods, with the exception that teams from the same conference are not paired during the first- and second-rounds.

First- and second-round matches will be played December 1-3 at 16 campus sites. Teams winning both matches will continue to regional play December 8 & 10. Regionals for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at four non-predetermined campus sites, which will be announced on December 4. At each site, four teams will compete in single-elimination regional semifinal competition. The regional winners will advance to the national semifinals and championship final, hosted by Nebraska in conjunction with the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA), December 15-17 at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The national semifinal matches will broadcast on ESPN, and the championship match will broadcast on ESPN2.

Arkansas (20-8) will open the tournament against Utah State on Friday, December 2 at 6:30 p.m. CT at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. The winner of the first-round match will take on either host Oregon or Loyola Marymount on Saturday, December 3 at 9 p.m. CT. The Razorbacks return to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2013.

Auburn (21-8) heads to Omaha to take Creighton in the first round on Friday, December 2 at 6:30 p.m. CT at Sokol Arena. South Dakota or host Houston will take on the winner of the Auburn/Creighton match on Saturday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m. CT. This is the just the second time in program history that they Tigers have earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, with the first appearance in 2010.

Florida (23-5) will host Florida A&M in the first round on Friday, December 2 at 7 p.m. ET at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The winner will take on either Florida Gulf Coast or Iowa State in the second round on Saturday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m. ET. This marks the 32nd consecutive year that the Gators have earned a spot in the NCAA Championship and the 28th time in program history that the Gators earned hosting rights for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Georgia (22-7) travels to Austin, Texas to face Towson in the first round on Thursday, December 1 at 6 p.m. ET at Gregory Gym. The winner will take on either top-seeded Texas or FDU on Friday, December 2 at 9 p.m. ET. This is the 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the history of the Georgia Volleyball program and the second under 2022 SEC Coach of the Year Tom Black.

Kentucky (20-7) will host Loyola Chicago for their first-round matchup on Thursday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The winner of that match will face either Western Kentucky or Bowling Green in the second round on Friday, December 2 at Memorial Coliseum. Kentucky has reached the NCAA Tournament 24 times in program history, including the 2020-21 season when the Wildcats won the NCAA National Championship, becoming the first SEC team to win the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

LSU (15-13) will compete against Hawaii in the first round on Friday, December 2 at 6:30 p.m. CT at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. The winner will advance to the second round to face either host Stanford or Pepperdine on Saturday, December 3 at 8 p.m. CT. The Tigers are making their 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first since 2017.

Tennessee (17-13) is slated to compete against Purdue in the first round on Friday, December 2 at 4 p.m. ET at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena in Louisville, Ky. The winner will take on either host Louisville or Samford in the second round on Saturday, December 3 at 6 p.m. ET. This will be the Lady Vols' 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including the third time under the guidance of head coach Eve Rackham Watt.