2000 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

Last updated
2000 NCAA women's Division Ivolleyball tournament
2000NCAAVBLOGO.jpg
2000 NCAA Final Four logo
Champions Nebraska (2nd title)
Runner-up Wisconsin (1st title match)
Semifinalists
Winning coach John Cook (1st title)
Most outstanding player Greichaly Cepero (Nebraska)
Final Four All-Tournament Team
  • Amber Holmquist (Nebraska)
  • Laura Pilakowski (Nebraska)
  • Lizzy Fitzgerald (Wisconsin)
  • Sherisa Livingston (Wisconsin)
  • Lily Kahumoku (Hawaiʻi)
« 1999   2001 »

The 2000 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on November 30, 2000 with 64 teams and ended December 16 when Nebraska defeated Wisconsin 3 games to 2 in Richmond, Virginia for the program's second NCAA title. [1]

Contents

Nebraska became the second team in NCAA history to finish the season undefeated, as they joined Long Beach State from 1998 to pull off the feat. The win gave John Cook his first national title in just his first year as Nebraska's head coach. Wisconsin, for whom Cook was the previous head coach, made the program's first Final Four appearance.

This was the last season that the NCAA used side out scoring, switching to rally scoring in 2001.

Records

For the third straight year, the tournament field remained fixed at 64 teams. The Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-10 tied for the most bids in the 2000 NCAA Tournament with six bids each. The top six seeds each came from different conferences, the only such instance of this in the 64-team era. Nebraska went undefeated en route to a national championship, joining 1998 Long Beach State and later teams 2003 USC and 2008-09 Penn State as undefeated national champions.

Central Regional
SeedSchoolConferenceBerth TypeRecord
Alabama A&M SWAC Automatic31-2
8 Arizona Pac-10 Auto (shared)25-4
Ball State MAC At-large25-6
9 BYU Mountain West Automatic24-6
Cincinnati Conference USA At-large24-9
George Washington Atlantic 10 Automatic25-5
Hofstra America East Automatic23-10
Louisville Conference USA Automatic26-7
Michigan Big Ten At-large18-13
Missouri Big 12 At-large24-6
1 Nebraska Big 12 Automatic28-0
Notre Dame Big East Automatic25-6
16 Ohio State Big Ten At-large21-9
Princeton Ivy League Automatic20-8
South Carolina SEC At-large21-6
Utah State Big West At-large21-9
West Regional
SeedSchoolConferenceBerth TypeRecord
Arizona State Pac-10 At-large17-11
Cal State Sacramento Big Sky Automatic21-11
Davidson Southern Automatic24-11
Duke ACC At-large21-12
5 Hawaii WAC Automatic27-1
Long Beach State Big West At-large22-7
Loyola Marymount West Coast At-large20-8
4 Minnesota Big Ten At-large28-3
Robert Morris Northeast Automatic21-15
San Jose State WAC At-large22-9
12 Santa Clara West Coast Automatic26-4
Stanford Pac-10 At-large18-11
Texas Tech Big 12 At-large24-8
13 UC Santa Barbara Big West At-large23-7
Utah Mountain West At-large22-7
UTSA Southland Automatic24-8
Pacific Regional
SeedSchoolConferenceBerth TypeRecord
Ark.-Little Rock Sun Belt Automatic23-6
Cal Poly Big West At-large16-11
Colorado Big 12 At-large16-11
6 Colorado State Mountain West At-large30-4
14 Florida SEC Automatic27-4
Georgia State Trans America Automatic28-9
Georgia Tech ACC At-large25-7
James Madison CAA Automatic21-9
North Carolina ACC Automatic26-7
11 Penn State Big Ten At-large27-5
Radford Big South Automatic28-6
South Florida Conference USA At-large28-5
Southeast Missouri State Ohio Valley Automatic22-8
Tennessee SEC At-large23-9
3 USC Pac-10 Auto (shared)25-2
Washington State Pac-10 At-large18-9
Mideast Regional
SeedSchoolConferenceBerth TypeRecord
Bucknell Patriot Automatic17-14
Fairfield MAAC Automatic26-6
Houston Conference USA At-large21-10
Kansas State Big 12 At-large20-8
Loyola (IL) Midwestern Collegiate Automatic22-8
Michigan State Big Ten At-large17-12
Milwaukee Midwestern Collegiate At-large23-4
Morgan State MEAC Automatic25-15
Northern Iowa Missouri Valley Automatic28-4
Oral Roberts Mid-Continent Automatic21-11
2 Pacific Big West Automatic26-3
10 Pepperdine West Coast At-large23-6
Texas A&M Big 12 At-large19-8
15 UCLA Pac-10 At-large22-7
Western Michigan MAC Automatic25-5
7 Wisconsin Big Ten Automatic28-3

Central Regional (Lincoln)

First round
November 30-December 1
Second round
December 2–3
Regional semifinals
December 7–8
Regional finals
December 9–10
            
1 Nebraska 3
Princeton 0
1 Nebraska3
Lincoln, NE
South Carolina 2
South Carolina 3
George Washington 0
1 Nebraska3
16 Ohio State 0
Notre Dame 3
Cincinnati 0
Notre Dame 2
Columbus, OH
16 Ohio State3
Ball State 1
16 Ohio State 3
1 Nebraska3
8 Arizona 0
9 BYU 3
Hofstra 0
9 BYU3
Orem, UT
Utah State 2
Utah State 3
Missouri 2
9 Brigham Young 0
8 Arizona3
Michigan 3
Louisville 1
Michigan 0
Tucson, AZ
8 Arizona3
Alabama A&M 0
8 Arizona 3

West Regional (Honolulu)

First round
November 30-December 1
Second round
December 2–3
Regional semifinals
December 7–8
Regional finals
December 9–10
            
5 Hawaiʻi 3
Davidson 0
5 Hawaiʻi3
Honolulu, HI
Utah 0
Texas Tech 2
Utah 3
5 Hawaiʻi3
Long Beach State 2
Long Beach State 3
San Jose State 1
Long Beach State3
Santa Clara, CA
12 Santa Clara 2
Cal St. Sacramento 0
12 Santa Clara 3
5 Hawaiʻi3
13 UCSB 1
13 UCSB 3
Texas San Antonio 0
13 UCSB3
Santa Barbara, CA
Stanford 2
Loyola Marymount 0
Stanford 3
13 UCSB3
4 Minnesota 1
Arizona State 3
Duke 1
Arizona State 0
Minneapolis, MN
4 Minnesota3
Robert Morris 0
4 Minnesota 3

Pacific Regional (Los Angeles)

First round
November 30-December 1
Second round
December 2–3
Regional semifinals
December 7–8
Regional finals
December 9–10
            
3 Southern California 3
Georgia State University 0
3 Southern California3
Los Angeles, CA
Cal Poly 0
Cal Poly 3
South Florida 1
3 Southern California3
14 Florida 0
North Carolina 2
SE Missouri State 3
SE Missouri State 0
Gainesville, FL
14 Florida3
Arkansas-Little Rock 0
14 Florida 3
3 Southern California3
11 Penn State 0
11 Penn State 3
James Madison 0
11 Penn State3
University Park, PA
Washington State 1
Tennessee 0
Washington State 3
11 Penn State3
6 Colorado State 1
Georgia Tech 1
Colorado 3
Colorado 2
Fort Collins, CO
6 Colorado State3
Radford 0
6 Colorado State 3

Mideast Regional (Madison)

First round
November 30-December 1
Second round
December 2–3
Regional semifinals
December 7–8
Regional finals
December 9–10
            
7 Wisconsin 3
Bucknell 0
7 Wisconsin3
Madison, WI
Northern Iowa 1
Western Michigan 1
Northern Iowa 3
7 Wisconsin3
Kansas State 1
Kansas State 3
Loyola (Ill.) 1
Kansas State3
Malibu, CA
10 Pepperdine 1
Fairfield 1
10 Pepperdine 3
7 Wisconsin3
15 UCLA 2
15 UCLA 3
Morgan State 0
15 UCLA3
Los Angeles, CA
Michigan State 2
UW–Milwaukee 1
Michigan State 3
15 UCLA3
2 Pacific 1
Texas A&M 3
Houston 0
Texas A&M 0
Stockton, CA
2 Pacific3
Oral Roberts 0
2 Pacific 3

Final Four – Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA

National Semifinals
December 14
National Championship
December 16
      
1 Nebraska3
5 Hawaiʻi 1
1 Nebraska3
7 Wisconsin 2
3 Southern California 0
7 Wisconsin3

National Semifinals

TeamsGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4
NEB1515915
HAW3121510

Nebraska vs. Hawaiʻi

Aided by 23 team blocks, top seeded Nebraska cruised past Hawaiʻi in four sets. Nebraska junior Jenny Kropp had 16 kills to lead the way for the Huskers. Sophomore outside hitter Lily Kahumoku led Hawaiʻi with 18 kills, while freshman Kim Willoughby had 15.

TeamsGame 1Game 2Game 3
WISC151515
USC1099

Wisconsin vs. Southern California

Appearing in the program's first ever Final Four, Wisconsin swept USC to earn a spot in the title match against Nebraska.

National Championship: Nebraska vs. Wisconsin

TeamsGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4Game 5
NEB15971515
WISC9151529

Nebraska jumped on top to start out the match, with a block giving NU the first game, 15-9. In the second game, Wisconsin raced out to the 13-4 lead before winning, 15-9, to tie the match at one game a piece.

Leading 5-4 in the third game, Wisconsin pulled away by winning eight straight points to go up 13-4. Nebraska responded with three straight points of their own to cut the lead to 13-7, before two Badger kills ended the game, 15-7, to put the Badgers up 2-1 on the undefeated Huskers.

Nebraska responded strongly in set 4, crushing the Badgers, 15-2, to force a fifth game. In the decisive fifth game, Nebraska raced out to the 4-0 lead. Nebraska continued to roll, going up 11-5. Nebraska earned championship point on a kill, before Laura Pilakowski crushed her 23rd kill of the match to seal the victory.

The national title capped a season in which the Huskers achieved much success. The Huskers became just the second team in NCAA history to finish the season undefeated with a national title, joining the 1998 Long Beach State squad. Nebraska, ranked No. 1 in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches poll for 14 straight weeks, swept 26 of its 33 opponents in 2000. It was Nebraska head coach John Cook's first season with the program. Cook was previously the head coach at Wisconsin.

NCAA Tournament records

There are three NCAA tournament record that were set in the 2000 tournament that still stands.

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References