The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other words, a team is eliminated when it has lost two games. After six teams have been eliminated, the remaining two teams compete in a best-of-three series to determine the Division I WCWS National Champion.
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships. It evolved out of the "Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women" (CIAW), founded in 1967. The association was one of the biggest advancements for women's athletics on the collegiate level. Throughout the 1970s, the AIAW grew rapidly in membership and influence, in parallel with the national growth of women's sports following the enactment of Title IX.
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics and to administer national championships. During its existence, the AIAW and its predecessor, the Division for Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS), recognized via these championships the teams and individuals who excelled at the highest level of women's collegiate competition.
College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is normally played by men.
The NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship refers to one of three championships in women's indoor volleyball contested by the NCAA since 1981:
The NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship is the National Collegiate Athletic Association's tennis tournament to determine the Team Championships, Singles Championships, and Doubles Championships for women's tennis athletes from Division I institutions. Tennis was one of twelve women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same twelve sports; however, after a year of dual women's championships, the NCAA outlasted the AIAW to gain sole authority over women's sports.
The NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship is the National Collegiate Athletic Association's annual tennis tournament to determine the team champions of women's collegiate tennis from Division II institutions in the United States.
The NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship is the annual tennis tournament hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the team, singles, and doubles champions of Division III in women's collegiate tennis.
The NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship is the cross country championship held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association each autumn for individual runners and cross country teams from universities in Division I. Teams and individual runners qualify for the championship at regional competitions approximately a week before the national championships. The championship has been held annually since 1981. The reigning national champions are the NC State Wolfpack.
The annual NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship tournament has determined the top women's lacrosse team in the NCAA Division I since 1982. The Maryland Terrapins are the most successful team with fourteen titles. The most recent championship was won by Northwestern.
The NCAA Division III women's lacrosse tournament is a yearly single-elimination tournament hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the national champion women's collegiate lacrosse team among its Division III members in the United States, held annually since 1985.
The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's national champion.
The NCAA Division III women's swimming and diving championships are contested at a annual swim meet hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the individual and team champions of women's collegiate swimming and diving among its Division III members in the United States.
The NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament is an annual event that leads to the championship in women's volleyball from teams in Division I contested by the NCAA each winter since 1981. Texas won the most recent tournament, defeating Louisville 3–0 at CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.
The NCAA Division II women's volleyball tournament is the annual event that decides the championship contested by the NCAA. It determines the national champion of Division II women's collegiate volleyball. It has been held annually since 1981, typically played in December after the fall regular season.
The NCAA Division III women's volleyball tournament is the annual event that decides the championships in women's volleyball from teams in Division III contested by the NCAA each winter since 1981 except in 2020, when all D-III championship events were canceled due to COVID-19.
The NCAA Fencing Championships are awarded at the annual tournament held in March to determine the NCAA's national collegiate individual and team championships in fencing. Individual champions are determined by performance during the NCAA fencing team championship competition. Unlike most NCAA sports, the fencing championship is a single National Collegiate championship rather than being split into divisions.
The NCAA women's gymnastics tournament is an annual gymnastics competition to determine the best collegiate women's gymnastics team in the country. Unlike most NCAA sports, the women's gymnastics championship is not separated into divisions and uses a single National Collegiate tournament instead.
The Division II Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division II Softball Championship for college softball teams in Division II in the United States.
The 1982 AIAW Women's College World Series was held from May 20 through May 25 in Norman, Oklahoma. The final two games were postponed by rain for two days. Twelve Division I college softball teams met in what was to become the last AIAW softball tournament of that organization's history. After playing their way through the regular season and regional tournaments, the 12 advancing teams met for the AIAW Division I college softball championship. Days later, Oklahoma State went on to participate also in the NCAA WCWS tournament in Omaha. In 1982, the Division I softball tournaments of both the AIAW and the NCAA were called "Women's College World Series." That moniker has been used for the annual topmost-level collegiate women's softball tournaments since the first one in 1969. Historian Bill Plummer III wrote, "With their 77-8 season record, Texas A&M could have been a contender in Omaha − maybe even the top seed − against perennial softball powers like UCLA and Fresno State. The Aggies had been invited to the NCAA's first national tournament, but chose not to go. A&M coach Bob Brock had high respect for the eleven-year-old AIAW, even as the NCAA began to overshadow it. Out of a sense of loyalty to the AIAW, Brock said, his school chose the 1982 Norman championship over the NCAA's first in Omaha."
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