2005 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

The 2005 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on December 1, 2005 with 64 teams and concluded on December 17, 2005, when Washington defeated Nebraska 3 games to 0 in San Antonio, Texas for the program's first NCAA title.

2005 NCAA women's Division I volleyball tournament
2005 NCAA Final Four logo
Champions	Washington (1st title)
Runner-up	Nebraska (5th title match)
Semifinalists	Tennessee (1st Final Four) Santa Clara (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Jim McLaughlin (1st title)
Most outstanding player	Christal Morrison (Washington)
Final Four All-Tournament Team	Sanja Tomasevic (Washington) Courtney Thompson (Washington) Christina Houghtelling (Nebraska) Sarah Pavan (Nebraska) Jennifer Saleaumua (Nebraska) Kristen Andre (Tennessee)

The 2005 NCAA Final Four, held at the Alamodome, had two participants who were making the school's first-ever Final Four appearance. Fifteenth-seeded Tennessee and unseeded Santa Clara upset their way into the semifinals. In the rally scoring era (since 2001), no unseeded team had ever reached the national semifinals, while Tennessee was the lowest overall seed to reach the Final Four.

The 2005 NCAA Tournament was the 25th anniversary of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship.

Records

Omaha Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Alabama A&M SWAC Automatic 15-11 American Patriot Automatic 25-9 Duke ACC At-large 23-7 8 Florida SEC Automatic 30-2 Florida A&M MEAC Automatic 22-5 Florida Atlantic Atlantic Sun Automatic 29-2 Kansas Big 12 At-large 15-14 Kansas State Big 12 At-large 20-10 Kentucky SEC At-large 17-11 Long Beach State Big West Auto (shared) 25-6 9 Louisville Big East At-large 29-2 Maryland ACC Auto (shared) 27-4 1 Nebraska Big 12 Automatic 28-1 San Diego West Coast At-large 22-5 16 UCLA Pac-10 At-large 18-10 Western Kentucky Sun Belt Automatic 31-2

Palo Alto Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Alabama SEC At-large 23-10 4 Arizona Pac-10 At-large 22-5 BYU Mountain West At-large 25-3 Loyola Marymount West Coast At-large 19-10 Marshall Conference USA Automatic 26-5 Nevada WAC At-large 18-12 Ohio MAC Automatic 31-2 13 Ohio State Big Ten At-large 21-8 Pepperdine West Coast At-large 17-11 Sacramento State Big Sky Automatic 26-8 Santa Clara West Coast Automatic 23-4 5 Stanford Pac-10 At-large 25-5 UC Santa Barbara Big West Auto (shared) 21-8 12 USC Pac-10 At-large 16-10 Utah Mountain West Automatic 22-8 Utah State Mountain West At-large 21-12

College Station Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record California Pac-10 At-large 18-10 College of Charleston Southern Automatic 30-1 Colorado Big 12 At-large 15-12 Colorado State Mountain West At-large 20-8 Dayton Atlantic 10 Automatic 24-10 Loyola (IL) Horizon Automatic 13-17 North Carolina ACC Auto (shared) 23-9 Northwestern Big Ten At-large 19-11 6 Notre Dame Big East Automatic 28-3 14 Purdue Big Ten At-large 23-8 Siena MAAC Automatic 20-11 Texas A&M Big 12 At-large 16-13 Valparaiso Mid-Continent Automatic 27-7 VCU CAA Automatic 22-11 3 Washington Pac-10 Automatic 26-1 11 Wisconsin Big Ten At-large 23-6

State College Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Arkansas SEC At-large 20-11 Binghamton America East Automatic 20-11 Cornell Ivy League Automatic 19-5 7 Hawaii WAC Automatic 25-6 Jacksonville State Ohio Valley Automatic 19-10 Long Island Northeast Automatic 25-13 LSU SEC At-large 21-7 Minnesota Big Ten At-large 24-7 10 Missouri Big 12 At-large 22-4 Missouri State Missouri Valley Automatic 24-8 2 Penn State Big Ten Automatic 29-2 Saint Mary's West Coast At-large 19-9 15 Tennessee SEC At-large 21-8 Texas Big 12 At-large 23-4 Texas State Southland Automatic 17-14 Winthrop Big South Automatic 28-5

Omaha Regional

	First round December 1–3					Second round December 2					Regional semifinals December 9					Regional finals December 10
	1	Nebraska	3
		Alabama A&M	0
						1	Nebraska	3
	Omaha, NE
							Duke	0
	American		0
	Duke		3
											1	Nebraska	3
											16	UCLA	0
	San Diego		3
	Long Beach State		1
							San Diego	0
	Los Angeles, CA
						16	UCLA	3
		Kansas	1
	16	UCLA	3
																1	Nebraska	3
																8	Florida	0
	9	Louisville	3
		Western Kentucky	1
						9	Louisville	3
	Louisville, KY
							Maryland	0
	Maryland		3
	Kentucky		1
											9	Louisville	0
											8	Florida	3
	Kansas St.		3
	Florida A&M		1
							Kansas St.	0
	Gainesville, FL
						8	Florida	3
		Florida Atlantic	0
	8	Florida	3

Upsets

As expected, Nebraska, UCLA, Louisville, and Florida got to the Sweet 16 round. Florida swept past Louisville and top seeded Nebraska swept past UCLA to advance to the regional finals. Nebraska defeated Florida, 30-26, 30-24, 30-16 to advance to the final four.

Stanford Regional

	First round December 1–2					Second round December 3					Regional semifinals December 9					Regional finals December 10
	5	Stanford	3
		Nevada	0
						5	Stanford	1
	Stanford, CA
							Santa Clara	3
	Santa Clara		3
	Sacramento St.		1
											Santa Clara		3
											Pepperdine		0
	Pepperdine		3
	BYU		1
							Pepperdine	3
	Los Angeles, CA
						12	Southern California	0
		UCSB	1
	12	Southern California	3
																	Santa Clara	3
																4	Arizona	2
	13	Ohio St.	3
		Marshall	0
						13	Ohio St.	0
	Columbus, OH
							Ohio	3
	Ohio		3
	Alabama		1
												Ohio	2
											4	Arizona	3
	Utah		3
	Loyola Marymount		0
							Utah	1
	Salt Lake City, UT
						4	Arizona	3
		Utah State	0
	4	Arizona	3

Upsets

Many upsets were seen in this regional. In the second round, defending national champion and fifth seeded Stanford was stunned by unseeded Santa Clara on their home floor. Then, unseeded Pepperdine defeated twelfth seeded Southern California on Southern California's home court. The upsets continued in the second round, as unseeded Ohio defeated thirteenth seeded Ohio St. on the Buckeye's home floor. The only upset not seen was 4th seeded Arizona defeating Utah, and advanced to the Sweet 16 as the only remaining seeded participant.

Santa Clara defeated Pepperdine, 3-0, to advance to the regional finals. Arizona was nearly the victim of yet another upset, outlasting a 5-game match to Ohio. However, in the next round, Arizona was the victim of an upset, as Santa Clara defeated them, 3-2, to advance to their first final four in school history. Santa Clara won the fifth and deciding game, 17-15.

College Station Regional

	First round December 1–2					Second round December 3					Regional semifinals December 9					Regional finals December 10
	3	Washington	3
		Siena	0
						3	Washington	3
	Fort Collins, CO
							Colorado St.	0
	Colorado St.		3
	Colorado		1
											3	Washington	3
											14	Purdue	0
	North Carolina		1
	College of Charleston		3
							College of Charleston	0
	Chapel Hill, NC
						14	Purdue	3
		VCU	0
	14	Purdue	3
																3	Washington	3
																11	Wisconsin	0
	11	Wisconsin	3
		Loyola-Chicago	0
						11	Wisconsin	3
	Madison, WI
							California	0
	Valparaiso		0
	California		3
											11	Wisconsin	3
											6	Notre Dame	2
	Northwestern		3
	Texas A&M		2
							Northwestern	0
	South Bend, IN
						6	Notre Dame	3
		Dayton	2
	6	Notre Dame	3

Upsets

No upsets were seen up until the regional semifinals, when Wisconsin defeated 6th seeded Notre Dame in a 5-game match.

University Park Regional

	First round December 1–2					Second round December 3					Regional semifinals December 9					Regional finals December 10
	7	Hawai'i	3
		Texas St.	0
						7	Hawai'i	3
	Austin, TX
							Texas	1
	Texas		3
	LSU		0
											7	Hawai'i	1
											10	Missouri	3
	Arkansas		3
	St. Mary's		0
							Arkansas	0
	Columbia, MO
						10	Missouri	3
		Missouri St.	0
	10	Missouri	3
																10	Missouri	1
																15	Tennessee	3
	15	Tennessee	3
		Jacksonville St.	0
						15	Tennessee	3
	Knoxville, TN
							Minnesota	2
	Winthrop		0
	Minnesota		3
											15	Tennessee	3
											2	Penn St.	1
	Cornell		0
	Long Island		3
							Long Island	0
	University Park, PA
						2	Penn St.	3
		Binghamton	0
	2	Penn St.	3

Upsets

The University Park regional ended up much like the Stanford regional in terms of upsets. In the first regional semifinal, Missouri surprised Hawai'i by defeating them, 3-1. Then, Tennessee stunned second seeded Penn State on Penn State's home floor, 3-1. Missouri and Tennessee battled in University Park, with Tennessee outlasting Missouri in four games, and much like Santa Clara in the Stanford regional who upset high seeds, advanced to their first final four in school history.

Final Four – Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

	National Semifinals Thursday, December 15					National Championship Saturday, December 17
	1	Nebraska	3
		Santa Clara	0
						1	Nebraska	0
						3	Washington	3
	3	Washington	3
	15	Tennessee	0

Source:

National Semifinal recap

Nebraska vs. Santa Clara

Santa Clara's dream run came to an end, as top seeded Nebraska overpowered them, 30-24, 30-19, 30-21. Nebraska hit .449% as a team, while Santa Clara hit just .145%. Nebraska advanced to the title match, sweeping through each opponent in the process.

Washington vs. Tennessee

Oddly similar to the first semifinal, Tennessee's dream run came to end in another sweep with nearly identical scores to the Nebraska/Santa Clara match, by defeating them 30-25, 30-19, 30-21. Much like Nebraska, Washington swept through each opponent to earn a spot in the title match. It is the first national title attempt in school history.

National Championship recap: Nebraska vs. Washington

In front of 9,000 fans in the Alamodome, top ranked and top seeded Nebraska battled second ranked and third seeded Washington for the national title. Nebraska was ranked number one in the coaches poll all season long, and was trying to become the second school in NCAA history to hold the top spot every week in the season, as Southern California did it in 2003. Washington is coached by Jim McLaughlin

Washington jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first game, prompting AVCA National Coach of the Year John Cook to take an early timeout. Washington dominated throughout the match, winning the first two games, 30-26, 30-25. Despite Nebraska taking an early 7-2 lead in the third game, Washington closed the gap and at 18, it was tied up. The teams remained close until the end, when Washington went on a 4-1 scoring run, and off a solo block from MVP Christal Morrison, Washington stunned Nebraska in a sweep, to claim their first ever national championship.

With the sweep, Washington became just the second school in NCAA history to sweep through every opponent en route to winning the NCAA title, joining Texas from 1988. It was the first time since 2002 that Nebraska had been swept.

Washington coach McLaughlin became the first coach in NCAA history to win a national championship in both men and women's volleyball, as he guided Southern California men's team to the 1990 NCAA title. Before McLaughlin took over for the Washington program in 2001, their record was 8-19. Washington finished off the 2005 season 32-1, the only loss coming to UCLA in a five set match. Ironically, that loss was UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski’s 1,000th career win.

NCAA Tournament records

There are two NCAA tournament records that were set in the 2005 tournament that still stand.

• Hitting percentage, match (individual record) - Nicole Fawcett, Penn State University, .889% vs. Long Island (16-0-18)
• Digs, match (individual record) - Taylor Rayfield, University of North Carolina - 53 digs vs. College of Charleston

See also

• NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship
• AVCA