The UCSB women’s volleyball team wasn’t selected as one of the 32 at-large teams for the 64-team NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
The Gauchos end the year at 21-11 and runners-up in the Big West with a 17-3 record. They had two wins over conference champion Hawai’i, but it wasn’t enough to improve their RPI ranking for a postseason berth.
Hawai’i was the lone Big West team to make the tournament. The Rainbow Wahine will play Mississippi State in the first round.
UCSB lost against five teams that made the tournament. It fell in five-set matches to Illinois, Kansas State and Pepperdine and dropped two matches against Washington State in three and four sets, respectively.
Louisville earned the top seed in the tournament after recording an undefeated regular season for the first time in program history and finishing with an overall record of 28-0. The Cardinals have held the top spot in the RPI since November 14.
Texas is the second seed, followed by No. 3 Pittsburgh and No. 4 Wisconsin.
The Big Ten led all conferences with eight teams selected from the league to compete in the championship tournament. The Big-12 was second with seven programs advancing to the post season, followed by the ACC, The Pac-12, and Southeastern Conference who finished with six advancing programs.
Campbell, The Citadel, Ill.-Chicago, Mississippi St., South Alabama, and West Virginia are all making their first appearance in the tournament, while Brown has had the longest hiatus, with their last appearances coming in 1998. Penn State remains the only team that has earned a berth to all 41 championship tournaments.
During the previous 40 years of the championships 11 schools have won a national title, eight of which earned a place in this year’s bracket. Previous winners competing in the field are: Hawaii (1982, 1983, 1987), Kentucky (2020), Nebraska (1995, 2000, 06, 15, 17), USC (1981, 2002, 03), Stanford (1992, 94, 96, 97, 2001, 04, 16, 18, 19), Penn State (1999, 2007, 08, 09, 10, 13, 14), Texas (1988, 2012) and Washington (2005).
Story includes information from NCAA.com