2000 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

2000 NCAA women's Division I volleyball tournament
2000 NCAA Final Four logo
Champions	Nebraska (2nd title)
Runner-up	Wisconsin (1st title match)
Semifinalists	Hawaiʻi (6th Final Four) Southern California (4th Final Four)
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)

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.

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 Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Alabama A&M SWAC Automatic 31-2 8 Arizona Pac-10 Auto (shared) 25-4 Ball State MAC At-large 25-6 9 BYU Mountain West Automatic 24-6 Cincinnati Conference USA At-large 24-9 George Washington Atlantic 10 Automatic 25-5 Hofstra America East Automatic 23-10 Louisville Conference USA Automatic 26-7 Michigan Big Ten At-large 18-13 Missouri Big 12 At-large 24-6 1 Nebraska Big 12 Automatic 28-0 Notre Dame Big East Automatic 25-6 16 Ohio State Big Ten At-large 21-9 Princeton Ivy League Automatic 20-8 South Carolina SEC At-large 21-6 Utah State Big West At-large 21-9

West Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Arizona State Pac-10 At-large 17-11 Cal State Sacramento Big Sky Automatic 21-11 Davidson Southern Automatic 24-11 Duke ACC At-large 21-12 5 Hawaii WAC Automatic 27-1 Long Beach State Big West At-large 22-7 Loyola Marymount West Coast At-large 20-8 4 Minnesota Big Ten At-large 28-3 Robert Morris Northeast Automatic 21-15 San Jose State WAC At-large 22-9 12 Santa Clara West Coast Automatic 26-4 Stanford Pac-10 At-large 18-11 Texas Tech Big 12 At-large 24-8 13 UC Santa Barbara Big West At-large 23-7 Utah Mountain West At-large 22-7 UTSA Southland Automatic 24-8

Pacific Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Ark.-Little Rock Sun Belt Automatic 23-6 Cal Poly Big West At-large 16-11 Colorado Big 12 At-large 16-11 6 Colorado State Mountain West At-large 30-4 14 Florida SEC Automatic 27-4 Georgia State Trans America Automatic 28-9 Georgia Tech ACC At-large 25-7 James Madison CAA Automatic 21-9 North Carolina ACC Automatic 26-7 11 Penn State Big Ten At-large 27-5 Radford Big South Automatic 28-6 South Florida Conference USA At-large 28-5 Southeast Missouri State Ohio Valley Automatic 22-8 Tennessee SEC At-large 23-9 3 USC Pac-10 Auto (shared) 25-2 Washington State Pac-10 At-large 18-9

Mideast Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Bucknell Patriot Automatic 17-14 Fairfield MAAC Automatic 26-6 Houston Conference USA At-large 21-10 Kansas State Big 12 At-large 20-8 Loyola (IL) Midwestern Collegiate Automatic 22-8 Michigan State Big Ten At-large 17-12 Milwaukee Midwestern Collegiate At-large 23-4 Morgan State MEAC Automatic 25-15 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley Automatic 28-4 Oral Roberts Mid-Continent Automatic 21-11 2 Pacific Big West Automatic 26-3 10 Pepperdine West Coast At-large 23-6 Texas A&M Big 12 At-large 19-8 15 UCLA Pac-10 At-large 22-7 Western Michigan MAC Automatic 25-5 7 Wisconsin Big Ten Automatic 28-3

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	Nebraska	3
	Lincoln, NE
							South Carolina	2
	South Carolina		3
	George Washington		0
											1	Nebraska	3
											16	Ohio State	0
	Notre Dame		3
	Cincinnati		0
							Notre Dame	2
	Columbus, OH
						16	Ohio State	3
		Ball State	1
	16	Ohio State	3
																1	Nebraska	3
																8	Arizona	0
	9	BYU	3
		Hofstra	0
						9	BYU	3
	Orem, UT
							Utah State	2
	Utah State		3
	Missouri		2
											9	Brigham Young	0
											8	Arizona	3
	Michigan		3
	Louisville		1
							Michigan	0
	Tucson, AZ
						8	Arizona	3
		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	Hawaiʻi	3
	Honolulu, HI
							Utah	0
	Texas Tech		2
	Utah		3
											5	Hawaiʻi	3
												Long Beach State	2
	Long Beach State		3
	San Jose State		1
							Long Beach State	3
	Santa Clara, CA
						12	Santa Clara	2
		Cal St. Sacramento	0
	12	Santa Clara	3
																5	Hawaiʻi	3
																13	UCSB	1
	13	UCSB	3
		Texas San Antonio	0
						13	UCSB	3
	Santa Barbara, CA
							Stanford	2
	Loyola Marymount		0
	Stanford		3
											13	UCSB	3
											4	Minnesota	1
	Arizona State		3
	Duke		1
							Arizona State	0
	Minneapolis, MN
						4	Minnesota	3
		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 California	3
	Los Angeles, CA
							Cal Poly	0
	Cal Poly		3
	South Florida		1
											3	Southern California	3
											14	Florida	0
	North Carolina		2
	SE Missouri State		3
							SE Missouri State	0
	Gainesville, FL
						14	Florida	3
		Arkansas-Little Rock	0
	14	Florida	3
																3	Southern California	3
																11	Penn State	0
	11	Penn State	3
		James Madison	0
						11	Penn State	3
	University Park, PA
							Washington State	1
	Tennessee		0
	Washington State		3
											11	Penn State	3
											6	Colorado State	1
	Georgia Tech		1
	Colorado		3
							Colorado	2
	Fort Collins, CO
						6	Colorado State	3
		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	Wisconsin	3
	Madison, WI
							Northern Iowa	1
	Western Michigan		1
	Northern Iowa		3
											7	Wisconsin	3
												Kansas State	1
	Kansas State		3
	Loyola (Ill.)		1
							Kansas State	3
	Malibu, CA
						10	Pepperdine	1
		Fairfield	1
	10	Pepperdine	3
																7	Wisconsin	3
																15	UCLA	2
	15	UCLA	3
		Morgan State	0
						15	UCLA	3
	Los Angeles, CA
							Michigan State	2
	UW–Milwaukee		1
	Michigan State		3
											15	UCLA	3
											2	Pacific	1
	Texas A&M		3
	Houston		0
							Texas A&M	0
	Stockton, CA
						2	Pacific	3
		Oral Roberts	0
	2	Pacific	3

Final Four – Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA

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

National Semifinals

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4
NEB	15	15	9	15
HAW	3	12	15	10

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.

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
WISC	15	15	15
USC	10	9	9

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

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
NEB	15	9	7	15	15
WISC	9	15	15	2	9

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.

• Total attacks in NCAA tournament (team record) - Wisconsin, 1019 (56 vs. Bucknell, 178 vs. UNI, 182 vs. Kansas State, 260 vs. UCLA, 152 vs. Southern California, 191 vs. Nebraska).
• Total digs, tournament (team record) - Wisconsin, 200 (26 vs. Bucknell, 72 vs. UNI, 71 vs. Kansas State, 99 vs. UCLA, 67 vs. Southern California, 75 vs. Nebraska).
• Hitting percentage, tournament (individual record - min. 75 attempts) - .564%, Marissa Dalee, University of Arizona (.588 vs. Alabama A&M, .667 vs. Michigan, .294 vs. BYU, .654 vs. Nebraska).