The 2015 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began December 4, 2015 and concluded on December 19 at CenturyLink Center, now known as CHI Health Center, in Omaha, Nebraska.[1] The tournament field was determined on November 29, 2015. Nebraska swept Texas in the final to claim their fourth national championship.
The champions of the NCAA's 32 conferences qualified automatically. Twenty-two conferences held tournaments, while the other ten awarded their automatic bid on the basis of being the league's regular-season champion. Those that did not hold tournaments were the American Athletic, Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten, Big West, Ivy League, Mountain West, Pac-12, Southeastern and West Coast Conferences. The other 32 bids were apportioned on an at-large basis. Only the top 16 teams overall were seeded.
The first two rounds were held on campus sites (the home court of the seeded team, with the exception of Creighton. Due to basketball events already being scheduled in Omaha, the Bluejays had to head to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to play the first and second round.). Regional semifinals and finals were held at pre-determined sites. In 2015, those sites were hosted by the University of Texas at Austin, University of Northern Iowa, University of Kentucky, and University of San Diego. Unlike the NCAA basketball tournament, where teams cannot be placed into regionals that they host, the selectors in the volleyball tournament were required to place qualifying teams in their 'home' regionals, in order to reduce travel costs.[3]
The columns R32, S16, E8, F4, CM, and NC respectively stand for the Round of 32, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, Championship Match, and National Champion.
All first and second-round games were broadcast on local networks or digital feeds [Longhorn Network (Austin), SEC+ (College Station, Gainesville), BYUtv (Provo), ESPN3 (Chapel Hill, Lawrence, Louisville, College Station- non-SEC, Austin- non-Texas, Gainesville- non-SEC), TheW.tv (Provo- non BYU), P12 Digital feeds (Los Angeles, Stanford, Seattle), and Big Ten Digital (Minneapolis, University Park, Madison, Lincoln]. The Regional Finals onward will all be on ESPN Networks. ESPN3 will carry all the Regional Semis except one game in San Diego which will be shown on ESPNU. ESPNU will carry all the regional finals. ESPN2 will carry the National Semifinals and Final.[4]
