Greatest College Volleyball Teams of All Time

You will recognize plenty of names on the greatest women's college volleyball national championship teams in history.

Few things in college sports provide the thrill of watching volleyball played at a high level. The athleticism it takes to soar above the net or the lightning-quick reflexes it takes to dig a ball out of the floor on a return are truly something to behold.

Since USC won the first official NCAA women’s volleyball national championship in 1981, we now have over 40 years of getting to see the best of the best teams make the trek to the top of the mountain.

These are the greatest women’s college volleyball teams of all time, picked from the list of NCAA national championship-winning teams.

15. 1991 UCLA

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Head coach: Andy Banachowski

Key players: Natalie Williams, Elaine Youngs

Record: 31-5

Bottom line: UCLA won the second of back-to-back national championships in 1991 in dramatic fashion, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to Long Beach State in the national championship match. And they did it at home, with the Final Four held at Pauley Pavilion that year.

This was the sixth national championship for head coach Andy Banachowski, who coached the team from 1965 to 1967, then again from 1970 until his retirement in 2010, only taking a two-year break to finish his coursework and graduate from UCLA. Banachowski won his six titles in three different decades.

UCLA didn’t win another title until 2011, the year after Banachowski’s retirement and the Bruins’ first title with new head coach Michael Sealey.

14. 2020 Kentucky

National Player of the Year Madison Lilley

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Head coach: Craig Skinner

Key players: Madison Lilley, Avery Skinner, Alli Stumler, Azhani Tealer, Gabby Curry

Record: 24-1

Bottom line: The University of Kentucky made history in 2020 (played in spring 2021) when it became the first SEC school to win a national championship in women’s volleyball behind National Player of the Year Madison Lilley.

The Wildcats closed things out in the national championship with a 3-1 win over Texas, led by 26 kills from All-American Alli Stumler, who also had the championship-clinching kill in the fourth set.

The SEC had lost in its previous two appearances in the national championship, with the University of Florida losing both times.

13. 2006 Nebraska

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Head coach: John Cook

Key players: Sarah Pavan, Jordan Larson, Tracy Stalls, Rachel Holloway

Record: 36-1

Bottom line: Nebraska won its second national championship just a stone’s throw away from its campus, defeating Stanford in the national championship match in front of a record 17,209 fans in Omaha. It was the largest attendance at a volleyball match in history and the first time since 1991 that the host team won the tournament.

National Player of the Year Sarah Pavan led Nebraska with 22 kills in the championship match. She was one of four All-Americans for the Huskers in 2006.

Pavan, who is Canadian, played pro volleyball overseas for 10 years and paired with Melissa Humana-Paredes to win a gold medal at the 2019 World Championships.

12. 1987 Hawaii

PBS Hawaii

Head coach: Dave Shoji

Key players: Teee Williams, Suzanne Eagye, Diana Jessie

Record: 37-2

Bottom line: The University of Hawaii won all four of its national championships in women’s volleyball in a nine-year stretch from 1979 to 1987, and all under legendary coach Dave Shoji.

Freshman outside hitter Teee Williams was the star for Hawaii in 1987, earning the first of two National Player of the Year awards, and was one of three All-Americans with seniors Suzanne Eagye and Diana Jessie.

Hawaii was dominant in the Final Four in Indianapolis, sweeping Illinois in the semifinals and defeating Stanford 3-1 in the finals.

11. 2012 Texas

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Head coach: Jerritt Elliott

Key players: Haley Eckerman, Bailey Webster

Record: 29-4

Bottom line: Texas went 29-4 on the way to winning the national championship, but three of those four losses came in the first month of the season, when they lost three matches, all against ranked teams.

After losing to No. 23 Illinois on Sept. 14, Texas reeled off 17 straight wins before falling to No. 18 Iowa State in the regular-season finale, then winning six straight matches at the NCAA tournament and only dropping three sets in that stretch.

The Longhorns capped things off with a 3-0 sweep of Oregon for the national championship.

10. 1993 Long Beach State

1993 Long Beach State national champions

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Head coach: Brian Gimmillaro

Key players: Nichelle Burton, Joy McKienzie, Danielle Scott

Record: 32-2

Bottom line: Long Beach State won its second NCAA championship behind virtuoso performances from National Player of the Year Danielle Scott (21 kills) and All-American Nichelle Burton (28 kills) in a 3-1 win over Penn State for the national title.

Scott’s total career was amazing. After playing for Long Beach State, she set the U.S. female volleyball record by playing in the Olympics five times and played professional volleyball in Brazil until 2013.

9. 1995 Nebraska

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Head coach: Terry Pettit

Key players: Christy Johnson, Lisa Reitsma, Allison Weston, Katie Crnich

Record: 35-1

Bottom line: Nebraska won the first of five national championships in women’s volleyball in 1995 behind a trio of All-Americans, Christy Johnson, Lisa Reitsma and Allison Weston.

Nebraska lost in the second match of the season to No. 1 Stanford, the defending national champion, before it won 34 consecutive matches to close out the season, including a win over soon-to-be Big 12 rival Texas in the national championship.

8. 1986 Pacific

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Head coach: John Dunning

Key players: Elaina Oden, Teri McGrath, Mary Miller,

Record: 39-3

Bottom line: Pacific won its second consecutive national title in 1986 with almost the same team it had in 1985, when head coach John Dunning led a group of four freshmen and five sophomores to the title.

Of Pacific’s three losses in 1986, the opening loss to UC Santa Barbara was somewhat of an anomaly since the team was without its best player, Elaina Oden, who was still working out with the U.S. national team.

Pacific won 15 consecutive matches after its opening loss before a pair of losses at the UCLA midseason invitational, then won 24 consecutive matches to close out the year and didn’t drop a set at the Final Four, ending the season with a sweep of Nebraska in the national championship match.

7. 2018 Stanford

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Head coach: Russ Rose

Key players: Kathryn Plummer, Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz, Audriana Fitzmorris,

Record: 34-1

Bottom line: Stanford won the first of back-to-back national championships behind two-time National Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer, who was named Co-Most Outstanding Player alongside Morgan Hentz.

It was the second of three national championships for Stanford’s junior class, which included Plummer and Hentz alongside All-Americans Morgan Hentz and Audriana Fitzmorris.

6. 2009 Penn State

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Head coach: Russ Rose

Key players: Megan Hodge, Blair Brown, Alisha Glass, Arielle Wilson,

Record: 39-0

Bottom line: Penn State became the first team in NCAA history to win three consecutive volleyball national championships and have two consecutive unbeaten seasons in 2009, pushing their NCAA record of consecutive victories to 102 matches.

While Penn State may have gone 39-0, nothing was easy about winning this national title. The Nittany Lions and National Player of the Year Megan Hodge became the first team since 1991 to rally from a 0-2 deficit in the national championship match, coming back to defeat Texas and NCAA tournament Most Valuable Player Destinee Hooker, who had 34 kills in the finals.

Penn State’s senior class finished its career with a record of 145-5.

5. 2000 Nebraska

National Player of the Year Greichaly Cepero

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Head coach: John Cook

Key players: Greichaly Cepero, Amber Holmquist, Laura Pilakowski

Record: 34-0

Bottom line: Two years after Long Beach State became the first undefeated NCAA volleyball champion, Nebraska became the second team to do it by going 34-0 under first-year head coach John Cook.

The Huskers actually defeated Cook’s previous team, Wisconsin, in the national finals. In all, Nebraska swept 26 of its 34 opponents and stayed at No. 1 in the polls for 14 consecutive weeks to close out the year.

This year was also notable because it was the last year the NCAA used side-out scoring. It switched to its current form of rally scoring in 2001.

4. 2003 USC

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Head coach: Mick Haley

Key players: Emily Adams, Bibiana Candelas, April Ross, Keao Burdine, Nicole Davis

Record: 35-0

Bottom line: USC and head coach Mick Haley went wire-to-wire at No. 1 in the polls and became the first team to go undefeated in the year they made a national title defense.

How dominant was this team? The Trojans didn’t even lose a set until the 10th match of the season and only lost eight sets the entire season.

Only one team, Cal, took more than one set off of USC in a match, losing 3-2 to the Trojans on Oct. 17. Senior libero Nicole Davis went on to win a pair of Olympic silver medals for the U.S. in 2008 and 2012.

3. 2001 Stanford

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Head coach: John Dunning

Key players: Logan Tom, Ogonna Nnaman

Record: 33-2

Bottom line: Stanford head coach John Dunning won a national championship in his first season with the Cardinal after winning two national titles at Pacific. The win made Dunning the first coach with national titles at multiple schools.

Stanford’s run to the title was dramatic. They knocked off defending national champion Nebraska in the national semifinals before taking down unbeaten Long Beach State in the national championship match.

Stanford was led by a pair of future Olympic stars, All-Americans Logan Tom and Ogonna Nnaman. Tom won National Player of the Year honors in 2001 and 2002. It was also the second time Stanford defeated an unbeaten team in the national championship match, beating UCLA in 1992 as well.

2. 1998 Long Beach State

National Player of the Year Misty May-Treanor

Long Beach State Athletics

Head coach: Brian Gimmillaro

Key players: Benishe Dillard, Misty May-Treanor

Record: 36-0

Bottom line: Long Beach State became the first volleyball team in NCAA history to finish a season unbeaten, taking down a fellow undefeated team in Penn State in the NCAA championship match, the second consecutive national runner-up finish for the Nittany Lions. In the championship match, Long Beach State went up 2-0 before Penn State rallied to tie and force a fifth set.

Long Beach State setter Misty May-Treanor was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player after setting the tournament record with 20 service aces. May was also named the national player of the year for the second year in a row and went on to become the greatest beach volleyball player of all time.

1. 2008 Penn State

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Head coach: Russ Rose

Key players: Nicole Fawcett, Alisha Glass, Christa Harmotto, Megan Hodge, Blair Brown, Arielle Wilson

Record: 38-0

Bottom line: For the second year in a row, Penn State and Stanford met in the national championship match. And for the second year in a row, Penn State came out on top. It was the second of three consecutive national championships for the Nittany Lions.

The debate about the greatest team in women’s college volleyball history starts and ends with this team. Penn State not only went undefeated, but the Nittany Lions didn’t lose a single set during the regular season and went 114-2 in sets for the entire season. The only two sets they gave up were to Nebraska in the national semifinals.

Led by national player of the year Nicole Fawcett — one of six All-Americans for the Nittany Lions — Penn State also led the NCAA in blocks per set and set the national record for hitting percentage.

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