Four women’s volleyball programs from Utah are heading to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, marking one of the state’s strongest postseason showings in recent years. The final bracket, revealed Sunday, confirmed Utah’s growing presence on the national stage as four of the 64 qualifying teams originated from the Beehive State.
The tournament begins Dec. 4–6, with regionals set for Dec. 11–14 and the national championship taking place Dec. 21 in Kansas City. All matches will air across the ESPN network family, the official broadcast partner for the NCAA. For bracket details and live updates, readers can visit the official NCAA Women’s Volleyball page.
BYU Extends Its Dominant Streak
The BYU Cougars secured a No. 5 seed in the Los Angeles regional, continuing their remarkable run of postseason consistency. This appearance marks their 14th straight NCAA Tournament and 38th all-time, all under head coach Heather Olmstead, one of the winningest coaches in modern volleyball.
BYU will open against Big West champion Cal Poly (25-7). USC, seeded fourth, will host the regional and face Ivy League champion Princeton in the second matchup of the night.
The Cougars arrive with momentum. Led by freshman standout Suli Davis, who shattered a 40-year program record for kills in a freshman season, and setter Alex Bower, who led the Big 12 with 10.68 assists per set, BYU finished 22-8 overall. Their offensive efficiency boosted them to the top of the conference in aces, assists, hitting percentage, and kills.
Their statistical dominance helped make the Big 12 one of the most represented leagues in the field with 10 qualifying teams.
Utah Returns After a Late-Season Push
The University of Utah clinched a tournament berth for the second straight year, earning a spot in the Omaha regional hosted by Creighton, ranked No. 3 nationally.
The Utes (15-14) will open against Northern Iowa, the Missouri Valley Conference champion and a program known for consistency — appearing in its 21st NCAA Tournament. Led by league MVP Cassidy Hartman, Northern Iowa enters with 21 consecutive wins, one of the longest streaks in the nation.
Utah’s journey was far from predictable. At 7-11 in Big 12 play, their résumé relied heavily on nonconference wins over ranked opponents and a strong late-season surge that included upsets over No. 23 BYU and No. 13 Kansas. Those victories lifted Utah into the final at-large spot, according to the bracket analysis released by ESPN.
This marks Utah’s 20th NCAA appearance.
Utah State Riding a 21-Match Win Streak
The Utah State Aggies (23-7) enter the NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country, riding a 21-match winning streak since mid-September. They will face seventh-seeded Tennessee in Tempe, Arizona.
Despite starting the year 2-7 — including losses to ranked opponents such as BYU, Stanford, and Marquette — the Aggies flipped their season behind head coach Rob Neilson, a former BYU men’s volleyball standout. Utah State finished with both the Mountain West regular-season and conference titles, building on an already impressive run from previous seasons.
Their conference tournament performance highlighted their grit: a reverse sweep over Boise State followed by a commanding 3-0 win over Colorado State.
Utah Valley Earns Ticket to Stanford Regional
The Utah Valley Wolverines (16-10) secured the Western Athletic Conference’s final automatic berth before the league transitions into the United Athletic Conference next summer.
The Wolverines will travel to Palo Alto to face No. 2 Stanford, a perennial powerhouse. Stanford will also host Arizona and South Dakota State during regional play.
Utah Valley’s success was driven by WAC Player of the Year Avery Page, Setter of the Year Evalyn Chism, and multiple all-conference standouts — contributing to a 10-2 league record and the program’s first WAC regular-season title.
Page ended her decorated career averaging 3.40 kills per set, while Chism surpassed 2,000 career assists, joining an exclusive list of program greats.
