It was way back in August when the NCAA canceled the 2020 Division II women’s volleyball championship, along with seven other DII fall sports championships. While Division I championships for fall sports were pushed to the spring, Division II teams could play in the spring, but there would be no NCAA championship to look forward to and work towards at the end of the season. 

Watch 2021 AVCA DII Women's Volleyball Championship

Apr 14-17, 10:00 AM EDT

The American Volleyball Coaches Association, along with a number of Division II coaches, were quite disappointed with this outcome, so the AVCA stepped in to fill the gap, like it did prior to the creation of an official NCAA championship for DIII men’s volleyball and beach volleyball. The 2021 AVCA Division II Women’s National Championship will take place April 14-17 in Dallas at the Dallas Convention Center.

The tournament will consist of a round of pool play after which the teams will be split into two brackets, with the top two teams of each pool feeding into one bracket and the remaining teams going into the other bracket. 

Schedule:

Pool Play: Wed. 4/14/21; Thurs. 4/14/21

Quarterfinals: Thurs. 4/15/21

Semifinals: Friday 4/16/21

Finals: Sat. 4/17/21

Fourteen teams signed up for the event, including seven ranked in the most recent AVCA top 25 poll and three more receiving votes. The pools appear below.

Here are a few teams and players to keep an eye out for:

Hillsdale

The Chargers of Hillsdale College in Southern Michigan recently celebrated their fourth Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament title in a row, going undefeated in conference play for the third consecutive season. Head coach Chris Gravel in his 25th season at the helm of the Charger program has a stacked roster, but two players that really stand out are junior outside hitter Karoline Shelton and senior middle blocker Allyssa Van Wienen. Shelton, who leads the team with 213 kills, hitting .308 on the season, and adding 199 digs, was recently named G-MAC Player of the Year, while Van Wienen earned that illustrious honor in 2019. The elder player ranks second on the team with 164 kills, hitting .359 and adding 50 blocks, 10 solo. 

In total eight players earned G-MAC honors with Shelton, Van Wienen, and freshmen Alli Wiese and Maizie Brown being named to the first team, and junior Maggie DePorre and sophomores Madeline Zenas and Megan Kolp being included on the third team. The Chargers unblemished conference record and 16-1 overall record for the season, has Hillsdale ranked No. 4 in the latest AVCA poll, making them the highest ranked team in the AVCA DII championship.

Oklahoma Baptist 

No. 5-ranked Oklahoma Baptist has not lost a match since kicking off the spring season on January 26, including going 10-0 in the Great American Conference regular season. On Sunday, the Bison completed their perfect season, handing Harding its first loss of the season in the GAC championship match. 

Leading the OBU squad is five-time conference coach of the year Anna Howle in her 12th season at the helm of the Bison program. The former University of Oklahoma libero (Big 12 2006 Co-Libero of the Year no less) boasts three first team all-conference players on her roster this season: team kills leader Malia Leatherland; Kaylee Buell, who was also named GAC Setter of the Year; and Avery Hellmuth, the GAC Freshman of the Year. Buell led the conference with 10.27 assists per set, while Hellmuth’s blocking helped OBU earn its designation at the top blocking team in the country (2.99 blocks per set). 

Leatherland, a 2019 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, is just a points-scoring machine, ranking second in the GAC in points per game (4.32), third in kills per game (3.67), fourth in hitting percentage (.281), and seventh in service aces (0.36). Sunday, she also became the first player in conference history to be named a two-time GAC tournament MVP.

Angelo State 

Angelo State ended its regular season with back-to-back losses to West Texas A&M, their only losses of the entire spring 2021 season to date, but the Belles bounced right back to win three matches in a row and claim the Lone Star Conference tournament title, defeating UT Tyler in the final match. It marks the second LSC championship in a row and 11th conference championship all-time for Angelo State. The performance helped the Belles move from No. 7 to tied for sixth in the latest AVCA coaches poll. 

Seven players earned postseason awards from the conference, with 2019 Third Team AVCA All-American Kailyn Gilbreath being named Player of the Year. In her redshirt junior season to date, the 5-9 opposite has tallied 232 kills, 196 assists, 169 digs, 38 blocks, and 18 service aces. Her teammates Chloe Patton, Sophia Berg, Lindsey Ledyard, and Grace White were also named to the All-Conference team, while Elsa Lamphere was included on the All-Freshman team.

Watch 2021 AVCA DII Women's Volleyball Championship

Apr 14-17, 10:00 AM EDT

Harding

Harding rode an undefeated record all the way into the GAC championship match Sunday where it lost in straight sets to conference rival Oklahoma Baptist. However, tied with Angelo State for sixth in the April 7 AVCA Poll, Harding has plenty to be proud of this season, and the potential to redeem the loss to OBU at the AVCA tournament this week. The Bison (yep, they have the same mascot as rival OBU) gave up just six sets in the 12 matches leading up to the conference final. 

Logan Smith and Katherine Cowart earned spots on the all-tournament team, a fitting honor for the pair that has performed for the team all season long. Senior libero Cowart heads into this week’s AVCA tournament the team leader with 230 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Smith has tallied a team high 135 kills. The GAC also named Smith the conference Player of the Year.

Gannon

With no Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship happening this season, No. 9-ranked Gannon concluded the regular season on April 10 with a 3-1 victory over DIII Carnegie Mellon. The Golden Knights went 16-0 this year and celebrated a No. 8 national ranking on March 31, their highest AVCA poll ranking in program history. Their impressive performance this spring has included victories over Hillsdale, at the time ranked No. 1 in the country. Opposite Ashley McClung and outside hitter Lauren Sampson lead this team’s offense, with a season total of 113 and 103 kills, respectively. Other key members of the squad include setters Kaeli Kristensen (289 assist, 95 digs, 21 service aces) and Valeria Torres (172 assists, 76 digs, 14 service aces) and middle blocker Maggie Greenfield (34 blocks, 89 kills, hitting .366). 

UT Tyler 

UT Tyler lost its first match of the season just two weeks ago in the Lone Star Conference championship match versus Angelo State, pretty impressive for a team that played its first season of Division II competition in 2019. 

Junior Mikayla Ware had a lot to do with UT Tyler’s success, leading the team with 135 kills and adding 13 assists, 14 aces, 173 digs, and 13 blocks. The transfer from Panola Community College earned the league’s Newcomer of the Year honor, making the all-conference list alongside her teammates Christina Escamilla, Savannah Guzman, Hatti Murray, and Taylor Stoops. Escamilla led the conference with a .383 hitting percentage, while Stoops quarterbacked the offense to the tune of 299 assists on the season. Guzman and Murray both played key defensive roles, with libero Guzman averaging 4.08 digs per set and Murray finishing the season with 60 blocks, a league best 1.13 per set.  

In her fourth season as the UT Tyler head coach, Lyndsay Mashe was named LSC Coach of the Year.