2006 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

2006 NCAA women's Division I volleyball tournament
2006 NCAA Final Four logo
Champions	Nebraska (3rd title)
Runner-up	Stanford (12th title match)
Semifinalists	UCLA (11th Final Four) Washington (3rd Final Four)
Winning coach	John Cook (2nd title)
Most outstanding player	Sarah Pavan (Nebraska)
Final Four All-Tournament Team	Jordan Larson (Nebraska) Rachel Holloway (Nebraska) Tracy Stalls (Nebraska) Foluke Akinradewo (Stanford) Cynthia Barboza (Stanford) Kristin Richards (Stanford)

The 2006 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on November 30, 2006, with 64 teams and concluded on December 16, 2006, when top ranked Nebraska defeated second ranked Stanford 3 sets to 1 in Omaha, Nebraska for the program's third NCAA title.

At the time, the 17,209 national championship match attendance was the highest attended volleyball match ever in the United States. The record was later broken during the 2008 NCAA Semifinals, also held at the Qwest Center.

Records

Thirty-one conferences had an automatic berth to the 2006 NCAA Tournament, and the other 33 spots were filled by at-large bids. The Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-10 were well-represented as usual, as teams from these conferences made up the top 8 seeds.

Gainesville Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type RPI Record Albany America East Automatic 120 19-12 American Patriot Automatic 72 25-6 Arizona State Pac-10 At-large 36 15-14 College of Charleston Southern Automatic 87 27-7 Duke ACC Automatic 27 28-3 9 Florida SEC Automatic 6 28-2 Florida A&M MEAC Automatic 81 21-6 Jacksonville State Ohio Valley Automatic 61 24-4 8 Minnesota Big Ten At-large 4 23-7 1 Nebraska Big 12 Automatic 1 27-1 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley Automatic 28 27-7 16 San Diego West Coast Automatic 13 24-5 Siena MAAC Automatic 147 22-12 St. John's Big East At-large 24 30-4 Tennessee SEC At-large 44 19-11 Winthrop Big South Automatic 64 34-2

Honolulu Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type RPI Record Arkansas SEC At-large 39 16-12 BYU Mountain West At-large 40 24-5 12 Hawaii WAC Automatic 12 26-5 Long Beach State Big West At-large 26 25-5 Michigan State Big Ten At-large 34 19-11 Mississippi SEC At-large 53 19-12 Missouri State Missouri Valley At-large 37 26-8 13 Oklahoma Big 12 At-large 14 26-5 Oral Roberts Mid-Continent Automatic 82 26-8 Oregon Pac-10 At-large 42 17-11 Pepperdine West Coast At-large 20 16-11 UAB Conference USA Automatic 89 27-9 UC Santa Barbara Big West At-large 51 19-11 4 UCLA Pac-10 At-large 2 29-3 5 USC Pac-10 At-large 8 25-4 Utah Mountain West At-large 18 27-3

Seattle Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type RPI Record Belmont Atlantic Sun Automatic 78 24-6 Colorado Big 12 At-large 23 16-11 Colorado State Mountain West Automatic 30 20-9 Cornell Ivy League Automatic 93 18-8 Hofstra CAA Automatic 35 23-6 Kentucky SEC At-large 49 18-11 Long Island Northeast Automatic 103 25-10 Louisville Big East Automatic 21 25-6 Middle Tennessee State Sun Belt Automatic 47 26-7 New Mexico State WAC At-large 29 33-3 Ohio MAC Automatic 22 28-4 11 Ohio State Big Ten At-large 15 23-7 3 Penn State Big Ten Automatic 3 29-2 14 Purdue Big Ten At-large 16 21-10 Saint Louis Atlantic 10 Automatic 50 22-8 6 Washington Pac-10 At-large 10 25-4

Austin Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type RPI Record Alabama SEC At-large 57 17-12 15 Cal Poly Big West Automatic 17 22-5 California Pac-10 At-large 19 20-9 Iowa State Big 12 At-large 32 20-10 LSU SEC At-large 11 26-5 Michigan Big Ten At-large 25 21-12 Milwaukee Horizon Automatic 38 24-5 Missouri Big 12 At-large 45 17-12 Notre Dame Big East At-large 48 18-13 Prairie View A&M SWAC Automatic 213 23-10 Sacramento State Big Sky Automatic 41 30-5 Santa Clara West Coast At-large 31 20-7 2 Stanford Pac-10 Automatic 5 25-3 Stephen F. Austin Southland Automatic 43 30-3 7 Texas Big 12 At-large 9 21-6 10 Wisconsin Big Ten At-large 7 24-6

Gainesville Regional

	First round November 30-December 1					Second round December 2–3					Regional semifinals December 8					Regional finals December 9
	1	Nebraska	3
		American	1
						1	Nebraska	3
	Lincoln, NE
							Northern Iowa	0
	Winthrop		1
	Northern Iowa		3
											1	Nebraska	3
											16	San Diego	0
	Tennessee		1
	Duke		3
							Duke	2
	Knoxville, TN
						16	San Diego	3
		Jacksonville St.	0
	16	San Diego	3
																1	Nebraska	3
																8	Minnesota	2
	9	Florida	3
		Florida A&M	0
						9	Florida	3
	Gainesville, FL
							Arizona St.	1
	College of Charleston		0
	Arizona St.		3
											9	Florida	1
											8	Minnesota	3
	St. John's (NY)		3
	Albany		1
							St. John's (NY)	2
	Albany, NY
						8	Minnesota	3
		Siena	0
	8	Minnesota	3

Upsets

In the Gainesville region, no seed was a victim of an upset, although some were very close to doing so. In the first round, unseeded American put a scare into top seeded Nebraska by taking game 3 from them, but Nebraska responded by winning the fourth game, 30–16. In the second round, unseeded St. John's took 8th seeded Minnesota to 5 games, losing the 5th, 15–12. As expected, Nebraska and Minnesota reached the regional finals, and Minnesota almost pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament by winning the first two games. Top seeded Nebraska rallied back from the 0–2 deficit and won the fifth game, 15–9. Nebraska sophomore Jordan Larson was named the regional's most outstanding player, as she tallied a career high 21 kills in the dramatic comeback win.

This marked the first time in Nebraska's history that they won a regional final outside of the state of Nebraska. Nebraska advanced in hopes of making up for their 2005 national championship loss to Washington.

Honolulu Regional

	First round November 30-December 1					Second round December 2–3					Regional semifinals December 8					Regional finals December 9
	5	Southern California	3
		Mississippi	0
						5	Southern California	3
	Los Angeles, CA
							BYU	0
	UCSB		2
	BYU		3
											5	Southern California	2
											12	Hawai'i	3
	Pepperdine		1
	Long Beach State		3
							Long Beach St.	1
	Long Beach, CA
						12	Hawai'i	3
		Oregon	0
	12	Hawai'i	3
																12	Hawai'i	0
																4	UCLA	3
	13	Oklahoma	3
		Oral Roberts	0
						13	Oklahoma	3
	Fayetteville, AR
							Missouri St.	0
	Missouri St.		3
	Arkansas		1
											13	Oklahoma	0
											4	UCLA	3
	Utah		3
	Michigan St.		2
							Utah	0
	Los Angeles, CA
						4	UCLA	3
		UAB	0
	4	UCLA	3

Upsets

Each expected team, Hawai'i, UCLA, Southern California and Oklahoma reached the regional semifinals, and as expected, UCLA defeated Oklahoma. The other semifinal was a different story, as 12th seeded Hawai'i pulled off the biggest upset of the regional by defeating Southern California in 5 games, 28–30, 30–21, 21–30, 30–27, 15–5 in front of a partisan Hawai'i crowd. Hawai'i could not continue the upsets however, against overall number 4 seed UCLA in the regional finals. UCLA advanced to their first final four since 1994.

Seattle Regional

	First round November 30-December 1					Second round December 2–3					Regional semifinals December 8					Regional finals December 9
	3	Penn State	3
		Long Island	0
						3	Penn State	3
	University Park, PA
							Hofstra	0
	Cornell		2
	Hofstra		3
											3	Penn State	3
											14	Purdue	0
	Kentucky		3
	Ohio		2
							Kentucky	0
	West Lafayette, IN
						14	Purdue	3
		St. Louis	0
	14	Purdue	3
																3	Penn State	1
																6	Washington	3
	11	Ohio St.	3
		Belmont	0
						11	Ohio St.	3
	Louisville, KY
							Middle Tennessee	1
	Middle Tennessee		3
	Louisville		2
											11	Ohio St.	0
											6	Washington	3
	Colorado		3
	New Mexico St.		0
							Colorado	0
	Boulder, CO
						6	Washington	3
		Colorado St.	1
	6	Washington	3

Upsets

Much like the previous two regionals, each seeded team reached the Sweet 16 as expected. Penn State swept past Big Ten foe Purdue, while host Washington swept past Ohio State. Perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament occurred in the regional final, when defending champion Washington defeated third seed Penn State on UW's home floor in front of 6,000 fans. The win improved the Huskies to 12–0 at home in postseason play. Washington advanced to their third consecutive final four in hopes of defending their 2005 national title.

Austin Regional

	First round November 30-December 1					Second round December 2–3					Regional semifinals December 8					Regional finals December 9
	7	Texas	3
		Prairie View	0
						7	Texas	3
	Austin, TX
							Stephen F. Austin	0
	Stephen F. Austin		3
	Alabama		0
											7	Texas	3
											10	Wisconsin	0
	Iowa St.		3
	Wisconsin–Milwaukee		0
							Iowa St.	0
	Madison, WI
						10	Wisconsin	3
		Notre Dame	0
	10	Wisconsin	3
																7	Texas	1
																2	Stanford	3
	15	Cal Poly	3
		Michigan	1
						15	Cal Poly	1
	San Luis Obispo, CA
							California	3
	California		3
	LSU		1
												California	0
											2	Stanford	3
	Missouri		3
	Santa Clara		2
							Missouri	2
	Stanford, CA
						2	Stanford	3
		Sacramento St.	0
	2	Stanford	3

Upsets

The Austin regional saw no major upsets. In sub-regional final action, California upset #15 seed Cal Poly to become the only unseeded team to make the Sweet 16 and unseeded Missouri gave #2 seed Stanford a scare by pushing them to five games.

Final Four – Qwest Center, Omaha, Nebraska

	National Semifinals December 14					National Championship December 16
	1	Nebraska	3
	4	UCLA	1
						1	Nebraska	3
						2	Stanford	1
	2	Stanford	3
	6	Washington	0

National Semifinal recap

Nebraska vs. UCLA

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4
NEB	23	30	30	30
UCLA	30	28	23	28

The first semifinal began on December 14, 2006. Top seeded Nebraska was playing in front of an NCAA record 17,013 Husker fans in Omaha. Nebraska dropped the first game, 23–30, but rallied to win the next three. AVCA National Player of the Year Sarah Pavan served 10 straight points in one of the games and had 22 kills in the match. The loss ended UCLA's bid to win their first NCAA title since 1991, but it was still a successful season as AVCA National Coach of the Year Andy Banachowski guided the 2006 squad to its first 30-win season since 1994.

Stanford vs. Washington

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
STAN	30	30	30
WASH	12	25	15

In the second semifinal, second seeded Stanford completely dominated the match, knocking out defending national champion Washington. As a team, Washington hit .000% compared to the Cardinal's .315. Four of six Washington players hit either negative or .000 %. The Cardinal advanced to their 12th title match in school history, in hopes of winning their 7th NCAA title.

National Championship recap: Nebraska vs. Stanford

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4
NEB	27	30	30	30
STAN	30	26	28	27

Nebraska and Stanford were the top two overall seeds and it was only the second time the top two seeds met in an NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship title match.

Stanford took game 1, 30–27, thanks to a .304 hitting % compared to the Huskers' .196. Nebraska responded in game 2, defeating the Cardinal, 30–26, to send the teams into the locker room with one game won apiece.

Game 3 was close like the first two, until the Huskers saw a 26-22 point deficit. With game 3 looking close to a Cardinal victory, behind good Husker defense, they rallied to tie the game at 28, and eventually won the game on a kill by Pavan, 30–28.

Game 4 was once again close until the end, when the Huskers took a 27–22 lead. However, by good defense and a reversal from game 3, the Cardinal rallied to catch up. Stanford staved off two championship points and came within two at 29–27, but a kill after a Huskers' timeout by sophomore Jordan Larson ricocheted off a Stanford defender and sent the Huskers to victory and their first title since going undefeated in 2000. They also became the first school since 1991 to win the national title as the host institution. Nebraska finished the season with a 33–1 record, with their only loss coming to Big 12 opponent Colorado in a five-game upset. Nebraska became just the second team in NCAA history to stay at a number 1 ranking for the entire year.

See also

• NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship
• AVCA