Due to the unique circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Division I Competition Oversight Committee approved consolidating the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship and National Collegiate Bowling and Women’s Ice Hockey Championships to one location each in the spring of 2021.
The changes are based on the medical guidance of converting all rounds of the championships to predetermined sites and reducing the overall number of sites.
MORE: How the 2020-21 DI women’s volleyball season will work
Women’s volleyball
All 48 teams participating in the Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship would gather in Omaha, Nebraska, which had been scheduled to host the 2020 NCAA national semifinals and finals.
All rounds of the tournament would be played at the CHI Health Center Arena and Convention Center April 13-24. The scheduled dates for competition are subject to change, but for now, the schedule would be the following:
First-round matches would occur April 13, followed by second-round matches April 14. The regional semifinals would be held April 17, followed by the regional finals April 19.
The two national semifinal matches would be April 22, and the national championship match is scheduled for April 24.
Bowling
All 16 teams participating in the National Collegiate Bowling Championship would travel to Kansas City, Missouri, to compete in AMF Pro Bowl Lanes April 7-10.
Selections for the championship would be moved back a week to March 31. Â
Regional competition would occur April 7-8, with the finals scheduled for April 9-10.
NCAA Bowling Committee members think the competition can be conducted over a four-day period within state and local guidelines.
MORE: All 2021 NCAA Championship sites
Women’s ice hockey
All eight teams participating in the NCAA National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championship would travel to Erie, Pennsylvania, to compete in Erie Insurance Arena March 15-21.
Selections for the championship would be announced March 7.
Two of the quarterfinal games would be conducted March 15, while the remaining two quarterfinal games would be held March 16.
The semifinals of the Women’s Frozen Four would take place March 19, followed by the national championship game March 21.
The proposed changes to the format are in response to directives to have as few preliminary-round sites as possible. By eliminating the four on-campus, quarterfinal-round locations, the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Committee will be able to provide the most effective and efficient competition.
