5 possible sleepers for the DII women’s volleyball championship

The DII women’s volleyball landscape has been dominated by familiar faces for a long time. Names like West Texas A&M, Concordia-St. Paul and Tampa — just to name a few — are easy picks as contenders for the final eight of the DII women’s volleyball championship. Even a team like Gannon feels like a shoo-in for the finals every year.

Or are they?

While the DII women’s volleyball championship finals aren’t typically the place where Cinderellas like to dance, this year, there are few teams making some noise that you should have your eyes on as the calendar turns to October. 

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Seattle Pacific

Welcome back to the top 25, Falcons. It’s been a long time coming, as Seattle Pacific came in at No. 24 this week — the first time cracking the top 25 since 2011. The Falcons have done so by reeling off a 10-2 record to start the season. That’s just three wins shy of last year’s total. 

It’s not simply that the Falcons are winning that make them an under-the-radar threat out in the West Region — it’s how they are winning. Entering this weekend’s play, Seattle Pacific has played the 31st-toughest schedule in DII women’s volleyball, with its opposition posting a .602 winning percentage. The Falcons have downed tournament teams like Lewis and Colorado School of Mines and picked up a huge win against nationally ranked GNAC favorite, Central Washington, last weekend. This team is quickly showing it matches up just fine with NCAA DII tournament regulars and looks poised to make some noise this year.

Adelphi

Whereas many regions have their tournament regulars make the DII women’s volleyball championship finals, there is absolutely no rhyme nor reason in the East. The East Region is the only one to see a different team advance to the final eight in each of the past five tournaments, and looking at the standings right now, it seems like a sixth-straight year could very well be in the cards.

So, why Adelphi? Let’s check off some boxes, shall we? The Panthers have played the toughest schedule in the East Region — in fact, it’s a top-30 schedule in all DII women’s volleyball with their opponents combining for a .613 winning percentage heading into the weekend. That said, Adelphi is 9-4 in what has clearly been a tough non-conference schedule to open the season. Secondly, the Panthers are leading the NE10 in multiple categories, with kills per set, assists per set, digs…