Hollywood’s still on strike, but the court queens are already bringing the drama this year: Ten Top 25 squads (including four in the Top 10) fell to at least one unranked or lower-ranked team in the season’s first three days.

Heavy offseason transfer portal activity means this volleyball season will be less predictable than Scooter Braun’s future.

Only 185 NCAA teams compete in the winter season: 27 in DI, 35 in DII, and 123 in DIII. DI and DII share a championship, while DIII schools have their own postseason tourney.

The world’s most intense game of “the floor is lava” is also one of the NCAA’s top sports, boasting 1057 women’s teams nationwide, including 344 in Division I (DI). Volleyball’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years — the 2022 championship saw record viewership and the 2023 edition will appear on network TV for the first time.

Although the basics are the same — don’t let the ball on the ground, don’t touch the net, etc. — beach volleyball’s format is a significant shakeup from that of its indoor cousin.

Volleyball’s jam-packed seasons came to a dramatic end as two Southern California powerhouses took some serious hardware back home to LA.

Five of the eight beach volleyball conferences, including the CUSA and OVC, will dig into their tourneys this week, delivering some early sand and sun before final exams.

Men’s volleyball’s unconventional conferences are all hosting their tourneys this week, with champs to crown and automatic natty bids to bestow on Saturday.

Spring break is still weeks away, but the NCAA is bringing the sand and sun early with this weekend’s beach volleyball season start.

To cap off their one-loss season, the Longhorns brought brooms to Omaha, NE, Saturday night, bagging their third-ever natty (and first since 2012) by sweeping fellow No. 1 seed Louisville Cardinals 25–22, 25–14, 26–24 in front of a sold-out crowd.

Despite the Toreros’ impressive first-set win, Texas quickly rallied to take the next three, booking their ninth program ticket to the national final.

After Saturday’s wild women’s volleyball quarter-finals sent home the last two remaining hopes for both the Pac-12 and the powerhouse Big Ten, Thursday’s semis are officially set.