U Sports women's volleyball

To prepare for the season, teams will typically play a series of exhibition games against conference and non-conference opponents.[13][14] These games are usually played in September and/or October before the regular season and in December and/or January during the holiday break.[15][16]

The York Lions hosting the Toronto Varsity Blues in 2020.

As of the 2023-24 season, the RSEQ begin their season first, on the second Friday of October.[17] The Canada West conference begins play one week later and the AUS and OUA schedules begin on the fourth Friday of October.[13][14][18] All regular season games are in-conference and the schedule ends in approximately mid-February.[13]

The AUS conference features six teams that play four games against each opponent for a total of 20 regular season games.[14] In the RSEQ, eight teams play 21 conference games for a total of three games against each opponent.[17] In Canada West, there are 14 teams in one conference that play against 12 other opponents resulting in 24 total games played.[18] The OUA also features 14 teams in one conference after previously having teams split in an east and west division.[13][19] OUA teams play two games against 10 different opponents, leaving three teams as non-combatants for each team's schedule.[19] For the OUA and Canada West conferences, teams will usually play the same opponent twice in one weekend for ease of travel and scheduling.[13][18]

Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Mary Lyons Award is awarded annually to the Player of the Year in U Sports women's volleyball.[20] The Mark Tennant Award is given to the Rookie of the Year and the Thérèse Quigley Award is given to the best well-rounded student (volleyball, academics and community involvement). An award was also given for the Libero of the Year, but it was discontinued after the 2014-15 season.[21]

UBC's Lisa Barclay won the 2014 Mary Lyons Award and three national championships.

After the regular season, playoff games and series are held between the top teams in each conference to determine conference champions. In the AUS and RSEQ conferences, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs and play a best-of-three series including in the conference championship.[17][22] In Canada West, the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs and play best-of-three series in playoff brackets in the quarterfinals.[23] The winners of these series play in best-of-three semifinals until two teams remain where they play in a single elimination conference championship game.[23]

The OUA is the only conference that features a single elimination format in all playoff games.[19] Teams are seeded one through eight and advance to the semi-finals in a bracket format with the higher-seeded team hosting each game.[19] The highest-seeded remaining team hosts the conference championship, the Quigley Cup.[19]

The U Sports women's volleyball championship was officially established in 1971 following the organization of the Canadian Women’s Interuniversity Athletic Union (CWIAU).[2][8] A predetermined host university stages the eight-team tournament over three days and finals games are played on the last day to award gold, silver, and bronze medals.[24] The host team is automatically qualified for the tournament, as are each of the conference champions. Three other teams are entered based on the strength of their conferences and their post-season finishes.[24] The UBC Thunderbirds have won the most championships with 12 gold medals won, followed by the seven titles won by each of the Alberta Pandas, Manitoba Bisons, and Winnipeg Wesmen.[8] The national championship has historically been dominated by the Canada West conference with those teams winning 42 of the 51 championship matches as of the 2022-23 season.[8] The 2020 and 2021 championship tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

There were 41 teams that had participated in the 2022–23 Women's volleyball season.[25][26] Recently, St. Francis Xavier and Cape Breton previously had programs is the AUS conference, but they were cut due to budgetary reasons in 2013 and 2015, respectively.[27][28] On the opposite side, the Canada West conference has seen a growth in team membership, adding the UBCO Heat in 2011-12, Mount Royal Cougars in 2012-13, MacEwan Griffins in 2014-15, and the UFV Cascades in 2020-21.[29][30][31] The UQTR Patriotes are playing in the RSEQ Division 1 as of the 2021-22 season after playing the conference's Division 2.[32] After becoming the 57th member of U Sports, the UQAC Inuk are fielding a women's volleyball team beginning in 2023.[33] 42 teams are scheduled to compete in the 2023-24 season.[25] The Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees announced intentions to move from the RSEQ to the OUA beginning with the 2024-25 season.[34]

Thunderbirds

Spartans

Cascades

WolfPack

Heat

Griffins

Pandas

Dinos

Cougars

Huskies

Cougars

Bobcats

Wesmen

Bisons

Thunderwolves

Lancers

Mustangs

Gryphons

Warriors

Marauders

Badgers

Lions

Blues

Bold

Lakers

Excalibur

Gaels

Paladins

Gee-Gees

Citadins

Martlets

Carabins

Patriotes

Rouge et Or

Inuk

Vert et Or

Reds

Axewomen

Tigers

Huskies

Aigles Bleues

Sea-Hawks

• Note: Conference titles won by teams in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (1972-73 season to 2000-01 season) are not included in the above table due to lack of information on this conference.[3]

• Note: The Ottawa Gee-Gees moved from the OUA to the RSEQ starting with the 2016-17 season.[35]