The 2022 championship featured a 16-team field for the first time, doubled from previous years, as well as the addition of an opening knockout round before the traditional eight-team double-elimination bracket.

Eight of the participating schools automatically qualified by winning their respective conference tournaments, while the other eight were given either a regional or an at-large bid by the NCAA Women's Beach Volleyball Committee.

They had a lineup that included the likes of 2020 Olympian Tina Graudina and then-reigning U19 world champions Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple.

The biggest tournament upsets came from the tenth-seeded Georgia State Panthers, who beat the seventh-seeded Grand Canyon Antelopes and the second-seeded TCU Horned Frogs before being knocked out of the elimination bracket by the Loyola Marymount Lions.

Meanwhile, scheduling changes due to inclement weather meant that the Florida State Seminoles ended up playing three duals on the third day of competition; the Seminoles suffered a loss to USC in the winners bracket before overcoming the LSU Tigers, Loyola Marymount Lions and UCLA Bruins in the elimination bracket to set up a rematch against the Trojans.

[12] However, with the growing popularity of the collegiate sport, the NCAA doubled the field for the 2022 championship,[11][12] adding a 16-team single-elimination opening round that led into the established eight-team double-elimination bracket.

[13] Along with the expanded field, the qualification process introduced eight automatic bids that teams earned by winning their respective conference tournaments.

The winning teams then advanced to a double-elimination bracket that began play on Friday, May 6, until a national champion was determined on Sunday, May 8.

[32] Led by Dain Blanton for the third year,[27] USC had a much-heralded 2021–22 roster that was compared to the Marvel Comics' Avengers by Volleyball Magazine's Travis Mewhirter.

[39] It included the likes of 2020 Olympian Tina Graudina of Latvia and then-reigning U19 world champions Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple.

1 and topping the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA) rankings,[27] the Trojans entered the NCAA tournament as the favorites to win.

[41] A finalist at the 2021 NCAA championship, UCLA's roster featured six returning starters from last year's lineup, including AVCA first-team All-Americans Lexy Denaburg and Abby Van Winkle.

[41] In the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA), the fourth-ranked Florida State Seminoles had upset the second-ranked TCU Horned Frogs in the final to win their sixth consecutive conference title.

[26] Meanwhile, TCU had started off the season with one of the most anticipated rosters thanks to several key transfers and freshmen recruited by head coach Hector Gutierrez, such as former European junior championship silver medalist Ana Vergara of Spain.

[32] Loyola Marymount were coming off their third consecutive West Coast tournament win,[30] and head coach John Mayer believed this was his program's "most talent[ed]" lineup yet.

After a highly successful 2020–21 season, the Tigers experienced a huge turnover that resulted in the loss of eight of their ten previous starters.

[39][44] Led by head coach Russell Brock,[44] LSU recorded just one win against one of the top five seeds over the regular season.

[32] Lee Feinswog, writing for Volleyball Magazine, observed in his tournament preview that the top six seeds had dominated the 2021–22 season, having only suffered a combined total of 37 losses, mostly to each other.

The only upset came when tenth-seeded Georgia State beat seventh-seeded Grand Canyon 3–2, marking the Panthers' first-ever dual win at the NCAA tournament.

5 pairing of Sierra Caffo and Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope defeated California's Natalie Martin and Alex Young-Gomez in three sets to give them the victory.

Similarly, the UCLA–Stetson dual came down to the second pairs' court, where UCLA's Jaden Whitmarsh and Devon Newberry fell behind in the third set before rallying to beat their Stetson opponents 19–21, 21–16, 15–13.

[48] Meanwhile, USC extended their dual win streak to 32 with a dominant performance that left UT Martin unable to score more than 13 points a set.

[52][53] Having lost twice to TCU earlier in the season, LSU coach Brock said afterwards: "I'd rather lose four times and come here and beat them and be extremely gratified and proud of these kids for battling that way.

3 pairs flight, UCLA's Lea Monkhouse and Jessie Smith scored the first dual point, continuing their undefeated run in the tournament with a 21–17, 21–13 win over Georgia State's Kuck and Whetstone.

"[54] The next round of staggered matches began and USC only needed one more pairs win, which they got on the first court when Graudina and Harward beat Denaburg and Van Winkle 21–16, 21–13.

The next three matches saw closer battles on courts one and three, but Florida State's fifth pairs flight of Caitlin Moon and Raelyn White defeated Loyola Marymount's Reffel and Ramirez 21–19, 21–14 to win the dual for the Seminoles.

In the final set, Anderson and Bauer flipped an early one-point deficit and held on to their slim lead to win with a score of 15–13.

At the second pairs flight, USC's Kraft and Slater won the first set, but Florida State's A. Chacon and Fitzpatrick fought back to take the match 14–21, 24–22, 17–15.

[18] Volleyball Magazine's Feinswog felt that USC's path to the national title did not come as easily as the results would suggest.

He credited Florida State for putting up a fight till the end, noting that they had a particularly grueling final two days in the tournament due to the scheduling changes.