The championship was approved by the NCAA Convention during the fall of 2015, and a committee was selected to determine the tournament's organizational structure.

As such, a separate championship had been contested annually, since 2012, by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

As of 2015, over 50 schools (from Divisions I, II, and III) had sponsored sand volleyball, ten more than the total number of required programs.

From 2016 through 2021, eight teams participated, in a double-elimination style tournament with a single-elimination final, under standard beach volleyball rules.

[7][8] In December 2017, ESPN signed a multiyear agreement to broadcast the NCAA Women's Beach Volleyball Championship through 2022.