The NCAA volleyball semifinals have arrived, with four of the nation’s best teams set to face off to determine who will advance to the championship match.

Texas, San Diego, Pittsburgh and Louisville will compete Thursday night in Omaha for a spot in Saturday’s final.

In an action-packed regional finals, three of the four matches went to five sets, and Pitt knocked reigning champion Wisconsin from contention. The semifinals promise just as much drama.

No. 1 seed Texas will face No. 2 seed San Diego in the first semifinal at 7 p.m. ET, and then No. 1 seed Louisville will go up against No. 2 seed Pittsburgh at 9:30 p.m. ET. Both matches will air on ESPN and will stream on ESPN+.

Just Women’s Sports highlights one player to watch from each of the four teams.

Texas: Logan Eggleston

The three-time Big 12 Player of the Year, Logan Eggleston has shown up big for Texas in this year’s tournament.

The senior outside hitter recorded 20 kills and nine digs in the regional final against Texas. She also had two aces, which made her the Big 12’s all-time service ace leader (207). She was named the most outstanding player of the Austin regional, with 35 kills, 18 digs, 7 blocks and 5 aces through two matches.

With Eggleston and teammates Madisen Skinner and Asjia O’Neal leading the way, the Longhorns have plenty of firepower. They were the only team in the Elite Eight to wrap up their Final Four berth in five sets, as they beat Ohio State in four.

.@loganeggleston_ sealed the deal 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/nosoTCOI21

— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) December 11, 2022

San Diego: Gabby Blossom

San Diego is competing in its first Final Four, and the Toreros can thank setter Gabby Blossom. The graduate transfer from Penn State recorded a game-high 68 assists, seven digs and two blocks in the team’s Sweet Sixteen win against Kentucky.

In the next round, the Toreros pushed No. 1 Stanford to five sets, eventually securing the victory and extending their winning streak to 28 matches. Blossom has made all the difference in that run, averaging 11.39 assists per set. Her success has enabled teammates such as Katie Lukes to lead the team in scoring with 4.12 points per set.

Needed the set win...did it in style 😎

📺 ESPNU#NCAAWVB x @USDVolleyball pic.twitter.com/8Tn8WSZpQl

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 11, 2022

Pittsburgh: Courtney Buzzerio

Another big-name graduate transfer, Buzzerio leads Pittsburgh in points after transferring from Iowa. With 4.33 points per set to go alongside a .329 hitting efficiency, the right-side hitter has helped the Panthers make it to their second straight Final Four.

In the regional final, Buzzerio showed up big. Against defending champion Wisconsin, she led the Panthers with 18 kills while hitting .213. Buzzerio and the Panthers went on a 3-0 run to take the fifth set and advance, and she was named MVP of the Madison regional.

PITT TAKES OUT THE DEFENDING CHAMPS!!

📺 ESPNU#NCAAWVB x @Pitt_VB pic.twitter.com/Vh70rh0faS

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 11, 2022

Louisville: Anna DeBeer

After missing a large part of the season with a knee injury, DeBeer has returned with a vengeance. Louisville went down 2-1 to Oregon on Saturday, but then DeBeer took over. She led the team with 17 kills and added 10 digs to help the Cardinals secure their spot in the semifinals.

Six of those kills came in the fourth set, which tied the match. A scary moment came in the fifth set, as she landed on her previously injured knee. But while trainers assessed DeBeer, she refused to come out. Her efforts earned her MVP of the Louisville regional as the team advanced to its second straight Final Four.

“We wouldn’t be here hosting a regional if it weren’t for Anna, and we’re going to need her in the Final Four,” coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “I always say that she’s like my safety blanket when she’s out there.”

The dig @clairechaussee9 🤝 The kill @anna_debeer

📺 ESPNU#NCAAWVB x @LouisvilleVB pic.twitter.com/PGIzaWiQmH

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 10, 2022

There's just one WNBA preseason game left on the 2025 calendar, as 12 of the league's 13 teams wrapped exhibition play over the weekend ahead of Friday's regular-season tip-off.

The Chicago Sky became the latest team to lock in their 12-player roster on Sunday, joining the likes of the Indiana Fever in making tough final cuts.

To reach league compliance, Chicago waived Australian guard Alex Wilson, 2024 second-round draft pick Jessika Carter (Mississippi State), and former Mercury forward Morgan Bertsch.

Earning their official spots in the Sky's lineup are 2025 rookies Hailey Van Lith (TCU) and Maddy Westbeld (Notre Dame), the overall No. 11 and No. 16 picks, respectively, in April's draft.

Overall, the class of 2025 is performing well so far, with all first-round picks avoiding early roster cuts — though many teams are still deciding who will suit up on opening day.

Some second-rounders are also showing significant promise, with the Atlanta Dream's 18th overall pick Te-Hina PaoPao (South Carolina) scoring a team-leading 14 points against Indiana on Saturday.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

How to watch the final 2025 WNBA preseason game

Capping the 2025 WNBA preseason are the reigning champion New York Liberty, who will take on Japan's Toyota Antelopes on Monday night.

The exhibition will see Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu and Nyara Sabally — who notably saw her contract extended through 2026 by New York on Monday afternoon — return to their University of Oregon alma mater for the clash.

The Liberty will tip off against the Antelopes at 10 PM ET, with live coverage airing on WNBA League Pass.

The 2031 Women's World Cup will expand to 48 teams, with the 16-team increase announced among other landmark decisions by the FIFA Council on Friday.

The decision to expand the World Cup aims to "broaden representation, offering more nations and players access to elite competition and accelerating investment in women's football worldwide," according to the FIFA release.

"The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, the first in which teams from all confederations won at least one game and teams from five confederations reached the knockout stage, among many other records, set a new standard for global competitiveness," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

"This decision ensures we are maintaining the momentum in terms of growing women’s football globally."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

The expanded 2031 World Cup, hosted by the US, will adopt a 12-group format, increasing the total number of matches from 64 to 104 while extending the competition for an additional week.

The World Cup expansion announcement comes on the heels of last month's increased Olympic tournament news, with the IOC boosting the women's soccer field to 16 teams at the 2028 LA Games.

The decision also puts the women's competition in line with the men's World Cup, which will feature FIFA's first 48-team tournament in 2026.

FIFA approves Afghan women's refugee team

In the same Friday announcement, the FIFA Council also approved the creation of an Afghanistan women's refugee team, which would provide evacuated Afghan women players the ability to compete on an officially recognized FIFA team.

While FIFA requires that national federations sponsor teams, the Afghan Football Federation ceased acknowledging its women's team once the Taliban-controlled government banned women's sports.

Originally formed by the country's Olympic Committee in 2007, the Afghanistan women's national team has not played a FIFA-recognized match since 2018, and most of its athletes fled the country amidst the Taliban's second takeover in 2021.

Since then, players have petitioned FIFA for the opportunity to compete. Their efforts earned a one-year trial phase from the governing body on Friday, though the success of the program could see it expanded to refugees from other nations in the future.

"We are happy that FIFA has created a pathway for Afghan players to finally return to the field," team founder and former captain Khalida Popal told CNN on Friday, adding that the squad "remain[s] hopeful FIFA can amend its statutes to provide official recognition for our players as the Afghanistan Women's National Team."

Popal — who helped hundreds of Afghans, including the team, escape the Taliban — previously said the team "could show the world that Afghan women and girls belong in sport, in school and everywhere in society — and we will not be defeated."

Chelsea FC is the first team in Women's Super League (WSL) history to claim an unbeaten 22-game season, adding the undefeated moniker to their sixth-straight league title with Saturday's 1-0 win over Liverpool.

The Blues' perfect season joins the previous unbeaten campaigns of 2012's Arsenal, 2016's Manchester City, and Chelsea's own 2018 squad — though those three teams did so in 14, 16, and 18 games, respectively.

Chelsea finishes the 2024/25 campaign with an astounding 19 wins and three draws, missing just six possible points on the table en route to their new WSL record of 60 points in a single season.

"As a manager, players, and staff, you only live these moments maybe once in your life," said Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor following Saturday's history-making win. "You need to enjoy it because it is a great achievement."

Trailing Chelsea's impressive winning tally by a full 12 points, Arsenal secured second place with a 4-3 victory over third-place Manchester United in their Saturday season finale.

WSL standouts secure individual 2024/25 awards

Though they missed the WSL's team trophy, the Gunners did claim some individual hardware this weekend, as voters selected midfielder Mariona Caldentey as the inaugural winner of the WSL Player of the Season award.

The 29-year-old Spain international led the league in shot creation, and put up nine goals and five assists on the WSL stat sheet this season.

Caldentey's teammate Alessia Russo also walked away with a trophy, sharing the Golden Boot with fourth-place Manchester City's Khadija "Bunny" Shaw after both forwards scored 12 goals each on the season.

Also sharing a stat-sheet title is Chelsea's Hannah Hampton and Manchester United's Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who claimed the 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove award behind 13 clean sheets apiece.

Meanwhile, the season's WSL Rising Star award went to ninth-place West Ham striker Shekiera Martinez. After spending the first half of the 2024/25 season on loan to Bundesliga side SC Freiburg, the 23-year-old German international notched an astounding 10 goals in her 12 total WSL matches.

Speaking of impressive scoring, Manchester City forward Vivianne Miedema's stellar chip against Aston Villa in January earned the Dutch star the 2024/25 WSL Goal of the Season title.

For the first time in program history, Texas A&M is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA softball tournament, with the Aggies staving off four-time reigning champion Oklahoma for the honor in Sunday's 2025 bracket drop.

After adverse weather canceled their conference title game on Saturday, the Aggies and No. 2-seed Sooners became 2025 SEC tournament co-champions, leaving the NCAA selection committee to lean heavily on each team's strength of schedule in making their top-seed decision.

"What set apart Texas A&M is they have 19 Top 25 wins, which is number one in the country," said NCAA softball committee chair Kurt McGuffin on Sunday's ESPN2 broadcast, noting the Aggies' tough nonconference schedule.

Taking on a lighter nonconference slate than usual due to massive roster turnover following the 2023/24 season, Oklahoma relied heavily on their record in a stacked SEC, finishing one half-game ahead of A&M in regular-season play.

While the Sooners look to extend their championship streak, the Aggies will be hunting their third national title and first since 1987.

Standing in their way in the 64-team bracket are a record number of familiar foes, as the SEC boasts 14 teams in the 2025 NCAA competition — the most from any single conference in tournament history.

Even more, nine of the bracket's 16 seeded teams hail from the SEC, and a full seven of the Top 8.

Conference champs, at-large teams score NCAA bracket spots

SEC squads aren't the only teams looking to topple Texas A&M and Oklahoma, however, as conference champions and other elite squads learned their tournament fates on Selection Sunday.

No. 5 Florida State is the highest seeded non-SEC team, despite falling 2-1 to No. 11-seed Clemson in Saturday's ACC title game. Along with No. 14-seed Duke, the ACC will see nine teams in the 2025 tournament.

Behind 2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady — the nation's top pitcher — Texas Tech leads a five-team contingent from the Big 12 after securing both their conference tournament trophy and the national No. 12-seed this weekend.

In the weekend's most upset-filled conference tournament, unseeded Michigan outlasted both No. 9-seed UCLA and No. 16-seed Oregon to score a second straight Big Ten tournament title on Saturday, becoming one of eight teams repping the conference in Sunday's bracket.

Notably, the Bruins — the winningest program in NCAA softball history with 12 titles — have not entered the tournament lower than a No. 6 seed since 2016.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA softball tournament

The road to the 2025 Women's College World Series begins with Regionals, in which each of the 16 seeded teams will host a four-team double-elimination mini-tournament this weekend.

With a minimum of 96 games — and a possibility of 112 — Regional play begins at 12 PM ET on Friday, with the 64-team field narrowing to 16 by Sunday night.

All games will air live across ESPN's networks.