With the last of the confetti cleaned up following Kentucky’s historic volleyball championship, it’s time to look ahead to the 2021 season.

Predictions this far out are always tough. That’s especially true this year, as it’s still unclear how many seniors will take advantage of the NCAA’s blanket waiver and return for another go. This list could look very different if the bulk of Wisconsin’s seniors decide to stay — or if those I think will remain at Nebraska end up leaving. 

Regardless, it makes for an interesting exercise. And though last season only just wrapped up, I already can’t wait for next season to begin. 

1. Texas 

Logan Eggleston, Big 12 Player of the Year, said it best after Texas lost in the championship — this team will be back. The Longhorns had the talent to win it all this year, but their best players sometimes struggled to get in sync. Skylar Fields seemed to come out of her shell during the tournament. If she can find her stride early next year, she packs the perfect punch to complement Eggleston. That could be enough to get Texas over the hump.

With 21 kills, Logan Eggleston went out swinging in the NCAA's title match on Saturday. An All-American both on and off the court, Eggleston is already eyeing next season after Texas' loss to Kentucky. Said the junior: "We're winning next year."https://t.co/GdQ7UklJkY #HookEm

— Danny Davis (@aasdanny) April 25, 2021

2. Nebraska 

The Cornhuskers’ great NCAA tournament run was just cut short by Texas. Next year, they return their high-IQ setter Nicklin Hames to run the offense as well six-rotation outside hitter Madi Kubik to bring some stability to the lineup. Kubik is one of the best six-rotation outside hitters in the Big 10, and her experience will pair perfectly with Nebraska’s number-one ranked recruiting class. 

Jazz Sweet has already said she will not return, while Lexi Sun and Lauren Stivrins have yet to announce their decisions. Should they return, Nebraska would have both the talent and experience needed to contend for a title.

3. Washington

The Huskies return a number of key pieces, notably Ella May Powell, their First Team All-American setter, as well as Samantha Drechsel and Madi Endsley, two pin hitters who carry a huge load for UW. Drechsel was another First Team All-American, while Endsley was only a freshman last year. She was excellent in the tournament, creating high expectations for this trio next year. 

4. Florida

Florida returns the bulk of its starting lineup, including the highly-efficient trio of Marlie Monserez, T’ara Ceasar and Thayer Hall. Lauren Forte, an All-American middle blocker, is also returning for her extra senior eligibility. Elli McKissock, freshman libero, won the jersey this year and ran with it late in the season. I think we’re going to see a lot of progress in Florida’s backcourt game as she has another year under her belt. 

We asked more of this group, for a longer period of time, than any team in our history. And they delivered in a big way.

Thanks for such a memorable ride, Gators! @GatorsVB pic.twitter.com/oe9sz0MoZ2

— Mary Wise (@GatorMary) April 21, 2021

5. Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats had a pretty good season, in case you haven’t been following. Next year, the National Champions return several key pieces from their title-winning squad. The fantastic pin duo of Madison Skinner and Alli Stumler will bring sure firepower to the team, while middle blockers Ashani Tealer and Elise Goetzinger are also set to stay. 

The challenge for the Wildcats will be to replace two irreplaceable players — Madison Lilley, the AVCA National Player of the Year, and Gabby Curry, the SEC Libero of the Year. Even without them, Kentucky has the talent to be a Top 10 team.

Thank you, seniors!! We wish you all the best in your next chapter!#WeAreUK https://t.co/I5HENLHesE

— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) April 29, 2021

6. Purdue

The Boilermakers keep the soul of their team intact as they approach the upcoming year. Hayley Bush, All-American setter, returns to run the offense of this team. Her go-to player, Grace Cleveland, First Team All-American, brings both experience and skill. The departure of Jena Otec, Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year, will be hard to swallow, but a solid recruiting class is coming in to complement an already-deep roster.

Closing out the season with the highest final @AVCAVolleyball ranking in program history. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/scHlNUj3cy

— Purdue Volleyball (@PurdueVB) April 26, 2021

7. Ohio State

The Buckeyes went down swinging last season. Returning six of their seven best players, I expect them to start off next year swinging as well. Emily Londot, the AVCA Freshman of the Year, will return, as will Mac Podraza, the setter who feeds the team. That duo should shine next year after a full offseason working together.

8. Baylor

Returning First Team All-American Yossiana Pressley is reason enough to put Baylor in the Top 10. She has given plenty of top teams trouble over the past few years, and next season will be no different. Lauren Harrisson complements Pressley on the other left side pin, while the back court is patrolled by Shanel Bramschreiber, the reigning Big 12 Libero of the Year. Expect Baylor to contend with Texas for the Big 12 title.

9. Oregon

Oregon has some of the best ball control in the country. If their setter/hitter connection can improve, this is a very dangerous team. Brooke Nuneviller, Second Team All-American, returns as an outside hitter that passes as well as any libero in the country. Her ability to control the court is why Oregon will contend with Washington for a Pac 12 title.

𝘼𝙇𝙇-𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙍𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙉

Congrats to @brookeyy_5 on becoming the 12th player in program history to be named to an @AVCAVolleyball All-American team 👏. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/vBYRX2z6D5

— Oregon Volleyball (@OregonVB) April 21, 2021

10. Penn State

Penn State depended a lot of their youngsters last year. And while Annie Cate Fitzpatrick and Anastasiya Kudryashova will have another year of experience, the Nittany Lions are also bringing in several notable transfers, including Adanna Rollins (Minnesota) and Erika Pritchard (Maryland). 

Jonni Parker had an unbelievable season last year and was undoubtedly one of the most consistent scorers for Penn State with her aggressive right side play. Her senior year will be special. Kaitlyn Hord likewise brings both height and athleticism to the middle position, ensuring the team’s block will be up there with the best of the Big 10.

After another jam-packed weekend of 2024 NCAA Division I volleyball tournament action, all four No. 1 seeds are still standing, sending Pitt, Louisville, Penn State, and Nebraska to Thursday's national semifinals.

Overall No. 1 seed Pitt booked their fourth straight Final Four appearance by first squeaking by No. 4 seed Oregon in a back-and-forth five-set thriller in Thursday's Regional semifinal, before making quick work of No. 3 Kentucky in three straight sets on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Louisville followed up their Thursday sweep of No. 4 Purdue with a redemptive 3-1 win over No. 2 Stanford, avenging their 3-1 loss to the Cardinal to close out regular season play.

On the other side of the NCAA bracket, reigning back-to-back national champions No. 3 Texas fell 3-1 to No. 2 Creighton on Friday. The Bluejays' hopes for a first-ever Final Four appearance didn't last long, however, as Penn State, who ousted No. 5 Marquette 3-1 on Friday, took down Creighton in five tough sets in Sunday's Regional final.

Finally, after downing underdogs No. 5 Dayton 3-1 in their Regional semifinal, Nebraska completed their 2024 hat trick of sweeps against No. 2 Wisconsin on Sunday, tacking on an NCAA tournament ousting to their two regular-season straight-set defeats of their Big Ten rivals.

An ACC vs. Big Ten championship on deck

This Sunday's national championship match is guaranteed to be an ACC vs. Big Ten affair, as both of Thursday's NCAA semifinals pit conference foes against each other. The fact that 2024's last-standing quartet hail from these Power Four leagues is unsurprising, as each has been the sport's two strongest conferences in recent history.

That said, the ACC is still seeking its first-ever NCAA volleyball championship, though both Pitt and Louisville have come wildly close in recent seasons. The Panthers fell in the national semifinals in each of the last three tournaments, while Louisville made the trip in both 2021, losing in the semis, and 2022, when they stumbled in the championship match to title-winners Texas.

The Big Ten's two semifinalists, on the other hand, boast a slew of national trophies. Penn State's seven titles and Nebraska's five trail only Stanford's nine for most by a program in NCAA volleyball history. That said, the Nittany Lions are entering on a nine-year title drought, and Nebraska hasn't hoisted national hardware since 2017, so both will be hungry to ascend this weekend's podium.

How to watch the 2024 NCAA volleyball tournament Final Four

The semifinal round will take place on Thursday, beginning at 6:30 PM ET with ACC champion Pitt taking on Louisville. Big Ten champion Nebraska will play Penn State shortly after the ACC tilt, with both matches airing live on ESPN.

The national championship match will go down at 3 PM ET on Sunday, with live coverage on ABC.

Less than two weeks after qualifying play wrapped, the 15 nations joining hosts Switzerland in the 2025 Euro were drawn into four groups on Monday, setting up intriguing matchups throughout the July tournament's group stage.

National teams were placed into four different selection pots based on UEFA rankings in an attempt to ensure each group contained as equal a level of competition as possible. The top two teams in each quartet at the end of group play will advance to the Euro quarterfinals.

The lone outlier from this process was Switzerland, with the host nation assigned to Group A prior to Monday's main draw.

Notably, Poland and Wales are not only making their Euro debuts next year, but their first appearances in a major tournament after upsetting Austria and Ireland, respectively, in the qualifying play-offs earlier this month.

2025 Euro groups littered with top-tier matchups

Monday's draw laid out the path to next year's European Championship, complete with match dates and venues.

Switzerland's Group A will kick off the tournament on July 2nd, with the Swiss taking on two-time champions Norway while Iceland contends with Finland.

Headlining Group B is 2023 World Cup champions Spain, who will face their neighbors and rivals Portugal to open their 2025 Euro account on July 3rd. Later that same day, the remaining Group B competitors, Belgium and Italy, will take the pitch.

July 4th begins with tournament behemoth Germany, who've won an astounding eight of the 13 Euro titles, taking on debutant Poland in Group C action. The biggest group-stage threat to Germany's first title since 2013, though, likely rests in the day's second match between a tough Denmark team and inaugural Euro champions Sweden.

Group D is arguably this edition's "Group of Death," as reigning champions England must face perennial contenders France and the Netherlands, plus UK rival Wales, throughout group play.

Interestingly, England boss Sarina Weigman, who won the last two Euros by first leading first the Dutch to the top of the 2017 podium before doing the same with the Lionesses, will face off against her previous team and home country the Netherlands in England's second group-stage match on July 9th. The Lionesses will begin defending their title by taking on France on July 5th.

The 2025 Euro groups

• Group A: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Finland
• Group B: Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy
• Group C: Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden
• Group D: France, England, Wales, The Netherlands

Last week's blockbuster Top-10 matchup between No. 2 UConn and No. 8 Notre Dame scored ESPN their highest ratings of the young NCAA women's basketball season, averaging 847,000 viewers while peaking at 915,000 during the Thursday evening broadcast.

Notre Dame's big 79-68 win also marked the largest viewing audience for a pre-January NCAA women's basketball game on ESPN since 2011.

College basketball's record-breaking growth continues

Breaking viewership records is nothing new on the college basketball court. Later rounds of the NCAA tournament draw millions, with last year's national championship game scoring 18.9 million viewers to become ESPN's most-watched college basketball game ever, men's or women's.

That said, recent years have seen significant growth in regular-season play, too. The 2022-23 campaign averaged audiences of almost 200,000 across ESPN's platforms, an increase of 11% year-over-year. Last season upped the ante, averaging 272,000 viewers in regular-season play for a 37% increase over 2022-23. That bump made the 2023-24 season ESPN's most-watched in 15 years.

Even more, 2023-24 regular-season play on ESPN and ABC garnered 476,000 viewers per game, with 13 games drawing over 500,000 — the most to ever surpass that mark in a single season.

With Thursday's tilt between the Irish and the Huskies drawing 78% more viewers than last season's ESPN and ABC average, college basketball isn't slowing down — it's ramping up.

Top stars fuel NCAA basketball viewership records

The NCAA's Caitlin Clark era is over, but stars like Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo and UConn's Paige Bueckers are fueling the demand for college basketball. These individual players' talent and skills, combined with massive recognition birthed by the NIL era across college sports, have allowed top athletes to build brands and fan followings that rival the pros.

Considering Bueckers and other college stars like USC's JuJu Watkins feature in national ad campaigns for huge companies like Nike and State Farm nearly as often as they top the NCAA's stat sheet, it's no wonder they've become household names that hundreds of thousands want to watch in action.

On today's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins wades through a few big women’s sports headlines before sitting down with Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase.

Watkins chats with Nakase about leading a brand-new WNBA franchise, including building a roster from scratch and the front office team's goals and tactics in navigating Golden State's expansion draft.

Finally, Nakase discusses how she’d like her team to play, plus the fundamentals that she thinks will create a lasting locker room culture of winning as the Valkyries embark on their inaugural 2025 season.

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes in women’s sports. This is the weekly rundown you’ve been missing, covering the USWNT, NWSL, WNBA, college hoops, and whatever else is popping off in women’s sports each week. Special guest appearances with the biggest names in women’s sports make The Late Sub a must-listen for every fan. Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women’s Sports newsletter for more.

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