The first two rounds of the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament saw a lot of chalk last week, as the four No. 1-seeds — Nebraska, Texas, Pitt, and Kentucky — all rolled to spots in this week's Sweet Sixteen.
The Longhorns ousted reigning national champion No. 8-seed Penn State with a second-round sweep last Saturday, while Kentucky became the only top seed to drop a single set through the first two matches when the Wildcats defeated No. UCLA 3-1 on Friday.
"I think what I liked is the concentration throughout the entire match. There were no letdowns," said Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott following his team's win over the Nittany Lions. "There's so many good teams right now. The sport continues to grow and continues to be dominant. I told them we don't need to play perfect, but we need to be good enough to win each night, and so that's what we did."
Along with the No. 1 squads, nearly every Top-4 seed advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, with the only Cinderella story coming from the unseeded Cal Poly Mustangs.
The 2025 Big West champions stunned their Power Four opponents last week, taking down No. 5-seed BYU and No. 4-seed USC in five-set thrillers to book a third-round matchup against No. 1 Kentucky — the Mustangs' first Sweet Sixteen berth since 2007 and second since the 1980s.
How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this week
The 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament resumes when No. 2-seed Arizona State and No. 3-seed Creighton face off in the first of the two-day Sweet Sixteen slate at 1 PM ET on Thursday, with the Elite Eight then set to compete in the Regional finals on Saturday and Sunday.
All games in the Regional finales of the 2025 Division I tournament will air live on either ESPN2 or ESPN.
With the 64-team national tournament bracket dropping in less than four weeks, the No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers remain the only undefeated squad in the 2025 NCAA volleyball season after back-to-back weekend losses snapped the previously unbeaten No. 4 Texas Longhorns' winning streak.
Downed in consecutive Top-10 matchups, Texas first fell to No. 6 Texas A&M in a tense five-set thriller on Friday before No. 2 Kentucky quickly handled the Longhorns in a Sunday sweep.
"We got to make sure that we are dialed in from the very first point. I thought our team fought pretty hard, but we didn't execute the level that we can," said Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott.
The weekend's volatile Top 10 results ultimately cemented Nebraska's standing as the team to beat, with the Huskers earning a unanimous No. 1 vote in the AVCA rankings for the third time this season on Monday.
Nebraska's dominance drives even deeper than the team's current 22-0 season record, with the Huskers only dropping six sets all year as they ride a 13-game sweep streak into their last eight regular-season clashes.
"I wouldn't say there's anything super unique or new that we're doing," said first-year Nebraska head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. "Putting our players in challenging situations in practice against other players has been pretty important."
How to watch Nebraska and Texas volleyball this week
Top-ranked Nebraska will next face unranked Illinois at 8 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on FS1.
Meanwhile, No. 4 Texas will look to bounce back when the Longhorns take on recently unranked Florida at 7 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on the SEC Network.