No. 3-seed Texas A&M made history on Sunday, taking down the No. 1-seed Kentucky Wildcats 3-0 in the 2025 NCAA volleyball championship final to lift the Aggies' first-ever national volleyball trophy.
Down by as many as six points in the first frame, the Aggies had to save a Kentucky set point early before surging to a 26-24 opening win — with Texas A&M then finding their groove, never relinquishing the lead as they took the second set by a dominant 25-15 scoreline before easily closing out the sweep 25-20 in the third.
"I just said, 'It's going to take one or two points, start to get firing, they're going to be there,'" said third-year Texas A&M sideline leader and 2025 AVCA Coach of the Year Jamie Morrison.
Senior opposite Logan Lednicky and sophomore outside hitter Kyndal Stowers again led the Aggies' attack with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while senior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla shut down the Wildcats at the net with four blocks — before her eighth kill of the night clinched the championship for A&M.
Following a whirlwind tournament that saw Texas A&M end the seasons of one No. 2 seed (Louisville) before ousting three straight No. 1 seeds (Nebraska, Pitt, and Kentucky), Sunday's unlikely victory saw the Aggies' claim just the second-ever NCAA volleyball title for the SEC — and shed their underdog status for good.
"It's a testament to the work we put in in the practice gym and just generally in all of our careers," Lednicky said afterwards. "It's been a long time coming for us, a lot of work put into this moment."
The 2025 NCAA volleyball championship game is officially on lock, as No. 3-seed Texas A&M and No. 1-seed Kentucky survived Thursday's semifinals to punch their tickets to Sunday's season finale.
After snapping overall top-seed Nebraska's undefeated season in last weekend's Elite Eight round, The Aggies kept their history-making hot streak alive, blowing past No. 1 Pitt as the first team to sweep the Panthers all year.
Leading the charge for A&M were sophomore outside hitter Kyndal Stowers and senior opposite Logan Lednicky, who registered 16 and 14 kills, respectively, on the Final Four court in Kansas City.
As for the last No. 1 seed standing, Kentucky survived No. 3 Wisconsin in a five-set thriller on Thursday, following the example of senior outside hitter Eva Hudson, whose 29 kills trailed only the semifinals-leading 32 posted by Badger senior outside hitter — and fellow AVCA Player of the Year finalist — Mimi Colyer.
With Kentucky hoping to add to their 2020 Division I title — the only NCAA volleyball championship in SEC history — the conference already owns the 2025 trophy, as Thursday set up the sport's first-ever all-SEC national final.
Though the 2025 SEC champion Wildcats seemingly have the edge over the conference's runners-up — Kentucky took down Texas A&M 3-1 in October — A&M's current momentum is undeniable, with the Aggies riding into Sunday's clash having ousted two No. 1 seeds and one No. 2 seed en route to a program-first national final.
"We are considered the underdog in a lot of these moments just [because] we haven't been here before. But we know we have all the right pieces," said Lednicky. "So why not us?"
How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball championship
No. 3 Texas A&M will battle No. 1 Kentucky for the 2025 NCAA volleyball championship at 3:30 PM ET on Sunday, airing live on ABC.
The 2025 NCAA volleyball season is down to four top teams, as the Division I national championship tournament's Final Four takes the court in Kansas City on Thursday night.
No. 1 seeds Pitt and Kentucky survived a series of high-profile tournament upsets to punch their tickets to Thursday's semifinals, where No. 3 seeds Texas A&M and Wisconsin will join the Panthers and Wildcats.
"The Final Four is just so special, it is so incredible," Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield said ahead of Thursday's action. "You want as many of your players that are committed, that decide to come here, you want them to experience that."
Two teams will look to make history this weekend, with Pitt and Texas A&M both in pursuit of a program-first national championship.
While the Aggies are in uncharted territory, booking their first-ever semifinals berth last weekend, the Panthers are hunting a breakthrough, hoping to claim a first-ever championship final appearance in their fifth consecutive trip to the Final Four.
As for Kentucky and Wisconsin, the Wildcats and Badgers will be looking to add a second trophy to their cases after booking their first program titles in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball Final Four
The 2025 NCAA volleyball semifinals begin at 6:30 PM ET on Thursday, when No. 3 Texas A&M takes on No. 1 Pitt before No. 3 Wisconsin faces No. 1 Kentucky at 9 PM ET.
Both Final Four clashes will air live on ESPN.
Overall No. 1-seed Nebraska's perfect season is officially over, after No. 3-seed Texas A&M volleyball ousted the Huskers in a five-set Elite Eight thriller on Sunday, booking the Aggies a program-first trip to the Final Four.
Undaunted by Nebraska's 33-0 record, the Aggies jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Huskers stormed back to force a fifth-set tiebreaker — which A&M won 15-13, stunning a home crowd that hasn't seen a Cornhusker loss in Lincoln in more than three years.
"A lot of us are seniors, and we've been doing this for a really long time," said Aggie senior opposite Logan Lednicky. "And I think all the newbies came in ready to work, ready to grind."
Though Nebraska boasts five national titles — good for third on the all-time NCAA volleyball championship list — the Huskers haven't won an NCAA volleyball tournament since 2017, falling three times in the final and once in the semifinals in recent years.
With fellow No. 3-seed Wisconsin's Sunday Elite Eight upset win over four-time champ No. 1 Texas, the 2025 Final Four will now feature two squads — A&M and No. 1-seed Pitt — hunting a first-ever title.
Meanwhile, No. 1-seed Kentucky and the Badgers will be aiming for a second national trophy after earning their debut Division I championships in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball Final Four
Texas A&M will kick off the 2025 Final Four against Pitt at 6:30 PM ET on Thursday, before Kentucky takes on Wisconsin at 9 PM ET.
Both semifinals will air live on ESPN.
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.
Led by undefeated overall No. 1-seed Nebraska, the college volleyball elite will begin their quest for the 2025 national championship on Thursday, when the first round of the 64-team NCAA Division I tournament hits courts nationwide.
The Huskers are still chasing a perfect season, entering the 2025 title hunt on a 30-0 run having dropped just six sets all season — including losing just one set since September 16th.
"I was expecting us to be great, but certainly not undefeated," said Nebraska alumna and first-year Cornhusker head coach Dani Busboom Kelly on a recent episode of the Welcome to the Party podcast. "They continue to exceed our expectations."
Busboom Kelly's roster is loaded with the kind of experienced connection that only comes when the core of players have competed together for three straight seasons — an increasing rarity in the transfer portal and NIL era.
That said, this core has unfinished business on the national stage, with the superstar junior trio of middle blocker Andi Jackson, outside hitter Harper Murray, and setter Bergen Reilly — all AVCA Player of the Year semifinalists — looking to bring the first NCAA trophy in eight years back to Lincoln.
"It's such a special row, because we just know that all of us have been through thick and thin together and our bond is so strong," Jackson told USA Today Sports earlier this week. "[And Busboom Kelly] gives us so much confidence and we know that with her as our coach, we just can play fearless."
Stacked tournament field looks to spoil Nebraska's season
Even with their "fearless" play, a host of stellar opponents await Nebraska in the NCAA tournament gauntlet, hoping to play spoiler — including Busboom Kelly's previous program, the Louisville Cardinals, who await the Cornhuskers as the No. 2-seed in their own regional quadrant.
Fellow No. 1 seeds Texas, Kentucky, and Pitt will also chase their eventual chance at the Huskers via their own regionals, where the Longhorns could see arguably the stiffest competition from both No. 2-seed Stanford — the winningest program in NCAA volleyball history — and defending champion and No. 8-seed Penn State.
With tickets to the 2025 Final Four in Kansas City on the line, the NCAA volleyball bracket's 64 squads will start serving at 16 campus sites on Thursday.
How to watch the first round of the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament
This year's NCAA volleyball finale begins when No. 5-seed Colorado takes on unseeded American University at 3 PM ET on Thursday, kicking off a two-day first round of 32 matches — with No. 1 Nebraska looking to handle Long Island University in their initial tournament tilt at 8 PM ET on Friday.
All games in the early rounds of the 2025 Division I tournament will air live on 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.
The 2025 NCAA volleyball season is heating up, with a pair of Top 10 matchups headlining the first annual ACC-SEC "Showdown at the Net" event on Wednesday.
Recent conference realignment has seen the SEC and ACC emerge as volleyball strongholds alongside the Big Ten, with the two Power Four rivals laying claim to seven of the current Top 10 teams.
Putting their reputations to the test, the conferences launched the two-day "Showdown at the Net" series this season, with 14 SEC vs. ACC games taking place at campuses nationwide while the four top contenders face off in the event's two-game spotlight showcase in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Wednesday doubleheader will first pair the SEC's No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats against the ACC's No. 7 Pitt Panthers before their respective conference standouts take the court as the No. 2 Texas Longhorns face the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals.
The battle between the Longhorns and Cardinals — a rematch of the 2022 national championship game — will be particularly tense, as both squads enter the match without a single loss on the young 2025 season.
How to watch "Showdown at the Net" NCAA volleyball tournament
No. 3 Kentucky and No. 7 Pitt will kick off Wednesday's top-tier college volleyball clashes at 6:30 PM ET before No. 2 Texas and No. 4 Louisville square off at 9 PM ET.
Both games will air live on ESPN.