Just 16 teams remain in the 2024 NCAA volleyball tournament after last week's opening rounds, setting the stage for this weekend's four Regional showdowns.
Hosted by the No. 1 seeds (Pitt, Nebraska, Penn State, and Louisville), each four-team mini-tournament will send one squad to next Thursday's national semifinals in Louisville.
Regional action kicks off in the ACC
The Pitt and Louisville Regionals will start the Sweet Sixteen action on Thursday, when the Panthers host No. 7 Missouri, No. 3 Kentucky, and No. 4 Oregon. Louisville helms the evening party, which includes No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 Purdue, and No. 6 Florida.
With Pittsburgh already in full swing, the Wildcats added a third defeat of Missouri to their 2024 tally on Thursday, ousting the Tigers 3-1 and extending their win streak to 14 matches in the process.
About to take the court are two of the nation's best blocking teams, with the overall No. 1 seed Panthers aiming for a repeat of their season-opening sweep of the Ducks.
Thursday night's action starts when Stanford, whose nine NCAA titles dwarf all other Division I programs, takes on a tough Florida side who upset No. 3 Kansas in a gritty five-set thriller last Saturday.
Finally, while no team is immune to upsets at this level, Thursday's closer between Purdue and Louisville is especially vulnerable after the Cardinals barely survived Northern Iowa on Saturday.
The Big Ten begins hosting on Friday
Big Ten courts will serve as the stage for Friday's Regional semifinals, with Penn State hosting No. 2 Creighton, No. 3 Texas, and No. 5 Marquette before Nebraska welcomes No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 5 Dayton, and No. 6 Texas A&M to Cornhusker country.
Friday's opener pits two offensive powerhouses who've swept their way through the NCAA bracket against each other. The Bluejays, who are riding a 24-match win streak, will try to harness that momentum to end the back-to-back defending champs Longhorns' hopes of a three-peat.
Soon after, the Nittany Lions will again defend home court — a feat they've accomplished in every 2024 home match — in Friday's second tilt against the Golden Eagles.
Like Penn State, fellow Big Ten behemoth Wisconsin is likely to emerge victorious from their Regional semifinal, a rematch of the Badgers's September sweep of Texas A&M.
Capping the weekend's first matches is a battle of experience against this year's Cinderella squad. In their 40th Sweet Sixteen appearance, Nebraska's superstar-stacked roster will take on Regional debutants Dayton, who outlasted No. 4 Baylor in five gritty sets to earn the trip. The Flyers boast the fifth-best defense in the country, and they'll need every ounce of it to snap the Huskers' 43-match home win streak.
How to watch the 2024 NCAA volleyball Regionals
Thursday's action is in full swing, and No. 2 Creighton vs. No. 3 Texas will jumpstart Friday's slate at 1 PM ET before Saturday and Sunday each feature a pair of Regional finals.
The full schedule will stream live on ESPN+, with ESPN2 also airing all matches through Saturday.
Sunday's games received a broadcast bump, with the Nebraska Regional final airing at 3 PM ET on ABC and the Penn State-hosted finale taking the 8:30 PM ET slot on ESPN.
On today's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins dives into basketball. She kicks things off with a look at the first WNBA expansion draft since 2008, when the Golden State Valkyries selected 11 players from around the league to build their inaugural 2025 roster.
Pivoting to the college court, Watson chats through No. 3 South Carolina's winning week, zeroing in on how the defending national champions dominated two Top-10 teams.
Finally, Watkins takes a trip around the sports world, discussing NWSL free agency, NCAA soccer's College Cup, NCAA volleyball, PWHL hockey, and more.
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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On today's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins takes a break from the soccer beat to catch up on other women's sports action, starting with the state of NCAA basketball, which has already seen big upsets this season, before moving onto look at some recent upheaval in the WNBA.
Later, Watkins chats about PWHL stars and how conference dominance is shaping the 2024 NCAA volleyball tournament.
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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The 2024 NCAA DI volleyball tournament officially kicks off on Thursday, when 64 teams will gear up to battle for postseason glory in this weekend's first and second rounds.
The college court's best have their sights set on competing in the December 22nd national championship match in Louisville, Kentucky.
Along with the 31 conference champions who automatically received postseason invites, the NCAA committee revealed its 33 selectees in Sunday's selection show. The top 32 teams are seeded one through eight in their respective bracket quadrants, and teams are guaranteed to only face non-conference opponents through the tournament's second round.
Leading the field with nine teams each are the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC, followed by the Big 12 with six squads selected.
The four teams who finished atop the national rankings — Pitt, Louisville, Nebraska, and Penn State — all earned No. 1 seeds.
ACC powerhouses take aim at first national title
Sitting atop the rankings for most of the season, overall No. 1 seed Pitt showcases the ACC's immense depth, despite the conference having yet to produce a champion. The Panthers, who finished with Division I's best record at 29-1, have come achingly close over the last three seasons, falling short in the national semifinals each year.
Pitt's only loss this season came courtesy of ACC newcomer No. 2 SMU, a team they could face in the regional finals after landing in the same bracket quadrant.
Similarly, Louisville has been a consistent contender for the conference, becoming the ACC's first-ever team to make the championship match in 2022. Last year, the Cardinals failed to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2020, stumbling in a five-set quarterfinal thriller against conference rival Pitt.
Big Ten dynasties seek continued dominance
After battling through arguably the sport's toughest all-around conference, Big Ten behemoths Penn State and Nebraska will take aim at their eighth and sixth program titles, respectively. Only former Pac-12 team Stanford — now a No. 2 seed in their debut ACC season — boast more NCAA championships than the Nittany Lions or Huskers.
Both teams finished their 2024 regular season campaigns neck-and-neck, posting 29-2 overall records and going 19-1 in conference play to share the Big Ten title. Penn State holds the tournament edge, however, maintaining their streak as the only NCAA team to make all 44 championship brackets — one more than Nebraska.
Each faces an uphill battle in the 2024 championship field. The Huskers must contend with longtime rivals and 2021 champs No. 2 Wisconsin in their quadrant. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions find themselves in the same quadrant as reigning back-to-back champion Texas, who grabbed a No. 3 seed after a rollercoaster season.
How to watch the 2024 NCAA DI Volleyball Tournament
The first and second rounds of the NCAA volleyball tournament will take place at 16 campus sites between Thursday and Saturday.
No. 5 BYU will kick off the action against Loyola Chicago at 3:30 PM ET on Thursday, with all 32 first-round and 16 second-round matches airing across ESPN platforms.
In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins discusses the first day of WNBA playoff games, where postseason experience is key to surviving short series that could potentially send some tournament favorites packing.
Then, she takes a deeper look at Kansas City’s big win over the Washington Spirit in the NWSL, making a case for the Current’s postseason chances. She closes us out with quick updates on NCAA volleyball, college soccer, and a salute to the U-20 USWNT's 2024 U-20 World Cup run.
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.
Subscribe to The Late Sub to never miss an episode.
Already one of the most popular women’s spectator sports in the US, the 2024 NCAA volleyball season is off to the races this month as the shifting lines of modern college sports plays out in real time.
Thanks to major conference realignments, regional rivalries turned national storylines will drive the narrative all the way to December's NCAA tournament.
The Big Ten's big changes
At the forefront of these shifts is longtime volleyball powerhouse the Big Ten, which welcomed USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington from the Pac-12 this summer to bring the conference total to 18 teams.
Added travel, raucous home crowds, and even fiercer competition will play into the conference's season storyline as Midwest heavyweights Wisconsin and Nebraska meet West Coast specialists in a quest to bring the Big Ten its first NCAA title since 2021.
"We knew the venues, everything was comfortable," Oregon head coach Matt Ulmer, speaking with JWS at last month's Big Ten Media Day in Chicago, said of his team’s former Pac-12 home. "I think we're going to [see] a lot of uncomfortableness this year, just with new change."
Surprises and upsets already define the 2024 season
Mirroring that uncertainty, several 2023 heavy-hitters have already produced surprising results this season. Two-time defending champion Texas fell to Minnesota in early non-conference play and again to unranked Miami last weekend, while Wisconsin went 0-3 before picking up a pair of weekend wins.
Then last week, 2023 runners-up Nebraska suffered a historic upset loss to unranked SMU, though they also bounced back with weekend victories.
With Power 10 rankings already a rollercoaster, expect even more impressive performances, greater parity, and larger crowds as college volleyball rides its meteoric rise through 2024.
The Pro Volleyball Federation has signed its first media deal, bringing televised professional volleyball games to CBS Sports.
CBS Sports is the first media organization to partner with the PVF, and the deal likely includes domestic and international rights. According to Sportico, the deal includes a minimum of 10 matches to be aired in 2024 along with the league semifinals and championship games.
“This is another groundbreaking day in the history of Pro Volleyball Federation,” PVF co-founder Dave Whinham told Sportico. “We have a great partner that believes in the growth of women’s professional volleyball in North America. We are very proud of this relationship and excited about the dynamic new ways we will be able to present our matches within the CBS Sports platform.”
The PVF started in 2022 and includes seven teams with plans to expand next season. The existing teams are the Atlanta Vibe, Columbus Fury, Vegas Thrill, Grand Rapids Rise, Omaha Supernovas, Orlando Valkryies and San Diego Mojo, and the league will introduce teams in Kansas City, Dallas and Indianapolis in 2025.
“[Volleyball] is the only team sport in the world where the women’s version doesn’t take a backseat to the men’s version,” said Stephen Evans, one of the founders of the PVF. “And most people will tell you that the women’s version is more fun to watch and attend. It’s not a thing taking away from the men’s game. It’s just a different game.”
The matches will be aired primarily on CBS Sports Network, with the possibility that some may be aired on CBS throughout the partnership term. The PVF’s national broadcast schedule, which will include other media partnerships, will be released at a later date.
Texas took home the NCAA women’s volleyball title Sunday, sweeping No. 1 overall seed Nebraska to win its second straight championship.
The win came in front of a record-breaking crowd of 19,727 – breaking the indoor volleyball attendance record set just days before during the NCAA semifinals. And it caps off a record-breaking year for attendance in women’s volleyball, centered around Nebraska.
“You think you’re invincible. You think it’s destiny. ‘It’s ours.’ And I think Texas experienced that,” Nebraska coach John Cook said.
The Cornhuskers set the record for the largest crowd at a women’s sporting event, hosting 92,003 fans at an outdoor match at Memorial Stadium. They also had the largest home season total with 255,953 people turning out. And now, they are part-owners of the largest NCAA volleyball game.
Yet despite Nebraska’s historic season, there weren’t any doubts Sunday about Texas being national champion once again. Libero Asjia O’Neal served 10 consecutive points in the second set, which proved pivotal in the 3-0 sweep.
“Volleyball is a huge game of momentum,” O’Neal said. “During that run, I could totally feel the momentum shift to our side. We were playing with so much confidence and joy and I just knew that we had the game in the bag. … I was smiling because I was so happy with how we were feeling. You just feel it. I felt we were going to win the match.”
And the serving really became the key to the game.
“They had a level of serving we haven’t seen all year and that really impacted us in our momentum and our confidence and then everything started going their way and they got all the momentum and we just couldn’t ever get it back,” Cook said.
Texas took home the title in the first NCAA volleyball championship match to be televised on ABC.
“We had all the confidence in the world,” Texas star outside hitter Madisen Skinner told ESPN after the match. “I’ll say it until I die — this team was peaking right now and we just had so much trust and belief in one another. I mean our service pressure was insane. It gave us so many options in transition.”
O’Neal called it “the most joyous season I’ve ever had in my life.”
“We were just able to play free — we love each other and support one another and throughout the whole year, it was just so fun,” O’Neal said. “It was definitely challenging at times, but just today as an example, everyone played free, everyone had confidence in one another, and we were able to go out and take down some really incredible teams.”
Nebraska volleyball dominated throughout the season, but in the national championship match, Texas flipped the script.
The second-seeded Longhorns defeated the Huskers, who entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, in a three-set sweep (25-22, 25-14, 25-11) to win the title for the second year in a row.
Before Sunday’s final at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, Nebraska (33-2) had lost just one set during its tournament run. The Huskers had lost just one match all season, to Big Ten rival Wisconsin in November.
Before Sunday’s final, Texas (28-4) had just one clean sweep during the tournament, a 3-0 win against SMU in the second round. The Longhorns needed to save a match point against Tennessee in the round of 16.
After that, though, battle-tested Texas bested the top three ranked teams in the country, defeating Stanford, 3-1, in the quarterfinals, Wisconsin, 3-1, in the national semifinals, and then a young but powerful Nebraska squad in the title match.
Texas outside hitter Madisen Skinner won Most Outstanding Player for the national semifinals. She posted match highs of 16 kills and five digs in the championship match.
🏆🤘 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐒 🤘🏆
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 17, 2023
(2) @TexasVolleyball repeats as National Champions after sweeping (1) Nebraska 🧹#NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/bLWkbUYK9m
HOW ABOUT THAT FOR A TEXAS TWO-STEP?! 🏆🏆#NCAAWVB x @TexasVolleyball pic.twitter.com/sbkCa0C2lz
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 17, 2023
The NCAA volleyball final is set, with Nebraska and Texas set to face off at 3 p.m. ET Sunday. Sunday’s match at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, will be the first volleyball national championship televised on ABC.
This marks Nebraska’s 11th trip to the NCAA final, with the Huskers having won five national titles to this point. They defeated fellow No. 1 seed Pitt in a 3-0 sweep, 25-20, 25-23, 25-17. Nebraska will face defending national champion Texas, a No. 2 seed, after the Longhorns upset No. 1 seed Wisconsin in four sets in the other semifinal.
For the Longhorns, Sunday will be their 10th NCAA final appearance. They have won three titles and will be going for their fourth. This will be the two teams’ third matchup in the national championship, with Nebraska beating Texas in 2015 and in 1995.
From 1996 to 2010, the two were conference rivals when Nebraska was still a part of the Big 12. Nebraska currently holds the series’ edge, 33-24. It’s a storied rivalry, with the first match between the programs coming in 1981. The latest match was the 2021 NCAA regional finals, which was won by the Huskers.
“There’s such a rich tradition of alumni, All-Americans, people that have won national championships on both sides,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. “It’s Celtics vs. Lakers.”
