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.”
The NCAA volleyball tournament has arrived, with Nebraska locking up the No. 1 overall seed.
The five-time national champion Cornhuskers lead a contingent of stacked No. 1 seeds, including 2021 title winner Wisconsin, nine-time champion Stanford and Pitt.
No. 2 seeds include Kentucky, Louisville, Oregon and 2022 champion Texas, while Arkansas, Creighton, Purdue and Tennessee enter as No. 3 seeds. Rounding out the top four seeds are BYU, Florida, Kansas and Washington State.
A total of 64 teams will compete in the tournament. The field includes first-timers in Omaha, Coppin State, Wofford and Grand Canyon.
Penn State is in the tournament for the 43rd time. The Nittany Lions are the only program to appear in the tournament every single year. Nebraska and Stanford each have made 42 appearances and Hawai’i has made 41, while defending national champion Texas has made 40.
The SEC leads all conferences with eight teams, while the Big 12 has seven teams and the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 each have five.
For the first time, the championship match will be televised on ABC, taking place at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Dec. 17.
Check out the full bracket here. The full schedule for first round matches – including time of matches – is here.
NCAA women’s volleyball tournament: Schedule
- First and second rounds: Thursday, Nov. 30, through Sunday, Dec. 3
- Regionals: Thursday, Dec. 7, and Saturday, Dec. 9
- Semifinals: Thursday, Dec. 14 — 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
- Championship: Sunday, Dec. 17 — 3 p.m. ET on ABC
College volleyball continues to surge in the TV ratings.
Sunday’s match between No. 2 Wisconsin and Minnesota became the most-watched in NCAA history, averaging 1.66 million viewers. The Badgers and Gophers got a boost from a prime spot on FOX, filling the 4 p.m. ET NFL window for regions without a football game in that slot. In total, 76% of the United States received the match on FOX.
The previous viewership record for an NCAA volleyball match came in 2021, when 1.19 million viewers tuned in to watch Wisconsin win the national championship over Nebraska. And the previous regular-season viewership record came just last week, when Wisconsin lost to Nebraska — and averaged 612,000 viewers on Big Ten Network, more than the Cornhuskers football game the same day.
“How many times have we seen when you give opportunities to elite women’s sports that they show up?” Minnesota head coach Keegan Cook told the Star Tribune. “You have to have opportunity in order to meet opportunity … elated to see the response.”
Wisconsin swept Minnesota 3-0 on Sunday, but that didn’t deter viewers. The match averaged more viewers than Formula 1 racing on ABC, the Premier League on NBC and NFL Countdown on ESPN.
Earlier this year, 518,000 viewers tuned in to watch Nebraska’s outdoor volleyball match in late August, which set the all-time attendance record for women’s sports.
Nebraska volleyball won the last two sets against Wisconsin to claim the battle of unbeatens in Lincoln on Saturday night.
The win snapped the Huskers’ 10-match losing streak against Wisconsin dating back to 2017. Saturday night’s matchup was also the first between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in women’s volleyball since 2019. With the win, Nebraska will overtake the Badgers for the No. 1 spot this week.
A challenge by Nebraska coach John Cook on the final point resulted in a net violation against Wisconsin and sealed the victory after a 4-0 run in the fifth set, 25-22, 17-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-13. Huskers junior Merritt Beason led the way with 21 kills, while freshman and 2023 No. 1 recruit Harper Murray registered 14 kills and 15 digs.
“It was a match for the ages tonight — two great teams battling every point,” Cook said after the match. “We just found a way to be two points better.”
This moment. This team. This place. pic.twitter.com/r9dsHJyHA1
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) October 22, 2023
The teams played in front of 9,198 fans at the Devaney Center, marking the 314th consecutive sellout for Nebraska volleyball. The match comes nearly two months after Nebraska shattered the attendance record for a women’s sporting event when 92,003 fans packed Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium to watch the team defeat Omaha on Aug. 30.
Nebraska (19-0, 10-0 Big Ten) and Wisconsin (18-1, 9-1) meet again on Nov. 24 in Madison, Wisc.
Wisconsin freshman Caroline Harvey scored a clutch overtime winner in Friday night’s Frozen Four semifinal against the University of Minnesota to send the Badgers to Sunday’s NCAA women’s hockey championship game.
“Honestly, I blacked out, but it was pretty crazy,” Harvey said of her game-winner at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota.
Harvey, 20, deferred her freshman year at Wisconsin in order to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where she was the youngest member of the silver medal-winning U.S. hockey team. On Thursday, the New Hampshire native became just the second Wisconsin freshman to earn All-America honors.
Caroline came in CLUTCH!#WFrozenFour || #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/IB4dH0uP6f
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) March 18, 2023
Friday’s NCAA semifinal marked the sixth meeting between Minnesota and Wisconsin this season and was the third determined in overtime, with two other games ending in a tie.
Minnesota took the early lead after 2022 Patty Kazmaier winner Taylor Heise scored just over three minutes into the game. In the third period, Wisconsin scored two goals in 57 seconds with tallies from Laila Edwards and Sophie Shirley. After pulling goalie Skylar Vetter for an extra attacker, Minnesota forced overtime with 1:11 remaining in regulation thanks to a goal from Madeline Weathington.
In Friday’s other NCAA hockey semifinal, Ohio State defeated Northeastern 3-0. Ohio State enters Sunday’s championship aiming to defend its 2022 NCAA title, while Wisconsin could break the record for most NCAA titles in women’s hockey. The Badgers are currently tied with Minnesota at six titles each.
Sunday’s NCAA hockey championship game between Ohio State and Wisconsin will air on ESPNU (4 p.m. ET).
Wisconsin has earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament, which begins April 14th.
- Typically a 64-team affair, this year’s tournament features 48 squads duking it out in a volleyball bubble in Omaha, Nebraska.
- The top 16 teams all have first-round byes.
Wisconsin was the national runner up in 2019, and the 13-0 Badgers are now seeking their first-ever NCAA title.
- Defending Champion Stanford, which won three of the past four titles, missed the field for the first time since the NCAA tournament began in 1981.
- No. 13 seed Penn State is now the only program to have made every NCAA tournament.
The Top 16 seeds: No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Minnesota, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Nebraska, No. 6 Washington, No. 7 Purdue, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 10 Oregon, No. 11 Louisville, No. 12 Baylor, No. 13 Penn State, No. 14 Utah, No. 15 Washington State, No. 16 BYU.
Tune in: tournament matches will be streamed on ESPN3 with the Final Four airing on ESPN2.
- First round: April 14th, ESPN3.
- Second round: April 15th, ESPN3.
- Regional Semifinals: April 18th, ESPN3/U.
- Regional Finals: April 19th, ESPN3/U.
- Semis: April 22nd, ESPN2.
- National Championship: April 24th, ESPN2.