Although all four people are occupied No. 1 seed2024 NCAA volleyball semifinals Thursday brackets The biggest upset was that heavily favored Nebraska and top-seeded Pitt were sent away by their teams. enemies of the meeting.
In front of 21,726 fans — a new college volleyball playoff record — Louisville previously stunned Pitt with a 3-1 victory pennsylvania state university Eliminating Nebraska in a five-set thriller was an instant classic.
Louisville punches ticket to second national championship
After losing to Pitt in the first set Thursday night, the Cards appear to have lost twice to the Panthers in the regular season.
However, buoyed by a raucous home crowd, Louisville fought back and swept the next three sets to complete its first trip to the national championship game. 2022when they became the first and only ACC team to compete in the college finals.
As for Pitt, Thursday’s loss was only their second all season, and not even that 2024 AVCA Player of the Year Olivia Babcock’s astonishing 33 kills could extend their title bid. Remarkably, their national semifinal run continues, with the Panthers now falling into the penultimate round of the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
Louisville’s victory, on the other hand, was a true team effort, with three senior outside hitters — Anna DeBeer, Charity Looper and Sofia Maldonado-Diaz — each Led the offense with 14 kills.
The Cardinals’ roster has also been asked to strengthen in unexpected ways. Just two points into the fourth set, Louisville star DeBeer collapsed on the court with an ankle injury and did not return to the game. A visibly shaken Katz set his sights on freshman Payton Peterson, who made a huge statement with two kills and four key steals to help seal the victory.
“I wanted to do this for her,” Peterson explain De Beer Company. “She means a lot to me.”
Penn State returns to top spot, Nebraska
In Thursday’s battle between the two Big Ten powerhouses, the message was clear: Never count out the Nittany Lions.
Trailing the Cornhuskers 2-0, a Nebraska win looked more and more inevitable, but Penn State pulled itself back from the brink of defeat for the first time since 1982 Reversed and swept the Cornhuskers in the NCAA tournament for the first time since.
After a 5-0 run helped the Nittany Lions win the third set, they turned a 22-16 deficit into a match point battle, and Penn State ended the fourth set 28-26. With the score tied, Penn State took the initiative in the fifth inning, beating Nebraska 15-13 to earn its first trip to the championship since its seventh title in 2014.
Star Jess Mruzik led the Nittany Lions with a 26-kill, 12-point double-double, Nebraska head coach John Cook said It was “one of the best performances” [he’s] Outside hitters were never seen before. ”
Like Louisville’s Peterson, Penn State freshmen stepped up for Penn State, with Izzy Starck recording six key blocks and redshirt freshman Carolyn Juray Caroline Jurevicius, who transferred from Nebraska in December 2023, had 20 kills against her former team.
As for the Huskers, their lineup showed, with outside hitter Harper Murray leading the way with 20 kills, a double-double with 15 digs and three aces heading into Thursday’s two games The most of any player. Middle blocker Andi Jackson also had a great night, finishing with 19 kills in a near-perfect performance.
Four-time libero All-American Lexi Rodriguez added history to Thursday’s game as she became the Huskers’ all-time scoring leader in NCAA career with 1,896 points.
Sunday’s court session will make NCAA history
Victories in the semifinals between the University of Louisville and Penn State ensure that Sunday’s 44th NCAA Volleyball Championship will go down in history.
Dani Busboom Kelly leads Cardinals, Katie Schumacher-Cawley coaches Nittany Lions, here are the female head coaches Lifting the national championship trophy for the first time.
Only two women have coached their teams to the college volleyball finals, Florida’s Mary Wise in 2003 and 2017 and Busboom Kelly in 2022 Followed closely.
For context, the past seven Division I basketball trophies have come under female head coaches.
Part of the reason this glass ceiling still exists is because there are fewer women in head coaching positions in volleyball compared to other NCAA sports. less than half 334 of Division I’s 334 teams are led by women, while nearly 68 percent of basketball teams are led by women and nearly 74 percent of softball teams are led by women.
Busboom Kelly’s ACC topped 50 percent, but Schumacher-Cawley remains one of only six women on the Big Ten’s 18 teams.
Both leaders on the sideline Sunday know what it takes to win a national championship, Schumacher-Cawley did it in 1999 while playing for Penn State and Busboom Kelly did it for Nebraska in 2006 He also achieved the same results while playing in college.
Even so, in some ways, this year’s title will mean even more as the coaches pave the way for future generations of volleyball leaders.
“[There’s] There’s honestly no better feeling than being led by a woman because one day that could be me, that could be one of my teammates,” Mruzik famous.
How to watch the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championships
Sunday’s final will not only make women’s coaching history, but it could also lead to Louisville winning the ACC’s first-ever NCAA volleyball championship. But to do that, the Cardinals, who lost 3-0 to Penn State in early September, would have to deny the Nittany Lions a chance at an eighth national championship.
NCAA volleyball will crown a Division I champion on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, live broadcast including ABC.
