Nebraska earns top seed in NCAA women’s volleyball tournament

Undefeated Nebraska earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament released Sunday.

The five-time national champion Huskers (30-0) have dominated this season, losing just seven sets. They lead Division I with a hitting percentage at .352.

Dani Busboom Kelly, who won NCAA titles as a player and assistant at Nebraska, took over at her alma mater this season following the retirement of longtime Huskers coach John Cook. Busboom Kelly led Louisville to the 2024 NCAA Finals, where the Cardinals lost to Penn State.

The other No. 1 seeds are Kentucky, Texas and Pitt. The Wildcats have won one NCAA title and the Longhorns have four. The Panthers have reached the final four in the last four seasons, but lost in the semifinals each time.

Pitt and Stanford finished tied atop the ACC at 18-2, and the Cardinal won their head-to-head 3-2 at Stanford on November 14. But the Panthers’ overall work secured them the final No. 1 seed, while nine-time NCAA champion Stanford is the No. 2 seed in the Texas region.

Kentucky, the SEC regular season and tournament champion, defeated Texas 3-2 in the conference tournament final. They would face each other in the national semifinals if they make it that far.

Defending national champion Penn State, the only school to have appeared in every NCAA tournament since the event began in 1981, is the eighth seed in the Texas quarter. St. Thomas (Minn.) and Toledo are both making their first appearances in the tournament.

The Big 12 leads all leagues with 10 teams in the field, the Big Ten has nine, the ACC has seven and the SEC has five.

First round matches will take place December 4-6 at campus venues. The regionals, scheduled for December 11 to 14, will be organized by the four top seeds still competing in each quarter of the group.

The final four will take place at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for the third time in tournament history. It’s where Penn State won the championship in 2010 and Nebraska won its most recent title in 2017.

The national semifinals are December 18 (ESPN) and the championship game is December 21 (ABC).