Chalk.
All 4 prime seeds are into the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship.
Thursday’s nationwide semifinals in Louisville may be seen on ESPN:
6:30 p.m. Jap — Louisville vs. Pittsburgh
half-hour following — Penn State vs. Nebraska
Nebraska swept Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon after which Penn State received a five-set battle with Creighton.
Additionally on this all-NCAA version of Volleyball In the present day, Wake Forest turned the fourth Energy 4 program to fireside its coach.
Nebraska sweeps Wisconsin
Domination.
Nebraska swept Massive Ten rival Wisconsin for an unbelievable third time this season and the Huskers are again within the NCAA volleyball nationwide semifinals for the seventh time in 10 seasons and 18th general.
Nebraska, which misplaced in final yr’s title match to Texas, has set the benchmark all season. The Huskers (33-2), who shared the Massive Ten title with Penn State at 19-1, performed a virtually flawless defensive match in opposition to Wisconsin (26-7). They hit held the Badgers to a .126 hitting share within the 26-24, 25-17, 25-21 and got here up huge on offense when it counted.
“The trouble on either side was unbelievable,” Nebraska coach John Cook dinner mentioned. “Each groups have been laying out, making unreal performs.
“I blow the whistle in follow after I suppose the ball is down. I’d have blown the whistle a number of occasions immediately considering the ball was down. Subsequent factor you recognize, it’s up. After they have hitters like that, you need to dig balls, since you’re not going to dam these guys on a regular basis.”
Wisconsin counterpart Kelly Sheffield analyzed it the identical approach.
“(Nebraska) was simply an unbelievable defensive group. I assumed each groups have been simply making some huge performs. We in all probability made just a few extra errors than what they did. However among the defensive performs they have been making, nobody within the nation is making within the backcourt,” Sheffield mentioned.
“That’s nothing new to anyone on this room. These of you guys which are from right here have been seeing that every one yr lengthy. We took some actually, actually big-time swings they usually got here up with some big-time digs.
Taylor Landfair led Nebraska with 13 kills — six within the first set — two digs and two blocks. Andi Jackson had 10 kills with one error in 19 assaults to hit .474 and had a dig and 5 blocks. Harper Murray had 10 kills — deadly from the again row — 12 digs and 4 blocks, one solo.
“She is simply so explosive there. The earlier matches, she hasn’t had as a lot success on us within the entrance row, however she’s had fairly a little bit of success on the again row. Actually, we didn’t resolve that,” Sheffield mentioned. “That’s an actual credit score to her and her explosiveness and her skill to get on the ball. She’s an actual deal again there.”
Rebekah Allick had 5 kills with one error in 9 makes an attempt, a dig and 6 blocks, two solo. Lexi Rodriguez had 17 digs and 6 assists. Setter Bergen Reilly had two kills however seven errors and had 29 assists, eight digs and 4 blocks. Nebraska hit .210.
“That first set was forwards and backwards, an in depth two-point sport that we needed to battle out,” Rodriguez mentioned. “I knew going into the second set that we have been going to return out with much more urgency, which is strictly what we did. We have been simply on a roll.
“It was superior.”
Wisconsin’s Sarah Franklin, the Massive Ten participant of the yr for the second straight yr, had 12 kills however hit. 128 to go together with 9 digs and a block. Anna Smrek had 9 kills, hit .333, and had an help, 5 digs and three blocks.
Julia Orzol had seven kills — 5 within the first set — 9 digs and two blocks. Carter Sales space had six kills, an help and three blocks. Setter Charlie Feurbringer had no kills and two errors, 32 assists, all three of Wiscconsin’s aces, 9 digs and two blocks.
“I suppose this is likely one of the hardest regional finals we now have ever had due to Wisconsin,” Nebraska’s Cook dinner mentioned. “They’re an outstanding group, they’ve bought nice gamers, they’re very properly coached. We needed to play our perfect match of the yr to win this match immediately.
“A lot respect for the Badgers and I requested our group, I informed them that we have been going to have to essentially max it out immediately they usually responded and did an amazing job. Although just a few occasions it wasn’t going rather well, they simply stayed with it and located methods to win.
“The opposite factor is, I requested our crowd (8,743 within the Devaney Sports activities Heart) to will us, and I’m unsure I’ve heard the Devaney this loud for this lengthy each level, so because of our crowd they have been unbelievable immediately.”
Penn State survives Creighton
The three different prime seeds have been already in. Then late on a snowy Sunday evening in College Park, Pennsylvania, Penn State joined Nebraska, Pittsburgh and Louisville within the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship.
The Nittany Lions (33-2) of the Massive Ten defeated Creighton 25-15, 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-7 in a match that every one that and extra for a program that has eyes on an eighth NCAA title, its first since 2014, when it went back-to-back.
Simply 12 applications have received because the NCAA started holding girls’s volleyball championships in 1981: Stanford (9 occasions), Penn State (7), Nebraska (5), UCLA (4), Hawai’i (3), Lengthy Seaside State (3), USC (3), Texas (4), Pacific (2), Kentucky (1), Wisconsin (1) and Washington (1).
“It’s laborious to get right here, it’s laborious to win, and these alternatives simply don’t occur,” Penn State coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley mentioned. “I’m simply so comfortable for these guys and this system and the entire alums. We had fairly just a few come again for tonight. I’m so comfortable that these guys are in a position to expertise a remaining 4 and win a nationwide championship.”
Penn State’s Jess Mruzik led with 20 kills, hitting .278, and had an ace, 4 blocks and eight digs. Caroline Jurevicious had 11 kills, hit .292, and had 4 blocks. Camryn Hannah had 9 kills however 10 errors and added two assists, two digs and three blocks, one solo.
“Mruzik actually stepped up in sport 5 and bought some huge kills for them,” Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Sales space mentioned. “Jurevicious did job. These two actually stepped up for them.”
Taylor Trammel had eight kills — together with the match-winner — with one error in 12 assaults to hit .583 and he or she had 5 blocks, one solo. Setter Izzy Starck had six kills in 16 errorless tries, 41 assists, three blocks and 11 digs. Her group hit .226.
Gillian Grimes had 17 digs, 5 assists and an ace.
“I’m simply speechless,” Grimes mentioned.
Penn State “made some unbelievable performs at huge moments,” Sales space mentioned. “I hope they’ve an amazing run within the remaining 4.”
Creighton (32-3) of the Massive East had its possibilities, however the Bluejays, ending their finest season in program historical past, finally couldn’t maintain tempo inside a raucous Rec Corridor. The Bluejays hit simply .141 as their school-record 25-match successful streak got here to an finish.
“They have been in a position to decelerate a few of our gamers whose effectivity is often fairly excessive,” Sales space mentioned.
Not the least amongst them was offensive chief Norah Sis, who had eight kills however eight errors. She had three aces, a block and 12 digs. Ava Martin had 17 kills however hit .132 to go together with an help, two aces, a block and eight digs.
Elise Goetzinger had eight kills and 4 blocks and Jaya Johnson had eight kills, a block and three digs. Kiara Reinhardt had three kills, an help, a dig and 5 blocks, one solo. Setter Kendra Wait had 4 kills with one error in 12 tries, an ace, 5 blocks and 9 digs.
The Bluejays will little question be haunted by the third set, after they led 17-12 and have been nonetheless forward 20-17 on a kill by Sis. However Penn State — led by Mruzik — stormed again. She bought six of her kills within the set, 4 within the remaining six of her group’s factors, together with the match-winner.
Penn State dominated the fifth set, happening a 6-1 run to take a 9-5 lead and by no means regarded again. Creighton had simply three kills within the fifth.
Within the fifth set, “I assumed we handed higher, served harder and gutted out some factors and defensively made some nice performs,” Schumacher-Cawley mentioned. ” … After we do the little issues properly that we discuss we discover methods to win.”
Now the Nittany Lions play Massive Ten rival Nebraska within the nationwide semifinals. They tied for first within the convention at 19-1, however Penn State beat the Huskers in 4 on November 29 of their solely regular-season assembly.
“I’m going to get pleasure from this one tonight,” mentioned Schumacher-Cawley. “We’ll put together, we’ll be certain that the group is ready to compete and play and know what the sport plan is. It is going to be a particular match and I do know if we compete and do the precise issues we’ll discover a approach.
“We’ll get pleasure from this one for the evening and get again to the gymnasium tomorrow. Hey, it’s good to see one other Massive Ten group. We’ll give it our greatest.”
Wake Forest wants a volleyball coach
The ACC program fired Randi Sensible, who took over as head coach in October 2019. This system appeared to creating continuous progress, however this yr completed 13-18, 5-15 within the ACC. That got here on the heels of a 17-12 2023, 8-10 within the ACC.
Wake Forest has by no means been to the NCAA Event.
Click on right here for the Wake Forest information launch.
That is the fourth Energy 4 opening after UCF and Cincinnati fired their coaches and Luka Slabe resigned from NC State.
