Chalk.
All 4 high seeds are into the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship.
Thursday’s nationwide semifinals in Louisville could be seen on ESPN:
6:30 p.m. Japanese — 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 Right this moment, Wake Forest turned the fourth Energy 4 program to fireside its coach.
Nebraska sweeps Wisconsin
Domination.
Nebraska swept Massive Ten rival Wisconsin for an unimaginable 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 an almost flawless defensive match in opposition to Wisconsin (26-7). They hit held the Badgers to a .126 hitting proportion within the 26-24, 25-17, 25-21 and got here up huge on offense when it counted.
“The trouble on either side was unimaginable,” Nebraska coach John Prepare dinner stated. “Each groups have been laying out, making unreal performs.
“I blow the whistle in follow after I assume the ball is down. I might have blown the whistle a number of instances at the moment pondering the ball was down. Subsequent factor you understand, it’s up. After they have hitters like that, it’s important to dig balls, since you’re not going to dam these guys on a regular basis.”
Wisconsin counterpart Kelly Sheffield analyzed it the identical manner.
“(Nebraska) was simply an unbelievable defensive staff. I assumed each groups have been simply making some huge performs. We in all probability made a couple of extra errors than what they did. However a few of the defensive performs they have been making, nobody within the nation is making within the backcourt,” Sheffield stated.
“That’s nothing new to anyone on this room. These of you guys which are from right here have been seeing that each 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 remedy that,” Sheffield stated. “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 recreation that we needed to battle out,” Rodriguez stated. “I knew going into the second set that we have been going to come back 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 along 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 assume this is without doubt one of the hardest regional finals we have now ever had due to Wisconsin,” Nebraska’s Prepare dinner stated. “They’re an exceptional staff, they’ve bought nice gamers, they’re very nicely coached. We needed to play our highest match of the yr to win this match at the moment.
“A lot respect for the Badgers and I requested our staff, I advised them that we have been going to have to essentially max it out at the moment they usually responded and did an ideal job. Though a couple of instances it wasn’t going rather well, they only stayed with it and located methods to win.
“The opposite factor is, I requested our crowd (8,743 within the Devaney Sports activities Middle) to will us, and I’m unsure I’ve heard the Devaney this loud for this lengthy each level, so due to our crowd they have been unbelievable at the moment.”
Penn State survives Creighton
The three different high 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 each 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 for the reason that NCAA started holding girls’s volleyball championships in 1981: Stanford (9 instances), Penn State (7), Nebraska (5), UCLA (4), Hawai’i (3), Lengthy Seashore State (3), USC (3), Texas (4), Pacific (2), Kentucky (1), Wisconsin (1) and Washington (1).
“It’s exhausting to get right here, it’s exhausting to win, and these alternatives simply don’t occur,” Penn State coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley stated. “I’m simply so completely satisfied for these guys and this system and all the alums. We had fairly a couple of come again for tonight. I’m so completely satisfied that these guys are capable of expertise a closing 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 recreation 5 and bought some huge kills for them,” Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Sales space stated. “Jurevicious did a great 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 staff hit .226.
Gillian Grimes had 17 digs, 5 assists and an ace.
“I’m simply speechless,” Grimes stated.
Penn State “made some improbable performs at huge moments,” Sales space stated. “I hope they’ve an ideal run within the closing 4.”
Creighton (32-3) of the Massive East had its probabilities, however the Bluejays, ending their greatest 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 profitable streak got here to an finish.
“They have been capable of decelerate a few of our gamers whose effectivity is normally fairly excessive,” Sales space stated.
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 along 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, once 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 closing six of her staff’s factors, together with the match-winner.
Penn State dominated the fifth set, occurring a 6-1 run to take a 9-5 lead and by no means seemed again. Creighton had simply three kills within the fifth.
Within the fifth set, “I assumed we handed higher, served more durable and gutted out some factors and defensively made some nice performs,” Schumacher-Cawley stated. ” … After we do the little issues nicely that we speak about 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 take pleasure in this one tonight,” stated Schumacher-Cawley. “We’ll put together, we’ll be certain that the staff 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 suitable issues we’ll discover a manner.
“We’ll take pleasure in this one for the evening and get again to the fitness center tomorrow. Hey, it’s good to see one other Massive Ten staff. We’ll give it our greatest.”
Wake Forest wants a volleyball coach
The ACC program fired Randi Good, 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 Match.
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.
