LINCOLN, Neb. — Texas A&M earned its first trip to the Final Four in women’s volleyball, upsetting previously unbeaten Nebraska in five sets on Sunday.
The top-ranked Huskers lost for the first time in 34 matches this season and saw streaks snapped of 29 consecutive postseason home wins and 63 consecutive home wins. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly’s team was denied a 19th trip to the Final Four.
A&M, seeded third in the Lincoln regional, won 15-13 in the decisive fifth set on Logan Lednicky’s 24th kill of the match. The Aggies (27-4) will make the trip to Kansas City to face Pitt on Thursday in a semifinal match. Kentucky will face Wisconsin in the other semifinal at the T-Mobile Center, with the winners to play for the national championship on Sunday, Dec. 21.
Coach Jamie Morrison’s team stunned the crowd at Devaney Center by winning the first two sets, both by scores of 25-22. The Huskers had won 54 of 55 sets at home this season before the regional final.
Nebraska rebounded with a 25-20 win in the third set and came back from 18-11 down in an epic fourth set that rated as one of the most dramatic in NCAA postseason history. Nebraska notched 10 set points, finally winning on a kill by Virginia Adriano. The Huskers fought off three match points.
“I think it might have been one of the most entertaining matches in the history of the sport,” Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison said.
In the fifth set, the Aggies led 12-8 before Nebraska made a run. It staved off two more match points and came within one point of evening the score on a Harper Murray kill before Lednicky’s game-winner.
“We’re this good,” Morrison said. “(Nebraska) hadn’t been around a team that was going to stand up the way we did. We’re this tough. We’re this resilient. We’re this gritty.”
Kyndal Stowers led Texas A&M with 25 kills. Murray had 25 for Nebraska.
Another top seed and regional host, Texas, lost on Sunday in four sets against third-seeded Wisconsin (28-4). The Badgers have won 13 consecutive matches and increased their level of play since setter Charlie Fuerbringer’s return from injury last month. Wisconsin is headed to a seventh Final Four. It won the title in 2021.
Pitt (30-4) beat third-seeded Purdue in four sets on Saturday. The Panthers advanced to a national semifinal for the fifth consecutive season — the first program to complete such a run since Texas from 2012 to 2016. Pitt is seeking its first appearance in a national championship match. It lost last year against Louisville in the semifinals.
Reigning national player of the year Olivia Babcock, among 14 semifinalists for the award this season, was named the most outstanding player of the Pitt regional.
Kentucky (29-2) swept third-seeded Creighton on Saturday to reach Kansas City. Outside hitters Brooklyn DeLeye and Eva Hudson combined for 32 kills. The Wildcats have won 26 consecutive matches and swept the SEC regular-season and tournament titles.
