Tampa Bay, Florida. That’s where history was made. It came down to two teams, but only one could take home the championship title. There was record attendance, amassing nearly 20,000 spectators and 1.7 million viewers worldwide. The fans wanted to know: who will win the NCAA Championship final?
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is responsible for organizing the women’s Division 1 Volleyball Championship tournament. 64 teams total are chosen for the tournament. 32 automatically qualify and 32 are chosen, all based on performance statistics from preseason and regular season games. The final bracket is split into four sections based on campus location, typically called regionals. Teams who win then progress into sub-regionals, semifinals, and finals. By that point, experts’ predictions, as to who will win the championship, are very divided and ambiguous.
One of the most prolific NCAA D1 Women’s Volleyball teams is the University of Nebraska’s Huskers. Because they were undefeated in their regular season games, many media outlets believed that Nebraska could take home the gold.
Nebraska has an All-American National Team libero – the primary defensive player on the court – Lexi Rodriguez. She’s only a junior but is still regarded as one of the best liberos in the volleyball world.
Nebraska also has a heavy-arm outside hitter, Harper Murray. Nicknamed the “Freshman Phenomenon,” she’s a rare case. Most recruits don’t get a starting position until their sophomore or junior year, depending on position availability. So it takes tremendous skill and mental fortitude for an athlete to perform the way that Murray did as a freshman. Murray is that athlete. She was the number one high school recruit in the nation. Colleges noticed her quickly, with multiple schools scouting her throughout her high school career.
The University of Louisville’s Cardinals are the definition of “so close yet so far.” They captivated the world by making it to the final 4 in the past 3 years, but they’ve never actually won. They lost in the semifinals every year since then. Nonetheless, Louisville’s offense played lights out all season until they faced the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Early in the season, Louisville beat the University of Pittsburgh, but nearing the Championships, Pittsburgh reverse-swept the Cardinals by three sets to two. In the race to the final four, the Cardinals had to go up against Pittsburgh again. Many wondered if Pittsburgh could sweep Louisville again. They did. Hearts sunk and hope was lost in the souls of the Cardinals when Pittsburgh won three sets to two.
We also cannot forget about last year’s champions, the Texas Longhorns. Last year’s lineup was senior-heavy, but this year, there was only one starting senior. Texas’ win-loss ratio was not as clean as Nebraska’s, coming out to be 28-4 overall. During their preseason, they lost to Long Beach State, a team that failed to even qualify for the championships, in straight sets. As Coach Daniel Skilins of Bronx Science frequently reminds his athletes, “it’s not where you start, it’s where you end up.” Despite the loss, Texas looked past it and exhibited this ideology, shocking the world.
Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Pittsburgh. Two of these four teams would go head-to-head in the finals.
In the semi-finals, Texas played Wisconsin, and Nebraska faced off against Pittsburgh. Nebraska beat Pittsburgh in a clean sweep, three sets to none, an impressive feat. Texas defeated Wisconsin three sets to two, which was unexpected given that Wisconsin was the top seed. Texas also had a shaky preseason and regular season, losing to lower level teams. But, Texas was full of surprises this season, turning things around by the playoffs. Texas had a high hitting percentage and blocks per set. Most hitters have around a .3 hitting percentage, which is impressive. By this time, many people were wondering if Texas could maintain their Championship title.
Texas and Nebraska remained. Their game broke viewer records, amassing 1.7 million spectators. There was so much hype around Nebraska this season, and on paper, Nebraska should have won. Nebraska had the offense, they had a National team libero, and even an experienced National team player as a co-coach. They had the stats, and they had the skill. But the reality did not match their impressive statistics, as Texas swept Nebraska in an impressive 3-0 win.
Nebraska’s serve receive fell apart, and so did their mentality. Amelia Lee ’25, who has played club volleyball for six years, said, “As much as I love Nebraska, Texas is a much more experienced team. They are older than most of the Nebraska roster, and almost their entire starting lineup was present at the finals they won last year. This gives them a huge advantage, as they can be more calm going into the game than Nebraska will most likely be.” As much as skill and talent carry athletes in this sport, experience is arguably more important. Mentality can make or break an athlete’s career.
Nebraska started with an early lead by a few points, but Texas quickly caught up. By the time that Texas took the first two sets, Nebraska could have turned things around. In a brief discussion that I had with Coach Skilins, he mentioned to me that, in a quickly evolving sport such as volleyball, sometimes it just comes down to height. It’s not easy for a 6-foot outside to play offensively around a 6-foot-5 middle blocker. To offer further analysis, although the height discrepancy is merely a few inches, their verticals are unmatched.
This concept is best understood in the context of comparing men’s and women’s volleyball. You don’t need to be a volleyball connoisseur to see that the two are practically different sports. Men compete at a much faster pace and are considerably less technical than the women’s counterpart. It’s in our anatomy.
To analyze this situation, we can assess National Volleyball teams. Japan has one of the most technical men’s volleyball teams in the world, but they’re still not number 1. Japan’s setter Masahiro Sekita is only 5 ‘9.” It is incredibly difficult to be recruited if you’re an offensive player below 6 feet. Realistically, if you’re hitting against someone like Maxim Mikhaylov of the Russian national team, who stands at a towering 6’8,” you’re going to get “stuffed,” or easily blocked.
The same idea applies to the finals. Larger and more experienced players will know how to mentally and physically exhaust even the most skilled players.
The truth of the matter is the Longhorns are back-to-back champions now, and are setting the volleyball world ablaze.
Considering how many prospective seniors were featured in Nebraska’s starting lineup, many were hoping they might end their collegiate careers with a bang. However, I do not think this will be the last time that we see the Huskers this close to the championship finals. With an outside like Murray, and a libero like Rodriguez, I have hope that the Huskers will be back for redemption next year.
In an interview at the finals, Murray said she anticipates that Nebraska will take the trophy for the next three years. To refute this, Texas said that as long as they keep working, they can keep Nebraska at bay. Season by season, we’ll see who won that debate.
Next year’s final four is rather predictable. Nebraska and Texas should be there, as their lineups should not change next season. Louisville’s performance might suffer, as they are losing their impressive defensive player, Elena Scott, but their offense seems unbreakable for now. Still, the future is bright for the Huskers, and I have hope that the Nebraska spirit will keep burning. Maybe next year, they will take home the trophy.
The truth of the matter is the Longhorns are back-to-back champions now, and are setting the volleyball world ablaze.