Nebraska Volleyball Earns Top Seed in NCAA Tournament

Undefeated Nebraska earned the number one overall seed in the NCAA women's volleyball tournament bracket released on Sunday, according to ESPN. The five-time national champion Huskers, boasting a perfect record of 30 wins and zero losses, have dominated the season, dropping just seven sets.

They lead Division I in hitting percentage at an impressive three hundred fifty-two percent. Dani Busboom Kelly, who won NCAA titles as both a player and assistant coach at Nebraska, took over as head coach this season after the retirement of longtime coach John Cook.

Busboom Kelly previously led Louisville to the NCAA final in 2024, where the Cardinals lost to Penn State. Joining Nebraska as number one seeds are Kentucky, Texas, and Pittsburgh. The Kentucky Wildcats, who have won one NCAA title, secured their spot after defeating Texas three to two in the SEC tournament final.

Texas has four NCAA championships under its belt and is a number one seed in the bracket as well. Pittsburgh reached the Final Four for the past four seasons but fell in the semifinals each time. The Panthers and Stanford finished tied atop the ACC with an eighteen to two record, but Pittsburgh's overall performance earned them the last number one seed, while nine-time champion Stanford is the number two seed in Texas' region.

Defending national champion Penn State, which has participated in every NCAA tournament since its inception in nineteen eighty-one, is seeded eighth in Texas' quarter of the bracket. Notably, both St. Thomas from Minnesota and Toledo are making their first appearances in the tournament.

The Big 12 leads all leagues with ten teams in the field, followed by the Big Ten with nine, the ACC with seven, and the SEC with five. Early-round matches are set to take place from December fourth to sixth on campus sites.

The regionals are scheduled for December eleventh to fourteenth, hosted by the four highest seeds still standing in each quarter of the bracket. The Final Four will be held at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for the third time in tournament history, with Nebraska winning their most recent title there in twenty seventeen.

The national semifinals will air on December eighteenth on ESPN, and the championship match is set for December twenty-first on ABC.