For the second time in three years, the Nebraska Cornhuskers are your Division I women's volleyball national champions.
Mikaela Foecke turned in a 20-kill performance on the biggest stage of the year. Kelly Hunter hit a wildly efficient .600 on the night. The Huskers, as a team, piled up 65 digs to Florida's 49. It was an impressive performance from a team that hasn't lost in months, and looked, on Saturday night, to be the most complete in the country.
They jumped on UF fast Saturday night, winning the first two sets, the second in masterful fashion. A Nebraska sweep didn't seem likely, per se, but it also didn't seem out of the question.
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The Gators, led by the fiery duo of Rhamat Alhassan and Shainah Joseph, hung tough and turned in an impressively resilient third set in which their offense found its stride, but for too much of the night that consistency was missing. Florida hit just .141 on the night, despite a productive night from Carli Synder, who tied Joseph for the team lead with 11 kills.
Instead, the unexpected step-up performance came from the Huskers' Lauren Strivins, who hit .316, pilied up nine kills (second best on the team), and was always in the right place in big moments.
After that gritty third set from Florida, though, Nebraska looked like a team set on finishing things in a timely fashion. The Huskers jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the fourth set and rode that momentum to the decisive fourth set victory.
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2017 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament: Schedule
SEMIFINALS
Thursday, Dec. 14
No. 5 Nebraska def. No. 1 Penn State, 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 24-26, 28-26, 15-11)
No. 2 Florida def. No. 3 Stanford, 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 18-25, 15-10)
2017 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament: Scores
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, Nov. 30
Miami (Fla.) def. Charleston, 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 25-15)
Purdue def. High Point, 3-1 (21-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-12)
No. 2 Florida def. Alabama State, 3-0 (25-9, 25-13, 25-9)
No. 11 Utah def. Cleveland State, 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-12)
FIRST ROUND
Friday, Dec. 1
Pitt def. VCU, 3-1 (25-14, 25-20, 18-25, 25-13)
Wisconsin def. Marquette, 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-11)
Western Kentucky def. Notre Dame, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-22)
Michigan State def. Missouri State, 3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-15)
Washington State def. Florida State, 3-1 (34-32, 25-14, 23-25, 25-13)
Northern Iowa def. Louisville, 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 27-25)
NC State def. Oregon State, 3-2 (25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13)
Colorado def. James Madison, 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-12)
Oregon def. Kennesaw State, 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-18)
Missouri def. Kansas, 3-2 (25-23, 15-25, 25-15, 20-25, 15-10)
No. 1 Penn State def. Howard, 3-1 (25-10, 22-25, 25-15, 25-16)
No. 4 Kentucky def. East Tennessee State, 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21)
Colorado State def. Michigan, 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24)
No. 5 Nebraska def. Stony Brook, 3-0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-12)
No. 7 Minnesota def. North Dakota, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-21)
No. 9 Creighton def. Coastal Carolina, 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 20-25, 25-22)
No. 11 Texas def. Fairfield, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-17)
No. 12 Baylor def. Miami (Ohio), 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-21)
No. 14 Iowa State def. Princeton, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-14)
San Diego def. LSU, 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 25-21)
Illinois def. Hawaii, 3-2 (25-18, 25-17, 13-25, 24-26, 15-10)
Cal Poly def. Denver, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-18)
No. 13 BYU def. American 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-16)
No. 16 Wichita State def. Radford, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-15)
No. 3 Stanford def. CSU Baskerfield, 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-17)
No. 10 USC def. Central Arkansas, 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-12)
No. 8 Washington def. LIU Brooklyn, 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-18)
No. 15 UCLA def. Austin Peay, 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-15)
SECOND ROUND
Friday, Dec. 1
No. 11 Utah def. Purdue, 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 13-25, 27-25)
No. 2 Florida def. Miami (Fla.) 3-1 (25-14, 19-25, 25-11, 25-23)
SECOND ROUND
Saturday, Dec. 2
No. 1 Penn State def. Pitt, 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19)
No. 4 Kentucky def. Western Kentucky, 3-2 (16-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-12)
Michigan State def. No. 9 Creighton, 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 25-16)
Wisconsin def. No. 14 Iowa State, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-23)
No. 5 Nebraska def. Washington State, 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-18)
No. 6 Texas def. NC State, 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-21)
No. 10 USC def. San Diego, 3-2 (25-22, 24-26, 24-26, 25-22, 15-11)
Missouri def. No. 16 Wichita State, 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 26-24)
No. 3 Stanford def. Colorado State, 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-9)
No. 7 Minnesota def. Northern Iowa, 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-19, 25-17)
Colorado def. No. 12 Baylor, 3-0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-20)
No. 13 BYU def. Oregon, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-19)
Illinois def. No. 8 Washington, 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-9)
No. 15 UCLA def. Cal Poly, 3-1 (26-28, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18)
THIRD ROUND
Friday, Dec. 8
No. 4 Kentucky def. No. 13 BYU, 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9)
No. 1 Penn State def. Missouri, 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-19)
No. 5 Nebraska def. Colorado, 3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-21)
No. 2 Florida def. No. 15 UCLA, 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-17)
Michigan State def. Illinois, 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-17, 29-27)
No. 10 USC def. No. 7 Minnesota, 3-0 (25-23, 28-26, 25-16)
No. 6 Texas def. No. 11 Utah, 3-2 (25-19, 15-26, 24-26, 25-21, 16-14)
No. 3 Stanford def. Wisconsin, 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19)
QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, Dec. 9
No. 5 Nebraska def. No. 4 Kentucky, 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 25-27, 25-22)
No. 2 Florida def. No. 10 USC, 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 18-25, 26-24, 15-11)
No. 1 Penn State def. Michigan State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 28-26)
No. 3 Stanford def. No. 6 Texas, 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21)
2017 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament: Teams
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament bracket was revealed on Sunday, Nov. 26, on ESPNU.
Here’s how the bracket will be made up:
- 64 teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament
- 32 teams qualify automatically as a conference champion
- 32 teams qualify as an at-large
NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament: Automatic Qualifiers
- America East: Stony Brook
- American Athletic: Wichita State
- ACC: Louisville (head-to-head tiebreaker vs. Pitt)
- Atlantic Sun: Kennesaw State
- Atlantic 10: VCU
- Big East: Creighton
- Big Sky: North Dakota
- Big South: Radford
- Big Ten: Nebraska
- Big 12: Texas
- Big West: Cal Poly
- Colonial: James Madison
- Conference USA: Western Kentucky
- Horizon: Cleveland State
- Ivy: Princeton
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: Fairfield
- Mid-American Conference: Miami (Ohio)
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Howard
- Missouri Valley: Missouri State
- Mountain West: Colorado State
- Northeast: LIU Brooklyn
- Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
- Pac-12: Stanford
- Patriot League: American
- SEC: Florida (beats Kentucky on head-to-head sets won)
- Southern: East Tennessee State
- Southland: Central Arkansas
- Southwest Athletic Conference: Alabama State
- The Summit League: Denver
- Sun Belt: Coastal Carolina
- West Coast Conference: San Diego (won tiebreaker vs. BYU)
- WAC: CSU Bakersfield
2017 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament: Schedule
- Selection Show: Sunday, Nov. 26 — The 64-team bracket will be revealed.
- First and Second Rounds: Thursday, Nov. 30 through Saturday, Dec. 2 — There are 16 campus sites serving as host of four team, single-elimination competitions. The 16 second-round winners advance to the regionals.
- Regionals: Friday, Dec. 8 to Saturday, Dec. 9 — There are four campus sites serving as hosts of four teams competing in a single-elimination format. The four regional winners advance to the national semifinals.
- National Semifinals and National Championship (in Kansas City, Mo.): Thursday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 16
- Semifinal No. 1: 7 p.m. ET Thursday, Dec. 14 on ESPN/ESPN2
- Semifinal No. 2: 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14 on ESPN/ESPN2
- National Championship: 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16 on ESPN2
