NCAA Volleyball Final Four Set for Columbus, OH
- Dec 11, 2016
- 3 min read
After an epic comeback against #16 Penn State where the defending national champions had to win three straight sets, the Huskers continued that streak and made it six in a row dismissing #8 Washington in straight sets to advance to the national semifinals.
The Huskers pounded Washington in just 90 minutes, 25-16, 25-10, 25-21 in the NCAA Regional Finals. This is the third straight year where Nebraska has eliminated Washington from the NCAA Tournament. Andie Malloy had 15 kills on the night and the Huskers defense came up big forcing the Huskies to a low .088 hitting.
The Huskers now face a familiar foe in Texas in the national semifinals. Nebraska seeks to go back to back for the first time in program history but the Longhorns were eliminated in the national championship last year and would love some redemption in this match up.
#4 Texas def. Creighton 3-0
Texas faced a tough matchup against a great BYU team but earned the win because of their great defense. That same defense was crucial in a 3-0 shutout of Creighton and a confidence booster going into the national semifinals. The Longhorns 25-19, 25-20, 25-11 win advance them into their fifth consecutive NCAA Final Four.
Ebony Nwanebu guided Texas with a team high 13 kills but her .619 hitting percentage was also impressive on the night. The Jays committed a bunch of errors and Texas shutdown Creighton star, Jaali Winters. The Longhorns forced Creighton to hit .154 for the match.
The win improved Texas’ home NCAA win streak to 33-straight games, which dates back to 2006. Texas will face off against Nebraska on ESPN at 9:30p ET on Thursday night.
The University of Minnesota volleyball team swept #10 UCLA on Saturday night 25-23, 25-20, 25-22 to advance to the National Semifinals for the second straight year. The Gophers have only given up one set in four NCAA Tournament games during this impressive run.
Sarah Wilhite, Regional MVP, has led the team to wins over North Dakota, Hawaii, #15 Missouri and #10 UCLA. Wilhite lead the Gophers with 15 kills and eight digs, while teammate Alexis Hart had 11 kills. As a team, Minnesota put up 12 blocks to UCLA's 7, hit 46 kills, and had 61 digs.
With the win, the Gophers will face No. 6 Stanford in the National Semifinals in Columbus, Ohio next Thursday at 7pm ET on ESPN. Minnesota has now gone undefeated at home for the second season in a row as the Gophers are now at 36-straight home wins, dating back to Oct. 25, 2014.
In the only match to go the distance in the Sweet 16, #6 Stanford rallied back from a 0-2 deficit to stun #3 Wisconsin in Madison, 18-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 15-9. This was the first time all tournament Stanford had to go to five sets, while the Badgers had to escape Ohio State in a grueling five setter. The fatigue definitely played a factor as Wisconsin could not put away the Cardinals who won the last three sets to advance into the national semifinals.
Kathryn Plummer hit 12 kills, including the clincher to send Stanford to an NCAA record 20th Final Four appearance. Inky Ajanaku, was named the Madison Regional MVP, and her season-high 20 kills on .447 hitting might have had something to do with it. She also moves over 600 career blocks making her the fourth in Stanford history to reach the milestone.
The Cardinal, which leads the nation in blocks per set (3.34) totaled 18.0 against the Badgers. That will be crucial in the national semifinals where they will play a big Minnesota team ready to claim a national championship. Catch the game on ESPN on Thursday night at 7p ET.
Comments