All season lengthy, Pittsburgh and Nebraska appeared to be headed for an NCAA volleyball championship sport collision. Pitt entered the event because the No. 1 general seed after dropping only one match through the common season, in opposition to SMU, a workforce it had crushed soundly days earlier. Nebraska, the No. 2 seed, had misplaced simply twice through the common season after making it to the championship match in 2023. Both groups superior to the ultimate 4. They had been two wins away from the matchup that appeared preordained. But humorous issues occurred in Louisville on Thursday night time.
Here’s how Louisville and Penn State pulled off the gorgeous upsets and superior to volleyball’s championship match.
Louisville saves 4 set factors
Tied at a set apiece, Pittsburgh had 4 probabilities to seal the third set and take command of the match. Pittsburgh led 24-23, however Louisville unleashed outdoors hitter Anna DeBeer. She smashed a crosscourt kill to tie it at 24-24. After a Torrey Stafford kill, Pitt bought one other likelihood to shut the set. Louisville went with the identical formulation: Elena Scott serve obtain, Nayelis Cabello set, DeBeer crosscourt kill to tie the match at 25. Pitt was forward 26-25 when Olivia Babcock’s highly effective bounce serve clipped the tape. Scott caught her platform beneath the ball and popped it up. Sofia Maldonado Diaz despatched an out-of-system set to DeBeer, who delivered but once more, this time down the middle of the courtroom. A kill by Stafford gave Pitt its ultimate likelihood at 27-26. This time, Charitie Luper delivered the crosscourt kill to tie it at 27. An ace by Kamden Schrand gave Louisville the one set level it could want. Phekran Kong and Cabello blocked a Pitt assault and gave Louisville the third set and a direct path to victory. “It actually confirmed that we wished it extra,” Luper mentioned. “And we’re by no means afraid to again away from a combat.”
Penn State saves two match factors
Nebraska was up two units to 1 on Penn State when Rebekah Allick got here out of the center for a kill to place Nebraska up 24-22 and a degree away from a visit to the championship match. Not so quick. Penn State went to fifth-year senior Jess Mruzik, who swung excessive and laborious. As the ball darted out of bounds, Nebraska gamers got here off the bench to have fun, however the ball had clipped the Nebraska block and Mruzik bought a kill to make it 24-23. “We touched it,” Nebraska coach John Cook mentioned. “Jess did that rather a lot.” On match level No. 2, Nebraska setter Bergen Reilly went again to Allick after an ideal serve reception from Olivia Mauch. Allick tipped the ball over the Penn State block, however Mruzik slid a hand beneath, Izzy Starck set the ball from her knees and Caroline Jurevicius tooled the Nebraska block to tie it at 24-24. After buying and selling factors — Gillian Grimes bought an ace, Mruzik bought two kills — Penn State accomplished an 11-4 run on a kill by Camryn Hannah to take the set 28-26 and ship the match to a fifth set.
A Louisville freshman steps up
DeBeer had willed Louisville to a win in set three, however with the Cardinals up 2-0 within the fourth, the Louisville outdoors hitter turned an ankle after touchdown on a teammate’s heel on a block try. Freshman Payton Petersen entered the match. And she met the second. The outdoors hitter delivered 2 kills, 4 digs, 2 aces and a block in Louisville’s 25-17 clincher that put the Cardinals a win away from their first nationwide title. Coming into the match, Petersen had 31 kills, 24 digs, 2 aces and 5 blocks all season. “When I bought subbed in, these wonderful individuals are at all times on the courtroom cheering me up, giving me confidence,” Petersen mentioned. “So the truth that I can lean on folks simply makes it so significantly better.”
A Penn State senior delivers
With all of the momentum swinging Penn State’s approach, Mruzik saved it rolling. In the ultimate set, she delivered a sharp-angle kill to present Penn State a 2-1 lead. She went excessive off the Nebraska block to present the Nittany Lions a 6-3 lead. She blasted a back-row ball for a 7-4 Penn State lead. When Nebraska closed to inside one, Mruzik delivered an ideal serve obtain after which delivered one other kill for a Penn State 10-8 lead. She delivered one more sharp crosscourt kill in entrance of Lexi Rodriguez, who slammed a hand on the courtroom in frustration, for a 12-8 lead. After Nebraska closed to inside two, Mruzik delivered her twenty sixth kill of the match and sixth of the ultimate set, one other sharp angle shot, to present Penn State a 13-10 lead. “I feel my backcourt helps me — I’m in a position to swing freely due to them,” Mruzik mentioned. “I’ve them have a look at me continuously all through the match, simply telling me to let it rip and telling me the place they’re on protection, so I do know that when I’m going as much as swing, they’re proper there behind me.” The Nittany Lions wanted simply two extra factors, and so they bought them on two kills from Hannah to win the match 15-13 and ship the seven-time champions to their eleventh NCAA volleyball title sport. “Tremendous efficiency by Jess. She hit some pictures we had no reply for,” Cook mentioned. “It was probably the greatest performances I’ve ever seen by an outdoor hitter.”
