Now it’s up to the Big Ten to keep pace with the ACC.
The ACC and its two-top-seeded teams, Pittsburgh and Louisville, grabbed spots Saturday in the NCAA volleyball national semifinals and will play each other Thursday.
Sunday, the Big Ten is guaranteed at least one place on the other side of the bracket when Nebraska plays Wisconsin. But will the winner play another Big Ten team in Penn State? Or the Big East’s Creighton?
Pitt advanced with a four-set win over Kentucky, while Louisville moved on by ousting another ACC school, Stanford.
Lynn of Boca Raton, Florida, beat San Francisco State in five to win the NCAA Division II national championship, and Bowling Green pulled off a reverse sweep and knocked out St. John’s to advance to the NIVC title match, where it plays Arizona on Tuesday.
It’s all in this edition of Volleyball Today:
NCAA Tournament Sunday
ABC saved the Sunday 3 p.m. Eastern slot for Nebraska and the network could not have asked for more, since the Huskers (32-2) play host to Wisconsin (26-6) in one of the fiercest rivalries — and one the general public likely knows best — in the college game.
Nebraska swept both their meetings, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 in Madison on November 1, and 25-21, 25-22, 25-17 on the same Devaney Sports Center floor. Nebraska leads the all-time series 22-14-1.
Then get a nap, because at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, Penn State (32-2) plays host to Creighton (32-2). Penn State has won nine a row, Creighton 25, and the two programs have never played each other.
Penn State’s two losses: It got swept at Pitt on September 18 and got swept at Wisconsin on November 9. Creighton’s two defeats: In five at Nebraska on September 10 and in five at Louisville on September 15. The Bluejays went 18-0 in the Big East and won both its conference tourney matches.
NCAA Tournament Saturday
PITT 3, KENTUCKY 0: When they finally got to the third set Saturday evening, Pitt didn’t need any rallies or comebacks. No, the Panthers steamrolled visiting Kentucky to clinch a spot in the NCAA national semifinals for the fourth year in a row.
Will this be the year that the top-seeded Panthers finally make it to the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship final match?
Kentucky (23-8) might think so after Pitt (33-1) swept 25-22, 25-23, 25-17 as the Panthers hit .500 in the third set with 14 kills and one error in 25 attacks. They have now won 17 in a…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Volleyballmag.com…