Previewing the 2024 NCAA women’s volleyball semifinals
We break down what each team needs to do in Louisville to take home the trophy.
The semifinals are all set in the women’s volleyball NCAA championship.
After a thrilling first four rounds, the four No. 1 seeds all booked trips to Louisville for a chance to win the National Championship.
The two matchups are battles between familiar foes, in what should be a spicy edition of the Final Four. We’ll preview each matchup and take a guess at who will win it all.
The first semifinal begins at 6:30 p.m. ET. The next match will follow and both games will air on ESPN on Thursday night.
No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh
The left side of the bracket features a battle between two ACC programs who have become national powers in recent years.
The Cards stomped Purdue in the Sweet Sixteen, shutting down the Boilermakers’ two biggest attacking threats Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine by holding them to under .200 hitting in the match en route to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-18) sweep. Then the Cards booked their ticket to the Final Four by beating the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 28-26, 25-20) as they were able to avenge a late season lost to Stanford.
Louisville out-blocked Stanford 16-10 in that match and kept the Cardinal to a .153 hitting percentage, responding really well after dropping the opening set. Louisville was the best blocking team in the NCAA this season, and Sophia Maldonado Diaz and Phekran Kong each had seven blocks in that win over Stanford.
Hometown hero Anna DeBeer had 15 kills in both second weekend matches for Louisville, and she’ll have a chance to win the national title in her hometown.
As for the Pitt Panthers, they come into their third match against the Cardinals on an 18-game winning streak. The Panthers gutted out a five-set win (25-19, 24-26, 25-16, 21-25, 15-12) over the Oregon Ducks in the Sweet 16 before sweeping the Kentucky Wildcats 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-17) to reach the Final Four.
The Ducks pushed the Panthers to the edge in their matchup, but Pitt responded after losing the second and fourth sets. In the third set, the Panthers held the Ducks to .269 hitting compared to its 4.64 mark. Then in the final set, the Panthers forced the Ducks into six attack errors and a .087 hitting percentage as Pitt clinched the win with .217 hitting.
Star Olivia Babcock had 31 kills against the Ducks, and she was recently named as one of four semi-finalists for the National Player of the Year award.
How Louisville wins
Louisville’s block is statistically the best in the NCAA. Their middle blockers — 6-foot-6 Cara Cresse and 6-foot-4 Phekran Kong — are both graduate seniors and physical forces in the middle leading that block. They’ll need to be at their very best against a potent Pitt attack, but the Panthers’ younger attackers could get rattled with some huge early stuffs.
If the Cardinals can feed off that home energy, add a lot of big momentum plays from blocks and get Anna DeBeer going, the Cardinals can continue its national championship quest.
How Pitt wins
The Panthers’ attack is arguably the best in the country. Olivia Babcock and Torrey Stafford are electric attackers — and still only freshmen — who seem to always raise their game when Pitt needs them. In the Panthers’ two wins over Louisville in the regular season, Babcock had 5.00 kills per set while Stafford had 3.56. Meanwhile, junior Bre Kelley and graduate senior Valeria Vazquez Gomez are also viable options for the Panthers’ attack.
If the Panthers can get off to an early lead, have Babcock and Stafford come up clutch, and go on some service runs to take the crowd out of it — Pitt averages two aces per set as a team and has that as an X-Factor in their game — the Panthers can get their third win over the Cards.
No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 1 Nebraska
The Nittany Lions and Cornhuskers shared the Big Ten title this season — and share the right side of the bracket. Now, they’ll meet with a spot in the Final on the line.
Penn State is led by head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, who was diagnosed with breast cancer during the season and has still been on the bench, took down Marquette 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 24-26, 25-20) in the Sweet Sixteen and beat Creighton in a five-set thriller (25-15, 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 15-7) to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2017.
The Nittany Lions have been led all season by freshman setter Izzy Starck, who was named AVCA’s Freshman of the Year. Meanwhile, graduate senior Jess Mruzik was named an All-American. Mruzik came up big for PSU in the last two rounds, tallying 20 kills in both matches. Camryn Hannah is the second best attacker for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions also feature Caroline Jurevicius, Maggie Mendelson and Taylor Trammel as key other options for Stark to set.
The Nittany Lions are also capable of getting hot from the service line, averaging 1.5 aces per set as a team. Ava Falduto and libero Gillian Grimes are two back row players who are consistent servers, while Mruzik also posts a threat behind the line.
Nebraska got to the Final Four by taking down the Dayton Flyers 3-1 (25-17, 25-18, 25-27, 25-13) before notching its third sweep of the season against rival Wisconsin (26-24, 25-17, 25-21) in a statement win heading into Louisville.
Against the Flyers, although some parts of the offense struggled, Harper Murray put the attack on her shoulders. The sophomore had 22 kills, 16 digs and four aces against Dayton, and she posted a second double double against Wisconsin with 10 kills and 12 digs. Against the Badgers, Taylor Landfair led the way on the attack for the Huskers with 13 kills, but the story in both matches was Nebraska’s floor defense.
Senior libero Lexi Rodriguez, who was named a semi-finalist for AVCA Player of the Year — a rare feat for a backrow player — highlighted exactly her quality against Wisconsin. Rodriguez seemed to cover the whole floor against the Badgers, stymying a normally deadly Badger offense to help hold UW to just .126 hitting.
That backrow hustle helped the Huskers out-block both Dayton and Wisconsin, posting double digit blocks in both matches. Bekah Allick had four blocks against Dayton and six against Wisconsin.
How Penn State wins
The Nittany Lions already beat Nebraska in their one and only meeting this season, and their attackers are getting hot at the right time. Camryn Hannah had 24 kills against Marquette, while Caroline Jurevicius had 11 against Creighton. Mruzik has been steady all season and the freshman setter has not played like a freshman. Couple that with a few Nebraska players having some down offensive games, that could mean PSU has a bigger arsenal to get a second victory over the Huskers.
If Penn State can get Mruzik starting off hot, serve tough early against the Huskers to make Rodriguez work extra hard while forcing Nebraska out-of-system and make it tough for the Huskers’ attackers to build momentum, PSU will have a chance at its first national championship since 2014.
How Nebraska wins
Sure, Merritt Beason has struggled offensively lately, meaning the Huskers have had to lean on Harper Murray or their middle blockers, but it’s hard to keep Nebraska looking down long. This is a program that reached the Final last year before losing to Texas and returned pretty much all its players. This is an experienced team, and they have Lexi Rodriguez, who can dampen any offense.
If other Huskers besides Murray can get hot offensively, Rodriguez continues her run of masterclass performances at libero and the experienced Huskers don’t get rattled and showcase their championship pedigree, the Huskers will reach yet another Final.
National Champion prediction: Pittsburgh Panthers.
They’ve been the number one team pretty much all season. They’ve only lost one match all season, and have an attacking duo who are two of the most electric hitters in the country.
Olivia Babcock and Torrey Stafford are somehow still only sophomores. But the rest of the team is littered with experienced seniors who are also stars in their own right. Valeria Vazquez Gomez has seen her attacking numbers drop with the arrival of Babcock and Stafford, but she is a six rotation player who has been the backbone of Pitt’s rise. Senior libero Emmy Klika and senior setter Rachel Fairbanks were also key parts of the squad that now has reached four straight Final Fours, the program’s first Final Four appearances.
The mix of experience across the board and the dynamic duo of Babcock and Stafford have been so hard to beat this season. The team is complete, and has showcased more explosiveness than the rest of the Final Four. I believe that Nebraska will get through on the other side of the bracket, but that Pitt is able to add to the program’s rise and win its first ever national title.