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Michael Voepel
The NCAA women’s volleyball tournament was rocked Sunday as Texas A&M upset previously undefeated No. 1 Nebraska 3-2, sending the Aggies to the program’s first final four.
The Huskers, who have won five national championships, had mostly cruised through this season. But they dropped to 33-1 after running into an Aggies squad playing its best at the most important time.
«A lot of us are seniors, and we’ve been doing this for a really long time,» said Texas A&M’s Logan Lednicky, who had 24 kills and 6 block assists. «And I think all the newbies came in ready to work, ready to grind.»
Sophomore Kyndal Stowers had 25 kills and 16 digs for Texas A&M (27-4), which finished second to Kentucky in the SEC regular-season standings. The Wildcats are also headed to the final four; they advanced Saturday with a 3-0 win against Creighton.
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Hours after the Aggies pulled the upset, another No. 1 seed was ousted on its home court as four-time NCAA champion Texas fell to Wisconsin 3-1.
The national semifinals are Thursday in Kansas City. Texas A&M will meet No. 1 seed Pitt (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) after the Panthers advanced Saturday with a 3-1 win over Purdue. Neither team has won a national championship, though Pitt will be making its fifth consecutive appearance in the final four.
In the second semifinal, No. 1 seed Kentucky faces No. 3 seed Wisconsin (9 p.m. ET, ESPN). Both programs have one NCAA volleyball title.
Texas A&M, the No. 3 seed in the Lincoln regional, upset No. 2 seed Louisville in a reverse sweep Friday. The Aggies almost had the same thing done to them when they won the first two sets against the Huskers but lost the next two and were forced to a first-to-15 fifth set (must win by 2).
Texas A&M won the deciding set 15-13 in front of stunned sold-out crowd at Nebraska’s Bob Devaney Sports Center. It was the Huskers’ first loss at home since Nov. 26, 2022, against Minnesota.
It was just the second time in Texas A&M program history that the Aggies defeated a No. 1-ranked team. They previously did so in 1995 against Stanford.
For Nebraska, it was another heartbreaking end to the season. The Huskers last won the national championship in 2017, when it was also held in Kansas City, and were hopeful of repeating that this year in the city just 3.5-hours south of their campus.
Since 2017, Nebraska has lost three times in the national championship match — in 2018, 2021 and 2023 — and fell in the national semifinals last season to eventual champion Penn State.
Former Huskers player and assistant Dani Busboom Kelly took over the program this season when longtime coach John Cook retired. She led Louisville to the NCAA final last year and in 2022; it seemed things were set up for a storybook finish to her first season guiding Nebraska.
But it wasn’t to be, as Texas A&M out-blocked Nebraska 30-16 in what was one of the biggest keys to the upset.
«A really awesome game by Texas A&M,» Busboom Kelly said. «They played like they had six seniors on the court. I’m proud of the way we fought back. We played our hearts out.»
After losing the first two sets, both 25-22, Nebraska won the third set 25-20. That set the stage for what turned into a match within the match, a 37-35 fourth set won by the Huskers on their 10th set point. It seemed as if that turned the momentum toward Nebraska, but the Aggies still had the last word in the fifth set.
«You play sports to prove who’s better in that moment,» Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison said. «We came out on top of that, and I’m fired up.»
