LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WOWT) – For the second straight year and sixth time since 2015, the Big Red will be in the NCAA Volleyball Final Four.

Nebraska (33-2) will face Penn State (33-2) in a national semifinal game on Thursday, looking to regain a score from earlier in the year and punch its ticket to the championship game.

In their only meeting this season, the Nittany Lions handed the Huskers their only conference loss with a 3-1 win, forcing the Big Ten Championship trophy to be split between the two teams.

Now they meet again, with much more at stake this time.

GAME INFO

• WHERE: KFC Delicious! Center, Louisville, Kentucky.
• WHEN: 8 p.m., Thursday, December 19th
• REGARD: ESPN
• HEAR: Huskers Radio Network

*Check back here for live updates once the game begins*

A ticket to the national finals is up for grabs, and for Nebraska, it’s the culmination of nearly a year of motivation to return to title contention. The Huskers are no strangers to the bright lights of a national semifinal. Since John Cook became head coach in 2000, he has led the Big Red to the Final Four a whopping 11 times.

But lately that hasn’t been the case receive on the biggest stage in sports, which was the problem for Nebraska. The struggle was to finish the job.

After two titles in three years between 2015 and 2017, the Huskers have been back to the Final Four three times without prevailing. This weekend in Louisville they want to reverse that fate

Nebraska also made it to the championship game last year, where they were beaten by the Texas Longhorns, who lost to Creighton in this year’s Sweet 16. The Bluejays then handed none other than Penn State a heartbreaking five-set win in the Elite Eight.

Creighton’s loss cemented the Final Four with all No. 1 seeds: the Huskers and Nittany Lions, as well as Pittsburgh and host school Louisville.

Pittsburgh vs. Louisville begins Thursday’s Final Four games at 5:30 p.m., followed by Nebraska-Penn State. The winners will meet in the championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m

All three games will be televised on ESPN and streamed on WatchESPN.

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