The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament is here! The first two rounds of the 64-team tournament will take place Thursday through Sunday. All roads lead to the national title game on December 22nd in Louisville. Speaking of Louisville, the Cardinals are one of four teams to earn a No. 1 seed — the others are Nebraska, Pitt and Penn State.

Two-time defending champion Texas has to get out of the Nittany Lions’ quarter to make it a three-pointer. If either Pitt or Louisville wins the title, it would be the first for the ACC. However, this conference will have a better chance than ever considering the addition of Stanford, a program that won nine national titles before joining the ACC, and SMU, which handed Pitt the only blemish on its schedule in October.

The first and second rounds, streamed on ESPN+, will be played on campus Thursday through Saturday. Regionals will also be on campus December 12-15. The national semifinals and championship game, as previously mentioned, will be in Louisville at the KFC Yum! carried out. Center.

We’ve broken down the schedule for Thursday and Friday’s games and will update later rounds as they come into focus.

First round

(All times East)

Thursday, December 5th

Loyola Chicago 3, No. 5 BYU 0

No. 6 Minnesota 3, Western Kentucky 1

No. 6 USC 3, UT Arlington 0

Ole Miss 3, No. 7 Florida State 2

No. 7 Georgia Tech 3, Tennessee 2

No. 5 Dayton 3, South Carolina 1

No. 7 Missouri 3, Texas State 0

No. 4 Purdue 3, Western Michigan 0

No. 5 Marquette 3, FGCU 0

No. 3 TCU 4, Hawaii 0

No. 3 Kentucky 3, Cleveland State 0

No. 3 Texas 3, A&M-Corpus Christi 0

No. 2 SMU 3, Wichita State 0

No. 2 Creighton 3, South Dakota 0

No. 2 Wisconsin 3, Fairfield 0

No. 4 Baylor 3, Wofford 0

No. 4 Utah 3, College of Charleston 0

No. 4 Oregon 3, Peak 0

Friday, December 6th

No. 8 Oklahoma vs. UTEP, 4 p.m

No. 8 UNI vs. Illinois, 4 p.m

No. 6 Florida vs. NC State, 5 p.m

No. 8 North Carolina vs. Yale, 5 p.m

No. 8 Miami (FL) vs. South Dakota State, 5:30 p.m

No. 6 Texas A&M vs. Colorado State, 6:30 p.m

No. 1 Pittsburgh vs. Morehead State, 7 p.m

No. 1 Louisville vs. Chicago State, 7 p.m

No. 1 Penn State vs. Delaware State, 7:30 p.m

No. 7 LMU (CA) vs. Washington, 7:30 p.m

No. 3 Kansas vs. Colgate, 7:30 p.m

No. 1 Nebraska vs. Florida A&M, 8 p.m

No. 3 Arizona State vs. New Hampshire, 8:30 p.m

No. 2 Stanford vs. Sacramento State, 10 p.m

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Second round

Friday, December 6th – Saturday, December 7th

No. 4 Purdue vs. Loyola Chicago, Dec. 6, 6 p.m

No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 6 Minnesota, Dec. 6, 7 p.m

No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6 USC, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m

No. 4 Baylor vs. No. 5 Dayton, Dec. 6, 8 p.m

No. 2 Creighton vs. Ole Miss, Dec. 6, 8 p.m

No. 2 SMU vs. No. 7 Missouri, Dec. 6, 8 p.m

No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 7 Georgia Tech, Dec. 6, 8 p.m

No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5 TCU, Dec. 6, 9 p.m

No. 4 Utah vs. No. 5 Marquette, Dec. 6, 9 p.m

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Regionals

Thursday, December 12th – Sunday, December 15th

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Semifinals

Thursday, December 19th

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championship

Sunday December 22nd

Tournament storylines

The 64 teams include a coach who plays the ukulele and sucks cough drops, a player whose father was once compared to Michael Jordan and stars willing to share the good and bad of fame. Here are some stars and storylines to keep an eye on leading up to the finale in Tampa.

Pitt volleyball follows the story with the mindset of a hunter

With an innovative coach in Dan Fisher, a strong roster and a hunter mentality, top-seeded Pittsburgh appears poised to win its first national title. Read more

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Can Madisen Skinner lead Texas volleyball to a three-pointer?

Madisen Skinner’s volleyball rise has been quick — perhaps too quick. After a season of ups and downs, she wants to take Texas from a No. 3 seed to a three-goal NCAA champion. Read more

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Nebraska volleyball’s Harper Murray is trying to regain trust and love

Harper Murray was arrested for drunk driving and charged with off-season shoplifting. The second-year Nebraska star has focused on healing while leading the Huskers through another exceptional season. Read more

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The pain of “Baby Jordan” and the power of Kami Miner

Harold Miner struggled with his unfulfilled NBA dreams for years. When his young daughter began doing 30-inch box jumps, he became her guide and she became his healer. Now Kami Miner wants to lead Stanford volleyball to a national title. Read more

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Roundtable: Which teams have a difficult road to Louisville?

Sam Gore, Aishwarya Kumar, Holly McPeak, Courtney Lyle and Michael Voepel analyze the group of 64 teams and introduce the teams and players (spoiler: Olivia Babcock) to keep an eye on. Read more

Zachary C. Bako for ESPN