The No. 1 seeds Pittsburgh, Louisville and Nebraska have punched their tickets to the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Final Four. A fourth spot remains up for grabs between Creighton and Penn State on Sunday night.

The national semifinals will be played Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky. The championship game will take place on December 22nd.

Nebraska (34-2) moved into third place with a three-set win over Big Ten rival Wisconsin on Sunday. The Final Four berth for the Huskers, who lost to Texas in the championship last year, is their 18th since 1986.

Pitt (33-1), the top seed in the 64-team tournament, defeated Kentucky on Saturday to secure its fourth straight Final Four berth. The Panthers lost to Nebraska in the semifinals last year. Louisville (29-5) defeated Stanford in four sets on Saturday to secure its third trip to the national semifinals and the chance to stay at home the entire postseason. Texas defeated the Cardinals in the 2022 championship game.

ACC rivals Pitt and Louisville will play on Thursday at the KFC Yum! play in the semi-finals. Center. It will be the third meeting between the Panthers and Cardinals this season. Pitt won in five sets at home in October and in four sets at Louisville last month.

The Panthers are led by ACC Player of the Year Olivia Babcock, a sophomore. Senior outside hitter Anna DeBeer leads Louisville’s attack. Senior libero Lexi Rodriguez led Nebraska to victory on Sunday in front of a national audience on ABC – its 45th straight home victory. The Huskers defeated Wisconsin for the third time this season with a fierce defensive performance.

Nebraska is seeking its sixth national championship and first since 2017 in Louisville. Creighton is seeking its first Final Four appearance. The Bluejays defeated Texas in a four-set regional semifinal on Friday. Penn State has won seven national championships, most recently in 2014, and has made 13 Final Four trips.

The winner from Sunday night in State College, Pennsylvania, will face Nebraska on Thursday. The Huskers are 21-0 against their in-state rival, the Bluejays of the Big East. That includes a five-set win in September. Penn State defeated Nebraska in State College last month to share the Big Ten championship with the Huskers.

(Photo: Dylan Widger / Imagn Images)