Ultimately, the favorites all won and we get to do it all over again Friday.
But what a great day Thursday was for NCAA Division I women’s volleyball.
The new four-day format was a huge bonus for TV viewers with just four matches, one after another, and even a studio show in between. High fives to the NCAA and ESPN for doing this.
The winners moved on — most notably top-seeded Pittsburgh survived Oregon in five and fourth-seeded Louisville crushed Purdue — and Saturday, Kentucky will play at Pitt and Stanford will play at Louisville with spots in the national semifinals at stake. The recaps follow.
The other half of the bracket’s round-of-16 matches are Friday, with Texas vs. Creighton, Marquette vs. Penn State, Texas A&M vs. Wisconsin and Dayton vs. Nebraska. All four matches can be seen on ESPN2.
But we’ve got more in this edition of Volleyball Today.
There were two monumental upsets in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals and the NIVC is down to three teams:
NCAA Tournament round of 16 Friday
At Penn State
1 p.m. — Texas (20-6) vs. Creighton (31-2), Marquette (25-8) vs. Penn State (31-2)
At Nebraska
7 p.m. — Texas A&M (21-7) vs. Wisconsin (25-6), Dayton (31-2)…
