Despite being populated by all four No. 1 seeds, Thursday’s 2024 NCAA volleyball semifinals served up the bracket’s biggest upsets, as heavily favored Nebraska and overall top seed Pitt were sent packing by their conference foes.
In front of 21,726 fans — a new record for college volleyball’s postseason — Louisville shocked Pitt with a 3-1 victory before Penn State ousted Nebraska in a five-set instant classic.
Louisville books second national championship ticket
After dropping their first set to Pitt on Thursday night, it seemed the deck was stacked against the Cards, who had already lost twice to the Panthers in the regular season.
However, buoyed by their raucous home crowd, Louisville surged back, sweeping the next three sets to book their first trip to the national championship match since 2022, when they became the first and only ACC team to ever compete in the collegiate final.
As for Pitt, Thursday’s loss was just their second all season, and not even 2024 AVCA Player of the Year Olivia Babcock’s astounding 33 kills could extend their title chase….
