PITTSBURGH – The No. 1 seeded Pitt volleyball team (29-4, 18-2 ACC) advances to its sixth straight Regional Final on Saturday as the Panthers rolled past No. 4 seeded Minnesota (24-10, 12-8 Big Ten), 25-16, 25-23, 25-22, Thursday night in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Olivia Babcock led the match with 19 kills, and Bre Kelley recorded eight kills on 10 swings for a blistering .800 hitting efficiency. 

Playing in front of the hometown fans, Pitt jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set and never trailed. Minnesota did get within two on a pair of occasions, but the Panthers finished on an 11-4 run and took the opening stanza, 25-16. Kelley and Babcock combined for nine of Pitt’s 13 kills in the frame. 

In the second set, neither team led by more than two points until the Panthers used a 5-1 run to go ahead 19-16. Minnesota clawed back to tie the score at 23-23, forcing a Pitt timeout. Following the break, Marina Pezelj had a kill, and Blaire Bayless and Abbey Emch combined on a block for the 25-23 Panther win.

With the third set knotted at 9-9, Pitt scored three straight, and Minnesota burned a timeout. The Golden Gophers wouldn’t let the Panthers extend the lead and Minnesota put together a 7-2 run to lead 21-19. Pitt used a momentum shifting scramble to force an attack error and tie the set at 21-21. That play propelled the Panthers forward to the 25-22 victory.

With the win, Pitt improves to 29-4 and will host the winner of Purdue vs. SMU Saturday night at the Petersen Events Center at 7:30 p.m. with a trip to its fifth consecutive Final Four on the line. 

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DANBURY, Conn. (12/11/25) – Freshman Ashley Torok has been named the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Women’s Volleyball Rookie of the Year, while Head Coach Don Perkins has been selected the ECAC Division III Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Year as the Kean University Women’s Volleyball team earned two All-ECAC selections. Cayley Elena Morrison and Aspen O’Brien were both selected to the second team.

Torok earns Rookie of the Year honors and her first All-ECAC selection after totaling 502 points, 433 kills, 244 digs and 52 aces over 114 sets played. The rookie averaged 4.40 points per set, 3.80 kills per set and 2.14 digs per set over 34 matches as she was named AVCA Region IV Rookie of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-American selection. Torok becomes the first player in program history to capture a major award from the Conference.

Perkins earns his first-ever ECAC Coach of the Year accolade after guiding the Cougars to 30 wins, an NJAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Kean also captured an NJAC Regular Season title and won their first-ever game in the NCAA Tournament. The AVCA Region IV Coach of the Year had five All-NJAC selections, five All-Region selections and three All-Americans. Those numbers include two NJAC major awards and two regional awards.

Morrison earns her first All-ECAC selection after totaling 464 points, 382 kills and 119 blocks over 110 sets played. The middle hitter averaged 4.22 points per game, 3.47 kills per set and 1.08 blocks per set over 34 matches as she was named NJAC Defensive Player of the Year and an AVCA Second Team All-American.

O’Brien earns her first All-ECAC selection after totaling 1184 assists, 217 digs and 128 points over 112 sets played. The setter averaged 10.57 assists per set over 34 matches as she was named the NJAC Player of the Year, the AVCA Region IV Player of the Year and an AVCA Second Team All-American.

Courtesy of Rob Anderson, Creighton Athletics

LEXINGTON, KY — Seniors Ava Martin, Annalea Maeder, and Kiara Reinhardt helped No. 11 Creighton Volleyball to a second straight Regional Final with a 3-1 win over No. 8 Arizona State on Thursday afternoon at historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky.

Scores of the match were 26-24, 19-25, 25-13, 25-18.

Creighton led 10-7 and 11-8 early before Arizona State countered with a 7-2 run to take a 15-13 lead into the media timeout after back-to-back aces by Brynn Covell. The Jays regrouped, getting a kill from Jaya Johnson and two more by Kiara Reinhardt to move in front 20-18. The teams continued to trade 3-0 runs, as after falling behind 21-20, Creighton bounced back with three of its own to move in front 23-21 on Sydney Breissinger’s serve. ASU tied it up at 23-all before Johnson went line to earn the Jays a set point opportunity at 24-23. Noemie Glover put down a kill to extend the set, but a service error and a Martin kill gave CU the 26-24 set. Martin owned seven kills in 11 errorless swings to pace a Bluejay offense that hit .333. Maeder dished 17 assists and Breissinger had six digs for CU. Glover topped the Sun Devils with five kills.

CU led much of the second set before a 4-0 Arizona State gave the Sun Devils a 17-14 lead. The Sun Devils led by two or more the rest of the way, closing out the 25-19 victory with back-to-back blocks to even the match heading into intermission. Martin had nine kills in the second frame and Breissinger 10 digs, but it wasn’t enough to offset six kills from Glover and five kills by Kiylah Presley. ASU hit .368 in the second set and would side out at 70 percent clip.

The Bluejays bolted to a 9-3 lead to open the third set and stayed in control throughout, hitting .600 in a 25-13 rout. With all the focus on Martin, it was six kills from Reinhardt and three by Johnson that did the trick. Johnson served her first ace since October 17th to close out the set. The .600 hitting percentage was CU’s best ever in an NCAA Tournament set.

A pair of aces from Breissinger helped CU to a 3-0 lead to open the fourth game, and the Jays posted a second straight wire-to-wire victory.  Martin’s 22nd kill to make it 15-10 at the media timeout tied Jaali Winters’ career NCAA Tournament record with 175.

Martin led CU with 23 kills, while Maeder had 55 assists and 15 digs. Reinhardt had 14 kills on .722 hitting, while Johnson added 12 kills of her own and Breissinger dug a career-high 20 balls. CU finished the match with 65 kills, 57 digs, eight aces and six blocks on .370 hitting.

Glover topped ASU with 17 kills and Henry dished out 26 assists while Omaha native Faith Frame collecting a team-high 15 balls. ASU closed the match with 50 kills, 48 digs, 4 aces and seven blocks on .273 hitting. 

With the win, Creighton (28-5) advances to play the winner of this afternoon’s Cal Poly/Kentucky match on Saturday night on ESPN2 for a spot in the Final Four. A start time for that match will be announced later this evening. The Big 12 champions, Arizona State ends its season with a 28-4 mark.

NOTES:Kiara Reinhardt set a program record by playing in her 12th career NCAA Tournament match, while tying another mark with her 11th NCAA Tournament start … Ava Martin became the third player in CU history with 500 or more kills in a season … Arizona State libero Faith Frame is an Omaha native and the sister of former Creighton Softball player Ensley Frame …  Creighton has won 23 straight matches, tied for its second-longest win streak in program history … Creighton is now 20-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 3-2 record in the Regional Semifinals … Creighton has won eight straight matches against Big 12 Conference teams, including a 3-0 mark this season … Creighton has won 28 or more matches seven times now, all since 2012 … Creighton Volleyball has joined men’s soccer (in 2002-03, 2011-12 and 2014-15) as the only programs in the history of Creighton Athletics to make back-to-back Elite Eights … Brian Rosen joined former men’s soccer coach Elmar Bolowich as the second head coach in the history of Creighton Athletics to take his first team to the Elite Eight. Rosen also joined Bolowich as the only coaches in CU history to win his first three NCAA Tournament games … Creighton’s 89 victories since the start of the 2023 season rank third-most nationally, trailing only Nebraska and Pittsburgh. Arizona State entered the today fourth on that list with 86 victories … Creighton improved to 5-2 all-time inside Memorial Coliseum with its fourth straight win in the historic facility … Arizona State fell to 0-8 in Regional Semifinals … Ava Martin had five or more kills for the 110th straight match and 10 or more kills for the 27th consecutive contest  … Ava Martin (1,630) passed Leah Ratzlaff (1,622) for third-most kills in CU history … Ava Martin led or tied for the Creighton lead in kills for the 26th match in a row … Annalea Maeder had her 15th double-double of the season … Creighton improved to 6-0 when taking a 2-1 lead in a match … Annalea Maeder reached 4,000 career assists.

No. 1 seed Nebraska volleyball hosts No. 4 Kansas in the Sweet 16 on Friday night.

The Huskers enter the match at 32-0 and the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. With all the success this season, junior outside hitter Harper Murray said the team is focusing on being grateful and staying present.

“Because if you look too far into the future, you’re probably going to get a little nervous and feel a little stressed out,” Murray said, “so (we’re) just really focusing on what we’re doing in the moment and focusing on where our feet are.”

Playing at home is a big advantage in the tournament, she added.

Junior middle blocker Andi Jackson echoed that sentiment.

“I think the whole team feeling like we can play free really helps me, because the whole vibe on the court, regardless of who’s in, you can just feel that there’s so much confidence,” Jackson said. “Obviously, if the team is feeling pressure, then you’re going to start to feel pressure for yourself.”

Jackson and Murray said the team’s difficult practices and preparation helps them play with confidence.

First-year head coach Dani Busboom Kelly, who coached in two national championship games at Louisville, acknowledged there’s pressure to follow through on the Cornhuskers’ high-level success this year.

“But I do think this team has a lot of experience with it,” Busboom Kelly said. “The staff has a lot of experience with it. So it’s nothing new, which I think helps to alleviate some of that.”

Busboom Kelly’s former team, No. 2 seed Louisville, will compete against No. 3 seed Texas A&M at 6 p.m. CT on Friday. That match will be played at the Bob Devaney Sports Center followed by the Huskers.

First serve between the Cornhuskers and Jayhawks is set for approximately 8:30 p.m. CT Friday. Both Sweet 16 matches will air on ESPN2.

Winners of the Louisville-Texas A&M match and the Nebraska-Kansas match will face off on Sunday for the right to go to the Final Four. Serve time is yet to be determined.

The Final Four will be played at T-Mobile Arena in downtown Kansas City on Dec. 18 and 21.