The NCAA women’s college volleyball semifinals are here! After probably the most eventful Sunday in national quarterfinals history where we saw No. 1 overall seed Nebraska fall to No. 3 seed Texas A&M, and No. 1 seed Texas fall to Wisconsin, we’re in for an exciting semifinals.

Pittsburgh’s making its fifth consecutive visit to the semifinals, something no other program has done before, but will this be the year the Panthers make it through to the national championship game? Pitt’s Olivia Babcock, the reigning National Player of the Year, is a name mentioned numerous times as a must-watch player throughout the tournament, but who else should volleyball fans keep their eye on heading into the semis?

Our women’s college volleyball experts give their thoughts on four big questions heading into the final four.

Jump to:
Key storylines | Most to prove
Must-watch player | Title game prediction

What are the key storylines going into the final four?

Sam Gore: Pitt has incredibly made the past five NCAA semifinals, but is still seeking its first breakthrough into the national championship. Will the fifth time be the charm? Going into the tournament, Nebraska was the team to beat. Now that it lost to Texas A&M, it feels like you can make the case for each of the remaining four to win it all. Each team has a Player of the Year candidate and multiple weapons. Kentucky is the front runner, but you can never count Wisconsin out. Will Texas A&M become another NCAA tournament Cinderella champion, or does Pitt take the next step and make history for the ACC?

Madison Fitzpatrick: Texas A&M battled through two five-setters to advance to its first national semifinals in school history! The Aggies took down a No. 1 seed, undefeated Nebraska and displayed more heart and grit than I’ve ever seen in a volleyball team. Coach Jamie Morrison said he prepared and built this roster to make it to Kansas City, and he was 100% correct! Watch out world, A&M is on a mission.

Emily Ehman: There are so many good ones. Can Pitt finally advance past the national semifinal on its fifth straight try? Can Texas A&M’s magical regionals run continue on? Kentucky vs. Wisconsin will be a slugfest full of heavy hitters. Then of course, who ends up taking home the Player of the Year award? I also love how Kentucky’s Craig Skinner and Wisconsin’s Kelly Sheffield grew up together and have been lifelong friends.

Charlie Creme: Who doesn’t have their eye on Texas A&M? The win over Nebraska in the regional finals was not only an instant classic, but one of the great upsets the sport has ever seen. As the page turns from Lincoln to Kansas City for the Aggies, questions naturally arise about what is next. Will there be a hangover for A&M? Can the Aggies duplicate the focus and intensity it took to knock off the regular season’s best team? Is there anything left in the emotional tank? The underdog is always a story, and Texas A&M will have that distinction once again facing Pittsburgh.

Michael Voepel: A big thing is how the vibe of the final four changes without Nebraska and its huge fan base. The Huskers faithful filled the arena the last time the final four was in Kansas City, when Nebraska won the title in 2017. Lincoln, Nebraska, is only a three-hour drive from Kansas City, and it would have been the same at T-Mobile Center this year if the Huskers were playing.

Some Huskers fans will still come because they are huge volleyball fans in general. But it will no longer feel like a home match for Nebraska. It will be more like a neutral environment, with all four teams having good fan followings — but not quite the same overwhelming red wave of the Huskers.

Former Florida coach and ESPN commentator Mary Wise said that Texas A&M’s 3-2 victory at Nebraska in the regional final might be the biggest road win in NCAA tournament history. I think she’s right. One other fairly recent epic road victory in a regional final also comes to mind: the freshman-led Stanford squad winning in a reverse-sweep against Wisconsin on the Badgers’ home court in 2016. That led to the first of that Cardinal group’s three national championships in four years.

This is a different scenario in that Stanford was already a longtime established national power then even though freshmen led the way, while this Texas A&M group is led by seniors and in the program’s first final four. Plus, Nebraska had powerfully swept through this season and had not lost a home match in three years.

Charlotte Gibson: It has been more than 72 hours, and the volleyball world is still reeling from Texas A&M’s 3-2 upset of previously undefeated No. 1 Nebraska in Sunday’s match. The Aggies booked their ticket to Kansas City for the program’s first final four. And the nine seniors on the Aggies’ roster are leading the way in Kansas City. Texas A&M head coach, Jamie Morrison, said he was “not scared of Nebraska” heading into their matchup. After beating the Huskers, there’s nothing to be scared about, right? It’s either win a championship or go home for the Aggies.

Who or what team has the most to prove in Kansas City?

Gibson: When it’s your fifth straight appearance to the final four, you have something to prove. For No. 1 seed Pitt, this week in Kansas City is more than another notch on the belt when it comes to final four appearances — it’s a test of whether this team can win its first championship. In the semifinal matchup, it will be the underdogs (Texas A&M) versus the veterans of the final four (Pitt).

Voepel: Pitt’s situation reminds me of LSU in women’s basketball from 2004-2008. The Tigers had future Hall of Famers Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles during that time and made the Final Four five years in a row but never got past the national semifinals. The Panthers are now in their fifth consecutive final four in volleyball and looking to advance to their first championship match.

Last season seemed like Pitt’s year to do that, but the Panthers had to face the hometown crowd in Louisville against the Louisville Cardinals in the semifinals, falling 3-1. But despite losing outside hitter Torrey Stafford, who transferred to Texas, the Panthers relied on Babcock to make yet another run to the national semifinals this year.

Everyone thought they would be facing unbeaten Nebraska there, but instead, they will go against the upset specialists from Texas A&M. That may seem like a good break for Pitt. But considering how well the Aggies have played, the Panthers will not underestimate them.

Gore: Pitt would seem to have the most to prove, but not to anyone other than itself. No other program has made the past five national semis, so its legacy is intact. However, you know the Panthers are burning to make the championship to cap their legacy of consistency with the ACC’s first national volleyball title.

Fitzpatrick: Pitt Panthers. This will be their fifth national semifinals, yet to advance to a final. Will this be their year? They have the pieces to deliver, but it won’t be easy vs. A&M.

Creme: Pittsburgh. The Panthers have now made five straight trips to the final four. The previous four ended at the national semifinals and they’ve have never made a final. Last year, Pittsburgh entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed but lost in the national semifinals to a Louisville team it had beaten twice during the regular season. Had Nebraska reached the final four, the Panthers would have been expected to lose once again in the semifinals. Now, they are the favorites against Texas A&M and need to deliver.

Ehman: Pitt. It has now made its fifth consecutive national semifinal and has never advanced further. Kentucky and Wisconsin have both already won a title in the past five years, and Texas A&M wasn’t expected by most to even make it here. Now’s the time for the Panthers to make their run!

Which player should we keep our eye on?

Fitzpatrick: Kyndal Stowers for A&M is coming off a career high 25 kills versus an undefeated Nebraska team. A year ago today, she wasn’t playing at all due to getting four concussions at Baylor. But she’s back, better than ever and one of the most explosive players her head coach said he has ever seen. Now Stowers’ out to win it all with A&M!

Creme: Wisconsin’s Charlie Fuerbringer led the nation in assists per set during the regular season and has been even better in the NCAA tournament. Fuerbringer’s 61 assists in the regional semifinals against Stanford were a career high. Her second-best assist total came two days later against Texas. Fuerbringer is also second on the team in digs per set. Her value cannot be understated. Three of the Badgers’ four losses came with Fuerbringer on the sidelines with a shoulder injury. They haven’t lost since her return.

Voepel: Kentucky junior Brooklyn DeLeye will be playing in the final four just about an hour from her hometown of Topeka, Kansas. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter leads the Wildcats in kills per set at 4.69. She teamed with SEC Player of the Year Eva Hudson, a transfer from Purdue, to power the Wildcats’ attack in going 15-0 in SEC regular season play and the league tournament championship. DeLeye is one of those electric players who can take over matches.

Gibson: The 6-foot-4 right side hitter from Pitt: Babcock. After winning the ACVA National Player of the Year last season, Pitt junior Babcock is once again a finalist for the prestigious award. Her accolades speak for themselves: 2025 AVCA first-team All-American, 2025 AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year, 2025 ACC Player of the Year, five 2025 ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors, 2024 AVCA National Player of the Year — just to name a few. Babcock recorded career highs in kills per set (5.11) and digs per set (2.11) this season.

Gore: There are so many, but Babcock is the elite among the elite.

Ehman: I’m supposed to pick just one? If I must, it has to be Pitt’s Babcock. She’s the reigning National Player of the Year and a finalist for the award this year for good reason. She’s like watching a professional player playing at the college level — she’s that good!

What’s your championship matchup prediction?

Ehman: No matchup would surprise me here because the field is so evenly matched across. I’ll give the advantage to Pitt and Kentucky though. First to Pitt because I’m not sure Texas A&M’s left side block will be able to shut down Babcock, and Pitt has motivation after facing heartbreak in this round for four straight years. Then to Kentucky because it not only can compete with Wisconsin offensively, but it has the defense to back it up. And there’s just no stopping Kentucky’s DeLeye and Hudson once they get hot!

Gibson: There is trepidation in predicting a matchup after what happened on Sunday. And as much as I love an underdog story, I think we will see both No.1 seeds, Pitt and Kentucky, in the championship. Pitt is no stranger to the final four. Kentucky is no stranger to the championship. Both teams will first have to remind volleyball fans why they are the standard in college volleyball by defeating Texas A&M and Wisconsin.

Voepel: Kentucky won its NCAA title in the pandemic-impacted 2020 season, when all the NCAA tournament matches were played in the spring of 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska. While the Wildcats certainly celebrated that, it didn’t quite feel the same as a regular final four. Now they have that chance, and I think they will prevail in a tight final vs. Pitt, 3-2.

Creme: Pittsburgh vs. Wisconsin. With Nebraska out of the way, the path for the Panthers to finally break through to a national championship game, while not easy, is clearer. They have the best player in the country in Babcock. That was the case a year ago too, but this time Babcock has fifth-year senior Brooke Mosher feeding her. Perhaps Mosher, who played at Illinois before this season, is the difference.

The AVCA is proud to announce its 44th annual All-America teams for NCAA Division I women’s volleyball.

The 2025 list includes 42 players—14 on the first, second, and third teams—from 24 schools, and 57 players receive honorable mention honors. Kentucky, Nebraska, and Texas A&M lead the way with four players on the first three teams. Creighton and Purdue each had three players earn first-, second-, or third-team All-America honors.

Eight first-team honorees are earning their third All-America honors: Olivia Babcock of Pittsburgh, Mimi Colyer of Wisconsin, Eva Hudson of Kentucky, Kennedy Martin of Penn State, Harper Murray of Nebraska, Bergen Reilly of Nebraska, Elia Rubin of Stanford, and Torrey Stafford of Texas. There are six 2025 first-team All-Americans who also were first-teamers a year ago.

The 2025 AVCA Freshman of the Year is Kassie O’Brien. She took over the starting setter role for Kentucky in September and has guided the Wildcats back to the NCAA Championship semifinals. She averages 11.02 assists per set, has 231 digs, and is second on the team in blocks with 84 this season.

Freshman of the Year: Kassie O’Brien, University of Kentucky, S
Player of the Year: announced Dec. 19
Coach of the Year: announced Dec. 18
Assistant Coach of the Year: announced Dec. 18

The 2025 All-America selections were made by the AVCA Division I All-America Committee: Matt Ulmer, Kansas (chair); Bre Henry, Ole Miss; Branden Higa, UC Riverside; Kim Lambert, Delaware; Kelli Miller Phillips, Ball State; Rob Neilson, Utah State; Lauren Ramatowski, Tulsa; Jackie Simpson Kirr, Clemson; Erin Virtue, Michigan; Jason Williams, TCU; and Leanne Williamson, South Dakota.

Click here to see links to bios on First-, Second-, and Third-Team All-Americans.

ALL-AMERICANS

HONORABLE MENTION

Check out the Division I Awards Archives, which include the All-America Teams and Award Winners history.

THE DAY KYNDAL STOWERS was told she couldn’t play volleyball anymore, she got in her car, silenced her phone, and drove aimlessly around town.

It was the spring of 2024, and she had endured four concussions over eight months on the volleyball court at Baylor, once in a collision with a teammate and three times from getting hit by the ball. “Why does this keep happening?” she asked herself. She figured she would redshirt her sophomore season and give her brain time to heal.

But near the end of the 2024 spring semester, a team doctor summoned Stowers. She thought it was just another checkup. When she arrived, the doctor, a trainer and a member of the university’s compliance department greeted her. They told her that she was being medically retired, and that her tuition would be paid for but her playing days — at Baylor at least — were finished.

She eventually went home to Denton, Texas, and watched the 2024 Final Four on her parents’ couch.

One year later, on Sunday, Stowers stood on the court at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, celebrating her Texas A&M team’s five-set upset over the No. 1 — and previously undefeated — Cornhuskers in the regional finals. She had 25 kills and then found her mom in the crowd and cried. She rarely does that, Tina Stowers said.

But this is a story about the unlikeliest player on the unlikeliest semifinal team in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament, and the moment commanded some emotion. It’s about a sports family supporting her decision to keep playing, and taking the steps necessary to ensure she’s as safe as she can be in an unpredictable arena of high-velocity swings, crashing bodies and flying elbows.

On Thursday, she’ll play for Texas A&M against Pittsburgh in the national semifinals.

“I knew that I wasn’t done,” Stowers said. “How can I be done with something I never got to start?”

THE STOWERS FAMILY knows about the violence of sports. Don Stowers, Kyndal’s dad, played football for New Mexico State in the 1990s, and was invited to the NFL combine. He played in NFL Europe for a year, and before that was a priority undrafted free agent for the Cincinnati Bengals before becoming a preseason cut by the Bengals and Denver Broncos. But he said there’s video of him tackling Emmitt Smith in a preseason game.

He has coached high school football in Texas, and his son, Eli, is a tight end for Vanderbilt. Tina Stowers graduated from Baylor, played beach volleyball for more than a decade, and coached high school and junior college volleyball. She said she never had a concussion in 30-plus years of volleyball, but acknowledges that back then, there were no protocols, and assessments were generally concluded with the term “getting your bell rung.”

But concussions in volleyball aren’t as rare as they might seem. A 2023 study found that volleyball had the highest rate of concussions (4.93 per 10,000 athlete exposures) among limited-contact sports, including softball, swimming/diving and baseball, and a rate higher than men’s basketball, which is considered a high-contact sport. The NCAA has a concussion safety protocol that schools must follow that applies to all sports. It includes immediate removal from a game or practice if a concussion is suspected and continued evaluation by a team physician in the hours and days following the injury.

When Kyndal sustained her first concussion at Baylor during the summer of 2023, before her freshman season, she called her mom. She was annoyed, Tina Stowers said, but otherwise fine. Then came the September game when she dove for a ball and a teammate went airborne and kneed her in the head.

Baylor sat her for 10 days, Tina Stowers said, but about a week after she returned, she looked tired. After an early October game, Tina and Don spoke to the trainers.

“So they were like, ‘You know what? We’re just going to take you out of the gym for a little bit longer,'” Tina Stowers said. “And then she was shagging balls and she got hit by [a serve] probably going 70 mph. Hit her right in the back of the head.”

When Stowers played, she dominated. During her freshman season, she had double-digit kills in 12 of the 14 matches she played. She had 29 kills and 16 digs against SMU; she hit above .450 in three matches and was once named Big 12 offensive player of the week.

But she never played after that Oct. 6 game against Kansas State.

During a spring practice in February 2024, she got hit by a shanked ball. She was diagnosed with her fourth concussion.

Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said the decision to medically retire her was difficult for him and the Stowers family to take.

“Both of us were frustrated about not being able to navigate forward or at least just wait longer and let it work itself out,” he said.

BACK HOME IN Denton, Stowers lifted weights and worked on her speed and explosiveness alongside football players. She served and swatted at volleyballs alone in her club gym. She did Fellowship of Christian Athletes camps, binge-watched some TV series and dog-sat to earn money. Her symptoms waned.

One of the biggest perks of being off for an entire autumn was that she was finally able to see her brother play football for Vanderbilt.

“On the weekends, I was going to all of his games,” she said, “which was really cool because I’ve never been able to do that ever because we’ve both been playing at the same time.”

Her mom lovingly called her “college dropout” during her stay back home.

During the 2024 NCAA volleyball tournament, she entered the transfer portal. She wasn’t sure what the market would hold for a 19-year-old outside hitter with an extensive concussion history. She was at church one day when an onslaught of calls and texts hit her phone. It was so intrusive that she had to activate the “Do Not Disturb” feature.

Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison was among the many reaching out. The Aggies were coming off a 21-8 season that ended with a five-set loss to Wisconsin in the regional semifinals. They were returning a talented roster, but there was room for more. Soon, Stowers visited College Station. Her brother started his football career there before transferring to New Mexico State and then Vanderbilt, so she was familiar with some of the faces and the athletic department’s culture.

“But obviously meeting the volleyball staff and seeing what they were about in their program meant a lot to me,” she said. “So, yeah, fell in love with it and then committed two days later.”

MORRISON SAID HE had two priorities when Stowers arrived. He wanted to give her back the thing she loved — the ability to play volleyball. He said he was also committed to keeping her safe.

Stowers wasn’t just working out during her time away from volleyball. She underwent concussion rehabilitation at the Andrews Institute in Plano, Texas, and received VOMS (Vestibular Ocular Motor Screening), which is a clinical assessment tool.

“When I moved home, I saw a ton of doctors in Dallas,” Stowers said, “a lot of very well-known neuropsychologists. Neurologists. Even some, like, general people, across every board that I could think of because I didn’t want to put myself at risk.

“I mean, my dad played football … my brother is about to go into the NFL. The world of concussions is not foreign to me, and I know obviously what that can lead to. So I didn’t want to put myself at risk by any means. Part of it was like, I want to get all of this evidence that I’m fine to continue playing, but I also want to make sure I’m good.”

She said that eventually, the lingering concussion symptoms she’d experienced at Baylor were gone, and she was cleared to continue playing volleyball by her personal doctors.

“I would never have put my daughter back out on a court if I thought it was not safe for her,” Tina Stowers said. “We definitely got plenty of clearance from a lot of people that know better than I do. And then it just kind of worked out.”

Morrison said A&M’s medical staff pored through all of her medical records, which accounted for about 60 hours of work. One of the conditions he set for Stowers to play was that she wore a Q-Collar, a horseshoe-shaped safety device that is worn around the neck and has been cleared by the FDA.

Dr. Julian Bailes, a renowned neurosurgeon and concussions expert who was part of the research and development of the Q-Collar, said the device has a spring inside that compresses the jugular.

“And what that does,” he said, “it puts a little more blood in the cranium, which reduces the ability of the brain to move or slosh around. …

“If you get hit on the head by any mechanism, if the brain doesn’t move, it doesn’t get injured. It’s the movement of the brain that creates brain injury, whether it’s concussion or, you know, major injury in a car accident or a fall, something like that.”

Though the device, which has become common in the NFL, has its skeptics, most everyone agrees that more research on concussion prevention needs to be done.

Stowers said she has worn the Q-Collar all season, and has been hit in the head occasionally. That’s going to happen to everyone, she said. But she hasn’t sustained another concussion, and doesn’t worry about getting hit in the head.

“I’ve been perfectly fine,” she said.

IT HAS BEEN a busy December for the Stowers family. Eli won the John Mackey Award, which is given to the nation’s top tight end, and the William V. Campbell Trophy, which honors the top scholar-athlete.

The family has jet-setted to New York and Las Vegas for Eli’s awards, then watched Kyndal play in the postseason in between. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what time zone they’re in — or where they are.

Texas A&M came back from two games down last weekend to knock off No. 2-seeded Louisville, then had the gumption to cancel the plans of thousands of Nebraskans who were supposed to flock three hours south to see their undefeated team hoist the trophy.

“Zero surprise to me what she’s doing,” said Baylor’s McGuyre, who has known Stowers since she was in junior high. “I’m really excited for her. My wife was the first to tell her, ‘Hey, if you don’t feel like you’re done playing, go play. You’ll flourish.’

“We were cheering super, super loud in that Nebraska match. Seeing her do what she did just kind of is another sucker punch to the gut a little bit, like, ‘Oh, what if?’ But I think both families still believe there’s a purpose and plan in this life. … I believe in over-comers. I wouldn’t be [talking] if I didn’t believe she’s something special.”

The Stowers family will be there Thursday to watch Kyndal try to do what seemed impossible 12 months ago. And if the Aggies beat Pitt, Eli hopes to make it to Sunday’s championship game.

On Tuesday, Kyndal, who was scrambling to pack for Kansas City, paused for a moment to reflect on the Aggies’ postseason run. She felt as if she fit in seamlessly when she arrived in College Station, that she was around like-minded teammates with the perfect measure of confidence and goofiness.

Nobody has time to worry about the heaviness of the moment.

“[Last year] I was sitting at home on my couch watching all these games being played,” she said.

“I believe that that’s where the Lord had me. And I was like, ‘This is a really cool story. God, if you want me to come out of this, how dope would that be?’ I mean, being medically retired, and now we’re here? It’s surreal.”