LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville and Penn State are set to play for the national championship in women’s volleyball after they secured victories Thursday in the national semifinals before an NCAA postseason record crowd of 21,726.
The championship matchup, set for 3 p.m. ET Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center with televised coverage on ABC, will produce the first female head coach to win a title in the sport as the Cardinals’ Dani Busboom Kelly meets the Nittany Lions’ Katie Schumacher Cawley.
On Thursday night, Louisville (30-5) upset Pittsburgh, top-ranked since September, 21-25, 25-23, 29-27, 25-17. And Penn State (34-2) completed a dramatic reverse sweep against Nebraska, 23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 28-26, 15-13.
The Nittany Lions (34-2) fought off two match points in the fourth set, coming back from five points down late in that set to force a decisive fifth. They denied Nebraska a fifth trip to the championship match in the past eight seasons.
For the Cardinals, the match turned after a third-set comeback from three late, four-point deficits. They fought off four set points, getting three kills from three-time All-American Anna DeBeer and a putaway by Charitie Luper before a double block of Valeria Vazquez Gomez ended the struggle.
DeBeer, a senior outside hitter, went down with a leg injury early in the fourth set. She did not return.
“It was so shocking,” Luper said, “to the point where we couldn’t say anything.”
Payton Peterson replaced DeBeer and helped rally the Cardinals to an unlikely rout in the final set as Pitt’s defense and serve-receive collapsed. Even All-American Olivia Babcock, who hammered 33 kills in the match, could not get the Panthers closer than within six points in the second half of the final set.
Pitt finished at 33-2, losing for the fourth consecutive season in the national semifinals. It previously beat Louisville twice this season. Nebraska (33-3) failed to avenge a November loss against the Nittany Lions.
The status of Louisville’s DeBeer for the final looms as a large question. She is a graduate of Louisville’s Assumption High School and was named to the all-tournament team at the Final Four in 2022, when Texas beat Louisville for the championship.
“If there’s any inkling that she can play,” Busboom Kelly said, “she’s the type of kid who’s going to get out there and play.”
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(Photo: Jamie Schwaberow / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
