Pittsburgh lands top seed in NCAA women's volleyball tourney - ESPN

The Pittsburgh Panthers are the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA women's volleyball tournament and will look to bring the ACC its first national championship in the sport.

Pitt, 29-1 overall and 19-1 in the ACC, has made the final four the last three years in a row, losing in the semifinals each time. The Panthers are joined as No. 1 seeds by Big Ten co-champions Nebraska and Penn State and fellow ACC school Louisville.

The Huskers are second overall seed and the Nittany Lions third; both finished 29-2 overall and 19-1 in the Big Ten. Penn State has won seven NCAA titles — the last was in 2014 — and Nebraska five. The Huskers, who most recently won the title in 2017, were runners-up to Texas last year.

The Cardinals, the fourth overall seed, are hoping to make the final four in their hometown. The event is Dec. 19-22 at the KFC Yum Center in downtown Louisville. The Cardinals have been to the final four twice previously: in 2021 and 2022, when they lost the final to Texas.

The four No. 1 seeds could host all their matches until the final four, as the regionals will be held on the courts of the top four surviving seeds into the Sweet 16. Thus, Louisville would not have to leave the city to win a national championship.

All NCAA tournament matches through the national semifinals will be televised by ESPN networks and ESPN+. The national championship match will be on ABC for the second year in a row, at 3 p.m. ET on Dec. 22.

Here is how the top four seeds in each region break down:

Pitt region: Pitt's only loss this season was to new ACC member SMU, and those teams could meet up in the regional final. The Mustangs are the No. 2 seed, while the No. 3 seed is Kentucky and No. 4 is Oregon.

Pitt and Louisville are on the same side