NCAA volleyball’s Final Four is on the horizon, and the buzz is louder than ever.
The championship semifinals will take place on Thursday, with Texas A&M facing Pittsburgh and Wisconsin taking on Kentucky.
The winners of those matches will advance to Sunday’s title match, a showdown that has already drawn record-setting crowds and millions of viewers.
The weekend’s action proved that the tournament’s power is growing.
Texas A&M and Wisconsin each knocked off No. 1 seeds Nebraska and Texas, respectively, sending shock waves through the bracket and setting the stage for a thrilling finale.
Those upsets highlight the depth of talent across the country and the unpredictability that fans love.
Last season’s championship game drew 1.3 million viewers on live television, a figure that speaks to the sport’s expanding appeal.
Since 2019, the tournament has set a new attendance record every year-except for the pandemic-affected 2020 season-reaching a total of more than 287,000 people in the arena.
Those numbers underscore how quickly volleyball has moved from niche to mainstream.
Kristin Fasbender, the director of championships and alliances for the NCAA, explained why the sport feels like a true event now.
“What I have really seen in probably the last 4-5 years with the volleyball championship is it’s becoming more of an event,” she said.
“Fans are buying their tickets early regardless of who is going to be there. And that, to me, is when you start to really see the excitement and growth of a championship.”
The broadcast schedule reflects the sport’s surge in popularity.
For the third consecutive year, the national championship will air live on ABC.
Regionals and semifinals will be shown across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN 2, giving fans multiple ways to catch the action.
Cari Spears, a freshman standout for the Texas A&M Longhorns, shared her excitement about being part of the tournament.
“It’s just a really fun and exciting time to be part of the sport,” she said.
Spears is the daughter of former WNBA player Aiysha Spears (nee Smith) and former NFL player Marcus Spears, a lineage that has become more common among collegiate volleyball players.
She added, “My parents never put any pressure on me to play sports or pick a certain sport or anything like that,” she said.
“But they did always say if you do play a sport, they want us to try and do it to become really good at it, not just to do it.”
When she described her dad’s enthusiasm, she laughed, “He was in a full burnt orange outfit at our last game.”
The trend of athletes with pro-sport parentage is growing.
Penn State’s Alexa Ewing, daughter of former NBA star Patrick Ewing, and Stanford’s Sidney Duncan, daughter of former NBA legend Tim Duncan, are already making headlines.
Penn State also boasts Ava and Caroline Jurevicius, daughters of former NFL player Joe Jurevicius, while Asjia O’Neal, daughter of former NBA player Jermaine O’Neal, competes for the League One Volleyball team in Austin, Texas.
Even daughters of all-time greats such as Candace Parker, Tom Brady, and Steph Curry have joined the sport, broadening its appeal.
Fasbender closed by noting the continued excitement for the future.
“We continue to watch these buildings get fuller and more people coming to watch these amazing student athletes play,” she said.
“And that’s really exciting to me.”
Key Takeaways
- The Final Four features Texas A&M vs. Pittsburgh and Wisconsin vs. Kentucky, with the winners heading to Sunday’s championship.
- Upsets over No. 1 seeds Nebraska and Texas demonstrate the tournament’s competitive depth.
- Viewership hit 1.3 million and attendance surpassed 287,000, marking record growth since 2019.
- The championship will air live on ABC, with regionals and semifinals on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN 2.
- Rising stars like Cari Spears, whose parents were professional athletes, illustrate the sport’s expanding talent pool.
The NCAA volleyball tournament continues to capture the imagination of fans and athletes alike, turning the Final Four into a marquee event that showcases both fierce competition and the growing prominence of women’s volleyball on the national stage.
