By Nebraska Communications
The Nebraska volleyball team was selected as the No. 1 overall seed for the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship on Sunday night and will host the first and second rounds at the Bob Devaney Sports Center this Friday and Saturday. The Huskers, making their 42nd straight NCAA Tournament appearance and hosting the first round for the 38th time, will open the tournament on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. against Long Island University (13-18), champions of the Northeast Conference. The 4:30 p.m. match will feature Missouri (17-12) of the Southeastern Conference and Delaware (24-4) of the Colonial Athletic Association. Friday's winners will meet in the second round on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.
A limited number of tickets to the first and second round matches in Lincoln go on sale at Huskers.com/tickets on Sunday night at 7 p.m. First and second round matches will be streamed on ESPN+. Huskers Radio Network will have audio coverage of all Nebraska matches on Huskers Radio Network affiliates, Huskers.com and the Huskers app.
Nebraska received the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament for the first time since 2016, which was the first year the NCAA went to using the top four national seeds (or highest remaining seed in each region) for regional sites. The Huskers were also the top overall seed in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006. Stanford is the No. 2 overall seed, while Wisconsin and Pittsburgh are Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.
Should Nebraska advance past the second round, it would host an NCAA Regional on Dec. 7-9 at the Devaney Center for the first time since 2016. The national seeds in the same region as Nebraska are No. 8 Kentucky, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 16 Florida.
Nebraska will be playing LIU for the first time. The Sharks are making their 13th NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the Northeastern Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed. After finishing 9-5 in NEC play, LIU upset No. 1 seed Sacred Heart (3-1) and No. 2 Fairleigh Dickinson (3-1) to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2020.
This season, the Huskers (28-1) won their 35th all-time conference title and fourth Big Ten title with a 19-1 record in conference play. Nebraska is looking to return to the NCAA Semifinals for the 17th time in program history after bowing out in the NCAA Regional Semifinals vs. Oregon (3-2) last year, which snapped a streak of 10 straight NCAA Regional Final appearances.
The Huskers have played in five of the last eight NCAA Final Fours, including NCAA Championships in 2015 and 2017. Nebraska also won national titles in 1995, 2000 and 2006. This year's NCAA Championship is set for December 14-17 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST AND SECOND ROUND SCHEDULEFirst Round – Friday, Dec. 14:30 p.m. – Missouri vs. Delaware (ESPN+)7 p.m.* – Nebraska vs. LIU (ESPN+)*or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the 4:30 p.m. match, but no sooner than 7 p.m. Second Round – Saturday, Dec. 27 p.m. – First Round Winners (ESPN+)