NCAA Championship Primer: Nebraska-Texas pregame notes, how to watch & more

Today's the day. Nebraska volleyball has just one more step to take a magical season and make it even more unforgettable.

The No. 1 Huskers (33-1) take on No. 2 seed Texas (27-4) in Sunday afternoon's NCAA Volleyball Championship with the winner flying home ready to get fitted for national championship rings.

We're getting you set for the high-flying action as Nebraska and Texas take center stage for the biggest and brightest spotlight that has ever shined down on the sport of college volleyball.

RELATED: Everything the Huskers said before NCAA title match vs Texas

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Time: 2 p.m. CT

Location: Amalie Arena (Tampa, Fla.)

Watch Party: See info below

TV channel: ABC (Commentators: Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak and Katie George)

Streaming: WatchESPN (Link), YouTube TV (Link to free trial), FuboTV (Link to free trial)

Radio: Huskers Radio Network, Lincoln 107.3 FM and AM 590 Omaha (John Baylor will handle play-by-play duties in his 30th season doing so for Husker volleyball games, and former Nebraska All-American setter Lauren (Cook) West will provide color commentary)

Listen online: Huskers.com

App Audio: Official Huskers App

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The Huskers have invited all fans to Pinnacle Bank Arena today for a volleyball watch party at the arena. Free admission begins at 1 p.m. (CT) with the first serve set for 2 p.m. (CT).

The Nebraska women’s basketball team hosts Southern at Noon with the volleyball watch party to follow.

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>> Texas (27-4) is the defending national champion and beat No. 3 Wisconsin, 3-1, in Thursday’s NCAA Semifinal to advance to the championship match.

>> Madisen Skinner leads the Longhorns with 4.78 kills per set and has served 44 aces. Skinner was the Big 12 Player of the Year.

>> Asjia O’Neal adds 1.93 kills and 1.59 blocks per set and is hitting .404 this season. Both O’Neal and Skinner were AVCA First-Team All-Americans.

>> Texas is hitting .282 and holding its opponents to .186.

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>> Nebraska is 33-24 all-time against Texas. The last time the teams played was Dec. 11, 2021 in the Austin Regional Final. The Huskers upset the Longhorns, 3-1, on their way to the NCAA Championship match.

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>> Nebraska (33-1) is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history. The other years were 2000 (NCAA Champion), 2004 (NCAA Regional Finalist), 2005 (NCAA Runner-Up), 2006 (NCAA Champion) and 2016 (NCAA Semifinalist).

>> The Huskers won the outright Big Ten title this season with a 19-1 league record, earning their first Big Ten title since 2017. Nebraska has now won four Big Ten titles since joining the conference in 2011. The years were 2011, 2016, 2017 (co-champions) and 2023. All-time, Nebraska volleyball has won 35 conference titles. John Cook has been head coach for 13 of them.

>> Nebraska’s 33 wins are the most by a Nebraska team since the 2006 team won 33 matches (33-1).

>> Nebraska won 27 matches in a row to begin the season and finished 28-1, its best regular-season record since going 28-1 in 2005.

>> The Huskers, who led the nation in defense in 2022, have held their opponents this season to a combined .135 hitting percentage, which ranks first nationally.

>> Nebraska has been sharp offensively this season, hitting .278 to rank 18th nationally. The Huskers rank 12th nationally with 14.03 kills per set.

>> Nebraska had four All-Big Ten First Team selections and two All-Big Ten Second Team selections for a total of six all-conference players this season, the most in program history.

>> The Huskers had six AVCA All-Region honorees, tied for the most in program history.

>> Bekka Allick has back-to-back matches with double-digit blocks (12 vs. Arkansas and 10 vs. Pitt). She is the first Husker to have consecutive games with 10 or more blocks since Cecilia Hall against Illinois (11) and Northwestern (10) in 2013.

>> Allick is the only player to have two matches with double-digit blocks in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

>> Merritt Beason has 452 kills in her first season as a Husker. She is just the sixth Husker to total 450 kills in a season during the rally-scoring era (2001-present). The other members of that group are Sarah Pavan, Kelsey Robinson, Mikaela Foecke, Jordan Larson and Nancy Metcalf (Meendering).

>> Beason has 452 kills, 244 digs and 104 blocks this season. She is the first Husker to have 400 kills, 200 digs and 100 blocks in a season since Kadie Rolfzen in 2015. The only other Husker to reach each of those milestones during any season in the rally-scoring era (2001-present) were Christina Houghtelling in 2005 and Nancy Metcalf (Meendering) in 2001.

>> Andi Jackson is hitting .405 this season, as she attempts to become the first freshman in program history to hit .400. The current record for freshman hitting percentage is .388 by Karen Dahlgren in 1983.

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>> Nebraska is making its 11th appearance in an NCAA Final. The Huskers’ 11 NCAA Finals rank second in NCAA history behind Stanford (17).

>> Nebraska and Texas will play for the national title for the third time. The only more common finals matchup in NCAA history is Stanford vs. Penn State (four national championship matches).

>> The Huskers have won the first two national championship matches between the programs, defeating Texas 3-1 in 1995 and 3-0 in 2015.

>> Sunday will mark the eighth time in the past nine seasons that either Nebraska or Texas (or both) are playing in the NCAA Final. Since 2015, the only NCAA Final to not feature either Nebraska or Texas was the 2019 national championship match between Stanford and Wisconsin.

>> Nebraska is 3-4 against Texas in the NCAA Tournament with two wins coming in national championship matches. The Huskers’ four losses to the Longhorns are their most against any opponent in the NCAA Tournament.

>> NU and Texas are meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last 11 seasons.

>> Texas has won 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament matches. Their last loss in the postseason was a 3-1 home loss to Nebraska in the 2021 Austin Regional Final.

>> Three current Huskers played in that match as freshmen with Ally Batenhorst having 15 kills on 32 swings (.406), Lindsay Krause recording 13 kills on 22 swings (.500) and Lexi Rodriguez recording 20 digs.

>> According to ESPN, Nebraska is looking to become just the second team in NCAA Division I history to win a national championship without a single senior on its roster. In 1986, Pacific won the national title with no seniors on its roster.

>> Bergen Reilly is looking to become just the fourth freshman setter to lead her team to a national championship. Bryn Keho set Stanford to a national title as a true freshman in 2004 as did Jenna Gray for the Cardinal in 2016. In addition to the two Stanford setters, Nebraska’s Rachel Holloway set the Huskers to a national championship in 2006, when she was a redshirt freshman.

>> Cook is coaching in his eighth NCAA Final at Nebraska.

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