Nebraska volleyball is onto the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament once again.

The Huskers (31-1) have looked like the tournament's No. 1 overall seed thus far over their three-game postseason run, making things look easy through (two-thirds) of their first- and second-round sweeps of Long Island University and regional No. 8 seed Missouri, and then another sweep over No. 5 seed Georgia Tech on Friday afternoon.

Nebraska found itself in a grind in Set 3 in all three games but still came out unblemished, ultimately finishing with a takedown of the Yellow Jackets (24-7) to move into an Elite Eight matchup with Arkansas at the Devaney Center (Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPNU).

The Razorbacks (28-5, 15-3 to finish tied for 2nd in the SEC) are the No. 3 seed in the Nebraska Regional and finished as the country's No. 9-ranked team in the final AVCA Top 25 poll of the regular season.

Following the win over Georgia Tech, and prior to finding out their Elite Eight opponent would be Arkansas, Huskers coach John Cook, alongside stars Ally Batenhorst and Andi Jackson, met with the media to break down the Sweet 16 sweep and give a brief look ahead to the next round.

Below are the updated bracket matchups, times and TV info, quotes from what the Huskers said after Thursday's win, plus what Georgia Tech players and their coach Michelle Collier – who spent some of her formative years in the state of Nebraska – said about the Huskers. You'll also find our full press conference videos of both pressers and post-match notes from Thursday.

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All games Saturday, all times Central and all games will be broadcast on ESPNU and be available on the WatchESPN app

PITTSBURGH REGIONAL:

1 Pittsburgh (28-4) vs. 2 Louisville (27-4) – 3 p.m.

NEBRASKA REGIONAL:

1 Nebraska (31-1) vs. 3 Arkansas (28-5) – 5 p.m.

WISCONSIN REGIONAL:

1 Wisconsin (29-3) vs. 2 Oregon (29-5) – 7 p.m.

STANFORD REGIONAL:

1 Stanford (29-3) vs. 2 Texas (25-4) – 9 p.m.

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FINAL FOUR:

Pittsburgh Regional winner vs. Nebraska Regional Winner

Wisconsin Regional winner vs. Stanford Regional Winner

>> Time/TV: Semifinal No. 1 at 6 p.m. CT, Semifinal No. 2 to follow (both on ESPN)

>> Date: Thursday, Dec. 14

>> Location: Amalie Arena (Tampa, Fla.)

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NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

>> Time/TV: 2 p.m. CT on ABC

>> Date: Sunday, Dec. 17

>> Location: Amalie Arena (Tampa, Fla.)

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SWEET 16 RESULTS:

NEBRASKA REGIONAL:

1 Nebraska def. 5 Georgia Tech, 3-0

3 Arkansas def. 2 Kentucky, 3-2

PITTSBURGH REGIONAL:

1 Pitt def. 4 Washington State, 3-0

2 Louisville def. 3 Creighton, 3-2

WISCONSIN REGIONAL:

1 Wisconsin def. 5 Penn State, 3-1

2 Oregon def. 3 Purdue, 3-0

STANFORD REGIONAL:

1 Stanford def. 5 Arizona State, 3-1

2 Texas def. 3 Tennessee, 3-2

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On the team’s defense and serving:

“To me, the most impressive thing is that they followed the game plan and they stuck with it. You get a lot of confidence from preparing well and you could see it in our team. They were very confident about how we are going to defend these guys and serve them.”

On how the team is handling the pressure:

“If you are around them every day in practice, they are having fun. We just had great energy. I think they’re having fun. Tom (Shatel), I really think this group, the bigger the stage the more they like it, the more they thrive on it. Our hardest matches are when it’s on a big stage. I just think these guys love this and that is how they’ve been the last two weeks.”

On her early kills:

“Like I said, we are just going for it. I think when those hit the ground it just brought a lot of momentum for our team. For me especially, it set the tone for the match for myself and the team. We prepared a lot, and me and Bergen (Reilly) were flowing.”

On the team’s overall confidence in set three after they retook the lead:

“So much confidence and I think after that we thought ‘ok we are going to go on a run here.’ We looked each other in the eyes. Just being very intense with everything that we were doing and being focused. I think we took every play to heart and just really went for it and didn’t let them stop us. Like we said earlier, I think we were playing really good defense and I think our block really helped us a lot.”

On the team’s defense:

“It’s huge not only for our team but I think it makes the other team lose momentum obviously. As a hitter it’s hard to get blocked especially after hitting errors. I think going for it and just getting stuffed is huge for momentum on our side and just kills your confidence as a hitter. I think we did a really good job today adjusting. We had really disciplined blocking which we really worked on this week in practice.”

On if her and the other freshmen feeling more confident as the tournament goes on:

“Yeah I would say comfortable and confident. I think that the freshmen know that we’ve worked really hard to get to this point and we’re just going to trust our training and use what we’ve learned and just go out there and dominate.”

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On if the team was pressing:

“I think we were trying to do too much without them really earning the reason for us to do too much. I felt that we were trying to get away from the block too much, which forced a lot of errors the first two sets. I think we had 22 errors at the end of it and with a team like Nebraska, you aren’t going to compete with a team like that if you’re making that many errors. We just had to again get ourselves back in the game and become a little more comfortable. Challenge them a little bit more towards the court and not try to avoid the block as much. Obviously, they are a great team and they did a great job, but I’m with Bianca (Bertolino) where we thought that we are definitely a little bit below the things we have done this year. Nebraska had a great game plan, but I think we just felt the situation a little too much, which if we played a little more freely that would have made it a little easier. I don’t know that we played free as much as we wanted to.”

On her connection to Nebraska:

“Back in the day, I think it was 1996, I was an exchange student here in Holdredge, Nebraska. I lived here with an American family, that’s where I learned to speak English and learned a little bit more about volleyball. One of the things when I left Brazil, I asked them to send me to a good volleyball state and they sent me over here so I guess they made the right choice. The people here are awesome about supporting the team and the game. We’re definitely grateful for Nebraska fans and what they do for the sport of volleyball. It was what opened the door for me to be here. I’ve been here now for almost 30 years and it’s been a great ride and just fortunate to do what I love to do and to come back here from time to time and get to reconnect with old friends, my host family and everybody so just very grateful. Nebraska means a lot to me, so just very grateful to be back here in these situations as well.”

On playing Nebraska:

“Really good, they are a great team. They put a lot of pressure on our swings and their serves. It wasn’t the best match we have played so it just really wasn’t our best.”

On what was overwhelming about Nebraska:

“I feel like it was mostly our side. We had a lot of errors. However, they didn’t have to do as much because it was mostly on our side. I think good defense and the blocks. It was mostly on our side, at least the first two sets. A lot of errors from us.”

On Nebraska’s momentum:

“I think they just got a really good side of momentum. It was a game of momentum so we put up a pretty good fight throughout the whole third set and then the wave kind of changed and that’s a big deal in volleyball.”

On the crowd and atmosphere:

“In O’Keefe gym, it’s definitely a lot smaller than what we have here I would say, but it’s pretty packed. We sell out every game. As far as the noise level, I’d say it’s a little bit louder here, but we are used to playing in a pretty packed gym. This time they were cheering for the other team.”

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>> With the win, Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional Final for the 32nd time in program history and for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons. The Huskers’ 32 regional final appearances are the most in NCAA history.

>> Nebraska improved to 128-36 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in postseason wins and winning percentage (.780).

>> Nebraska improved to 32-7 all-time in Regional Semifinal matches, including a 15-1 record in matches played in Lincoln.

>> The win was Nebraska’s 21st consecutive home victory in the NCAA Tournament dating back to 2013. NU improved to 82-7 all-time in home NCAA Tournament matches, including 27-2 at the Devaney Center.

>> The Huskers have swept their opponent 17 times in their 21-match home winning streak in the NCAA Tournament, posting a 66-7 set record during the winning streak.

>> Nebraska moved to 20-0 at home this season with the win.

>> The attendance for today’s match was 8,580. On the season, NU has drawn 255,953 fans for its 20 home matches (including the Memorial Stadium match). Nebraska has become the first female sport in NCAA history to draw 250,000 home fans in a single season.

>> Nebraska faced Georgia Tech for the first time in the NCAA Tournament. The Yellow Jackets are the 78th different opponent the Huskers have defeated in the NCAA Tournament. Georgia Tech became the 65th team Cook has defeated during his Nebraska NCAA Tournament career.

>> The Huskers moved to 10-0 all-time against ACC teams in the NCAA Tournament.

>> Cook coached the 119th NCAA Tournament match of his career today. He has coached the second-most postseason matches in NCAA history, as he entered today tied with John Dunning (Pacific/Stanford) with 118 NCAA Tournament matches coached. Russ Rose (Penn State) owns the NCAA record with 106 matches coached in the NCAA Tournament.

>> Cook improved to 87-19 in the NCAA Tournament as Nebraska’s head coach. He improved to 95-24 in his NCAA Tournament career. Cook ranks second all-time in career NCAA Tournament victories and NCAA Tournament wins at one school.

>> The Huskers won the first two sets against Georgia Tech and are 99-1 in the NCAA Tournament when taking a 2-0 lead. Nebraska has won 98 consecutive postseason matches when winning the first two sets.

>> Nebraska did not trail at any point in the first two sets. Through three NCAA Tournament matches this season, the Huskers have never trailed in either set one or set two.

>> The Huskers hit .326 in the match becoming just the third opponent to hit .300 against Georgia Tech.

>> Nebraska hit .300 or better against a ranked opponent for the sixth time this season but for the first time since hitting .311 in a five-set win at Purdue on Sept. 29.

>> The Huskers held the Yellow Jackets to a season-low .019 attack percentage, which also marked NU's second-lowest opponent hitting percentage of the season.

>> Nebraska held an opponent under .100 hitting for the second straight match and for the 14th time this season. Georgia Tech was the second ranked opponent Nebraska has held under a .100 attack percentage this season (also No. 21 Ohio State on Sept. 22, 2003 [.090]).

>> Nebraska won the opening set 25-11. That marked the first time the Huskers had held an opponent to 11 or fewer points in a set in an NCAA Regional since defeating Colorado, 25-11, in the second set of a 2017 regional semifinal.

>> Merritt Beason had 11 kills and hit .435 in the match. Through three NCAA Tournament matches this season, Beason has totaled 36 on .449 hitting. Beason has had exactly 23 attacks in all three postseason matches, totaling double-digit kills with at least a .435 attack percentage in every match.

Game Notes courtesy of Nebraska Athletics Communications