2016 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship

NCAA Volleyball Tournament Regional Semifinals Results

NCAA Volleyball Tournament Regional Semifinals Results

See the results of the regional round of the 2016 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament.

Dec 9, 2016 by Megan Kaplon
NCAA Volleyball Tournament Regional Semifinals Results
At the end of a night that included four five-set matches, only eight teams remain in the 2016 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament. 

Tournament No. 1 seed Nebraska opened Friday night with a five-set victory over No. 16 seed Penn State. The Nittany Lions won the first two sets and even had two match points in the third, but they failed to capitalize. That was all Nebraska needed to mount its comeback. 

The Huskers will take on Washington in the regional final on Saturday, Dec.10. The Huskies defeated Arizona in the sole sweep of the Round of 16. 

In Madison, Wisconsin, Ohio State managed to secure a 2-1 lead over tournament No. 3 seed Wisconsin, but it was the Badgers who prevailed in the end, thanks in large part to 22 kills from freshman outside hitter Molly Haggerty. 

Wisconsin's foe in the elite eight will be Stanford. The Cardinal let Florida State take the first set 27-25 but then came up with three set victories in a row to finish the match in four. Senior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku led Stanford with 17 kills, hitting .538 and adding four blocks. 

BYU looked poised to upset Texas, pushing the host Longhorns to five sets despite the host team and tournament No. 4 seed winning the first two sets. The Cougars even led 12-7 in the fifth set, and yet in an incredible display of mental toughness, Texas took the match with a 16-14 final score.

The only unseeded team to move on to the regional final round is Creighton, upsetting Michigan in the second match of the night in Austin. The five-setter featured 21 kills and 25 digs from Bluejays outside hitter Jaali Winters. 

In Minneapolis, the host team Minnesota made fairly quick work of Missouri. The Tigers managed to sneak off with the second set, but Minnesota dominated in sets three and four, winning 25-19 and 25-14. Paige and Hannah Tapp each contributed 14 kills, while Sarah Wilhite had 16. 

The final match of the night stretched past midnight in the Central time zone. No. 10 UCLA narrowly avoided going to five sets with No. 7 North Carolina, winning on its fourth match-point opportunity 28-26 in the fourth set. The closely matched teams dazzled the crowd in Minneapolis with plenty of long rallies and defensive plays, but it was UCLA, behind Reily Buechler's 19 kills, which will move on to face Minnesota in the regional final.

See the complete results from the regional round of the 2016 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament below.

Regional Semifinals (Dec. 9)

 
Winning Team Losing Team Location Result
Nebraska Penn State Lincoln, Nebraska 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 26-24, 25-19, 15-6)
Wisconsin Ohio State Madison, Wisconsin 3-2 (25-15, 22-25, 29-31, 25-22, 15-13)
Wisconsin Arizona Lincoln, Nebraska 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18)
 Texas  BYU Austin, Texas 3-2 (25-23, 25-14, 24-26, 22-25, 16-14)
Stanford Florida State Madison, Wisconsin 3-1 (25-27, 25-20, 25-9, 25-23)
Creighton Michigan Austin, Texas 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 17-25, 25-20, 15-7)
Minnesota Missouri Minneapolis, Minnesota 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-19, 25-14)
UCLA North Carolina Minneapolis, Minnesota 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 28-26)

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