The Pitt women’s volleyball team landed one of the top four seeds in the NCAA Tournament, which means the Panthers will host games all the way through the elite eight. Nebraska, Kentucky and Texas received the other top seeds.
Pitt will host matches Friday and Saturday at Petersen Events Center. The Panthers will face Maryland Baltimore County in the opening round, and the other opening-round match will feature Michigan and Xavier, which is the No. 8 seed in the lower left bracket.
SMU, which finished 17-3 in the ACC, is the No. 2 seed in Pitt’s bracket. The other seeded team’s in the Panthers’ bracket are Purdue (3), Minnesota (4), Iowa (5), Baylor (6) and Rice (7).
The Panthers have advanced to the national semifinals each of the past four seasons but have yet to make it to the NCAA championship match.
Pitt won a share of its seventh ACC title Saturday by defeating Georgia Tech on the road. The Panthers shared the title with Stanford, which defeated Louisville on Saturday to also finish 18-2 in the conference.
Nebraska finished the regular season undefeated (30-0), winning all but five of its matches in straight sets. The Huskers, who are under the direction of former Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly, opened the season with a 3-1 victory over Pitt.
Defending national champion Penn State, meanwhile, received the No. 8 seed in the top right region, which is headed by Texas. The Nittany Lions (18-12) will face South Florida in the opening round in Austin, with the winner — barring a miracle — facing the Longhorns.
