LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska volleyball team was selected as the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night and will have an opportunity to play four matches at the Bob Devaney Sports Center to try and advance to this year’s final four in Columbus, Ohio.

The defending national champion Huskers, making their 35th straight NCAA Tournament appearance, will open the tournament on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. against the New Hampshire Wildcats (21-10), champions of the America East Conference. The 4:30 p.m. match will feature the Wichita State Shockers (24-7) of the Missouri Valley Conference and the TCU Horned Frogs (14-12) of the Big 12 Conference. Friday’s winners will meet on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.

Nebraska is the No. 1 overall seed for the first time since 2006. As one of the top four national seeds, the Huskers are in line to host a regional semifinal and final the following weekend should they advance. This year, regional hosts will be the top seed remaining in each section of the bracket. The other national seeds in the Huskers’ section of the bracket are No. 8 Washington, No. 9 Michigan State and No. 16 Penn State. The other top four national seeds are No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 4 Texas.

Standing-room only tickets to the first and second rounds are for sale online at Huskers.com. If tickets are still available Monday morning, they can be purchased through the Nebraska Athletics Ticket Office at 800-8-BIGRED. All-session standing-room only tickets are $20. Should the Huskers advance to a regional for the 22nd time in 23 years, tickets would go on sale to the general public on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 10 a.m.

The Huskers finished the regular season 27-2 overall and 18-2 in the Big Ten Conference to earn their second ever Big Ten championship. Nebraska is 98-30 (.766) in 34 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, ranking second among NCAA schools in wins and winning percentage.

The 2016 season marks the 32nd time that Lincoln has hosted NCAA first and second round competition. The 2016 Husker squad is looking to become the first Nebraska volleyball team to repeat as national champions, as the three previous NCAA title teams (1995, 2000, 2006) came up short of a repeat. This year’s NCAA Championship is set for December 15-17 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Eight Big Teams were selected to the 2016 field. Joining the Huskers are No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 12 Michigan, No. 16 Penn State, Ohio State and Purdue.

NCAA First and Second Round Schedule
First Round – Friday, Dec. 2
4:30 p.m. – TCU vs. Wichita State
7 p.m.* – New Hampshire vs. Nebraska
*or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the 4:30 p.m. match, but no sooner than 7 p.m.

Second Round – Saturday, Dec. 3
7 p.m. – First Round Winners

— NU Athletics —

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Virginia Tech’s Zach LeDay started the second half with a thunderous one-handed dunk punctuated by a high-stepping celebration against Nebraska.

His teammates fed off that dunk and several other LeDay slams as he scored 19 points and added nine rebounds to lead Virginia Tech to a 66-53 victory over Nebraska in the third-place game of the Wooden Legacy on Sunday.

Virginia Tech (5-1) wowed offensively in the second half and made its final six free throws over the last 55 seconds to secure the win after trailing by eight points in the first half. The second half was all Hokies.

“Coach told us we were playing really good defense and that shots were going to fall,” LeDay said. “We couldn’t be offensive sensitive. We’re not built to be offensive sensitive. We’re built for games like that. It’s a fistfight. You’ve got to get rebounds and get in there. … We wanted to come out in the second half and punch them in the mouth and in the second half make all the little plays.”

Nebraska (4-2) didn’t have an answer for the Hokies inside. Guard Tai Webster led Nebraska with 23 points and added eight rebounds, but the rest of his teammates had 30 points combined.

LeDay, a senior forward, came off the bench and had his way inside. He was the focal point of the offense.

“I think it’s fun to watch. I think he plays with an edge,” Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams said of LeDay. “One thing I would say that’s hard to quantify is that I think those guys care about one another. You can see as we were struggling in the first half that they were looking to throw the ball to Zach. That didn’t discontinue in the second half when we began to make more shots.”

Virginia Tech shot just 29.6 percent from the field in the first half but found its shooting rhythm in the second half, making 56.5 percent (13 of 23) of its shots.

BIG PICTURE

Virginia Tech lost its first game of the season to Texas A&M in the semifinals of the tournament but responded by beating the Cornhuskers and playing well with lead down the stretch.

Nebraska played well in the Wooden Legacy, even in an 82-71 loss to UCLA in the semifinals — its first loss of the season. The Cornhuskers return home having been battle tested against two solid teams and can learn much from film of those games.

QUOTE OF THE GAME

Most of the Nebraska players went to Disneyland on Saturday, which was an off day for the tournament. Coach Tim Miles was not among those at the happiest place on earth.

“I was mad about losing to UCLA, so I didn’t go,” Miles said. “My son came (back) and told me he went on a lot of attractions. I said I only went on two, my bed and the toilet.”

QUOTE OF THE GAME PART TWO

Virginia Tech had a difficult time in the offensive zone as it plodded along and missed 19 of 27 shots.

“Zach knows what it is because we’re from the same place. It’s like a tractor pull,” Williams said. “None of it’s fun. It’s just a bunch of country people on a Saturday night and that’s their entertainment. That’s what it looked like. We shot (29.6) percent. They shot (38.5) percent. That’s not fun as a fan. It’s not fun for anybody, I wouldn’t think.”

UP NEXT

Virginia Tech returns home for a brief stay, then is off to play at No. 25 Michigan on Wednesday. Home cooking is up after that, as the Hokies play six consecutive games at Cassell Coliseum and don’t play on the road again until 2017.

Nebraska travels to Clemson on Wednesday, followed by home games against South Dakota and a stiff test against No. 12 Creighton.

— Associated Press —

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — With a possible trip to the Big Ten championship game at stake, Nebraska fell flat.

C.J. Beathard threw three touchdown passes and the Hawkeyes pummeled No. 16 Nebraska 40-10 on Friday, knocking the Cornhuskers out of Big Ten title contention and sending Wisconsin to the championship game.

Tommy Armstrong started for Nebraska (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) despite a balky hamstring and was just 13 of 35 passing for 125 yards. Backup Ryker Fyfe, who broke his non-throwing wrist last week, didn’t take a snap until the game had long been decided.

“Tommy wasn’t 100 percent,” Huskers coach Mike Riley said. “I don’t know if he was the healthiest…I don’t know how much it would have made a difference (to play Fyfe).”

Nebraska’s defense was just as bad as its offense.

LeShun Daniels Jr. ran for 158 yards and two scores and George Kittle caught two TD passes for the Hawkeyes (8-4, 6-3). They closed the regular season with three straight wins — two of them over ranked opponents — and scored their most points since a win over Purdue on Oct. 15.

Iowa broke open what was expected to be a tight game with a 75-yard TD run by Akrum Wadley and a 77-yard touchdown throw from Beathard to Riley McCarron in the first quarter.

“We played as good as we’ve played all year,” Beathard said. “It just shows the fight and the resilience of this team.”

The Badgers are big favorites to beat Minnesota on Saturday anyway. But the Cornhuskers, who entered November as a legitimate playoff contender, hardly looked like one after being outscored 102-13 in their last two road games.

“We gave up big plays. I think we were horrible on third down,” Riley said. “I’m really disappointed all the way around in all of us.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Nebraska: With so much to play for, it’s hard to believe that the Cornhuskers played so, so poorly. Nebraska gave up three plays of over 50 yards, and Armstrong was all over the place. The Huskers have lost three of their last four to Iowa, a fate sealed when they ran into Iowa kicker Keith Duncan on a field goal try in the fourth quarter — allowing the Hawkeyes to go up 23 a few plays later.

Iowa: The Hawkeyes didn’t make it to the Big Ten title game either. But they did go 6-3 in the league, an impressive feat for a team that lost to North Dakota State of the FCS in its final nonconference game. Iowa also made its case for a high-profile bowl, which looked iffy to say the least after losing by 27 points at Penn State to start this month. “You learn a lot about yourself in November,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.

B1G TITLE GAME UPDATE

Wisconsin gets the West’s spot in Indianapolis next week because it beat Nebraska 23-17 (OT) in late October. In the East, Penn State might have the easiest path. The favored Nittany Lions need to beat Michigan State at home and hope favored Ohio State beats Michigan on Saturday. Ohio State needs a win and a Penn State loss — and even if the Nittany Lions take the East the Buckeyes should be in good shape for the playoff at 11-1. Michigan needs to upset the hated Buckeyes.

EXTRA POINTS

Daniels became the first Iowa rusher with over 1,000 yards since 2011. …Armstrong’s 13-yard TD pass to Stanley Morgan snapped a streak of over 136 minutes without allowing a touchdown for Iowa. The Hawkeyes shut out Illinois 28-0 last week. … Wadley had 105 yards rushing on just 11 carries. … Armstrong made his 44th career start, setting a team record for a quarterback. Taylor Martinez, his predecessor, made 43 career starts.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Nebraska likely stays in the Top 25. But the Huskers could find themselves drop a few spots after their second straight poor showing on the road. Iowa, which reached as high as 13th earlier this year, could sneak back after beating the Huskers and Michigan in November.

UP NEXT

Nebraska will head to a decent bowl game just a year after sneaking into a bid with just five wins.

Iowa will find out which bowl game it will play in next Sunday.

— Associated Press —