The NCAA Volleyball National Championship took place on December 21, 2025, in Kansas City, Missouri. The Texas A&M Aggies swept the Kentucky Wildcats for their first National Championship title. They went into the tournament as a number 3 seed, and ended up defeating three number 1 seeds in the later part of the tournament.
The first number 1 seed the Aggies took down was Nebraska. The Nebraska team was heavily favored to win, going into the NCAA tournament undefeated the entire season, winning the Big Ten Conference Title. They were 33-0 under their new coach, Dani Busboom Kelly, who received the Big Ten Coach of the Year award. “I’m proud of the way we fought back, and we played our hearts out and had a lot of things against us this week, and we still were that close. I’m just proud of the way we finished that match, and I’m super proud of our seniors,” said Kelly after the loss. Some of Nebraska’s key players this season included Bergen Reilly, Andi Jackson, Harper Murray, and Rebekah Allick. Junior setter Bergen Reilly earned Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Setter of the Year, AVCA Setter of the Year, and First-Team All-American. Junior middle blocker Andi Jackson earned AVCA Middle Blocker of the Year and First-Team All-American. Junior outside hitter Harper Murray earned First-Team All-American by contributing with a career high of 3.54 kills per set, 2.16 digs per set, and 0.60 blocks per set, and also achieved a team high of 34 aces. Senior Rebekah Allick achieved Second-Team All-American and finished her career at Nebraska number 5 in career blocks with 543.
Despite Nebraska’s record and accomplished players, the Aggies pulled through to win the first two sets of the match. Nebraska answered back and won the third set by 5 points, and the fourth set was a hard-fought battle with Nebraska winning 37-35. The game went into the 5th and final set, with both teams playing their best, but Texas A&M ultimately took down Nebraska and ended their undefeated season, with the final set score being 15-13. “You play sports to prove who’s better in that moment,” said Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison after the win. “We came out on top of that, and I’m fired up.”
After defeating Nebraska in the quarterfinals, the Aggies went into the semifinals to play Pittsburgh. A number one ranked team, the Pittsburgh Panthers had a great season, winning thirty games total. They were also favored to make a deep run in the tournament, but it ended up being the fifth consecutive season they had lost in the Final Four. “We were nowhere near as good as we needed to be defensively. … I thought we were ready. It’s on me and on us as coaches. We just weren’t good enough defensively,” said Panthers coach Dan Fisher following their defeat. Pittsburgh volleyball had a strong team with a key player being opposite hitter Olivia Babcock, who earned AVCA Player of the Year for the second year in a row. She set a record with 45 kills in a match earlier in their season, beating her own previous school record. She became the first player in NCAA Division I to get more than 40 kills in a match since 2019.
The first set of the match was close, with Texas A&M only winning 29-27. The second and third sets were 25-21 and 25-20. Texas A&M’s opposite hitter Logan Lednicky had 14 kills, and outside hitter Kyndal Stowers recorded 16 kills. Olivia Babcock had 22 kills for the Panthers, but it wasn’t enough. Texas A&M had strong serving, and Pittsburgh struggled with their serve receive, which led to the Aggies advancing to their first National Championship.
On December 21, 2025, Texas A&M stepped out onto the court, prepared to play the Kentucky Wildcats, with the Aggies’ first National Championship on the line. To advance to the final, Kentucky beat the Wisconsin Badgers in a thrilling 5 set match. They overcame a point deficit and eventually won, but they would need to play their best against Texas A&M to try and secure the university’s second national championship in school history.
The Aggies swept the Wildcats in the championship, with the final set scores being 26-24, 25-15, 25-20. They managed to hold the Wildcats to their lowest hitting percentage of the entire season and added pressure from the service line. This forced Kentucky to make many unforced errors, such as net violations and overpasses, which was uncharacteristic for the team. Kentucky had 23 attack errors, which was unusual because Lednicky called their outside hitters, Eva Hudson and Brooklyn DeLeye, “the best outside duo in the country.” Kentucky coach Craig Skinner said, “The combination of them serving in a way that pulls us off the net and we have to set one or two options, the physicality of the block makes it really challenging to find a piece of the court or a piece of hand to kill it.” It wasn’t all errors for the Wildcats. Middle blockers, Asia Thigpen and Lizzie Carr, both had seven kills and contributed to many blocks. The Aggies’ outside hitter Kyndal Stowers had 16 kills, and opposite hitter Logan Lednicky had 11 kills. A key part of their offense was setter Maddie Waak, who successfully moved the ball around to slow down the Wildcats’ blockers and ended the game with 29 assists.
“Being able to do this with these girls, end with [the trophy], end like this, I just can’t even believe it,” Logan Lednicky said, as she finished her college volleyball career. Texas A&M has talked about their grit throughout the NCAA tournament, and all of their hard work paid off, with the Aggies able to lift their first-ever NCAA Division I National Championship trophy in program history.
