Reigning champion Lincoln Southwest enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed after a 23-8 season featuring an almost entirely new lineup.
Papillion-La Vista South (31-5) is the top seed again this season and is looking to make a deep run after falling to rival Papillion-La Vista in the first round of the 2023 state tournament. The Titans took three of the four regular season meetings with two-seed Omaha Westside (29-8).
Six of the eight teams enter the tournament with at least eight losses while No. 3 seed Fremont is tied with the Titans for fewest losses at five.
The Skutt Catholic SkyHawks enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed seeking their 10th straight Class B state title. All nine of their losses came to out-of-state teams as Skutt went 16-0 against Nebraska competition.
Top-seeded Norris, the 2023 runner-up, enters the tournament with one loss to the No. 1 seed in the Class A field, and the Titans have done so despite missing their starting setter for the entire season.
No. 7 Gretna (25-17) and No. 8 Lincoln Pius X (16-24) qualified for the Class B field after dropping down from Class A in 2023; 16 of the Thunderbolts’ 24 losses came to Class A competition.
Reigning champion and top-seeded Minden enters the tournament with a 35-1 record. The Whippets will face the team that handed their lone loss to them, No. 8 Gothenburg (23-10), in the first round.
Kearney Catholic (24-6), the 2023 runner-up, secured the No. 4 seed, meaning fans could see a rematch of last year’s championship in the semifinals.
Second-seeded Pierce (27-5) is looking for its first state championship. The Bluejays only faced two other C1 tournament qualifiers during the regular season, beating No. 5 Battle Creek twice and falling to No. 3 Scotus Central Catholic.
Class C2 boasts the best combined record of its qualifying teams as the eight tournament squads dropped just 32 matches between them.
Top-seeded Lincoln Lutheran (32-3) has won three straight state titles (C1 in 2021, C2 in 2022 and 2023) and is looking to make it four for a senior class led by Nebraska libero commit Keri Leimbach. Lutheran’s three losses came to two Class B tournament teams — No. 1 Norris and No. 3 Waverly — and Class C1’s top seed in Minden.
Yutan earned the No. 5 seed despite a 28-1 record as the Chieftains only played one tournament team all year, a 3-1 win over No. 6 Freeman (26-4). Three-seed Thayer Central (31-2) made the state tournament for the first since 2018 while Oakland-Craig (30-5) earned the No. 2 seed and has a win over a C1 tournament qualifier in No. 6 Wahoo.
Class D1 will see a new champion as 2023 winner Sumner-Eddyville-Miller saw its 2024 season end in the district final round.
Top-seeded Southwest is one of two teams that enter the start tournament without a blemish. The 33-0 Roughriders are looking for their first state championship. They only played four matches against other D1 qualifiers in the regular season — all four against No. 4 seed Cambridge, who the Roughriders could see again in the semifinals.
No. 2 seed Bruning-Davenport/Shickley (28-4) is also seeking its first state championship, while No. 3 seed Superior (26-7) is looking to win its second title.
No. 2 seed Overton (27-5) is seeking its third straight state final appearance after finishing runner-up in 2022 and winning the whole thing last year. Star hitter JoLee Ryan is gone, but her younger sister Daisy has stepped into the spotlight while playing for their mom, Coach Hayley Ryan.
Top-seeded Leyton (33-0) is the other undefeated team heading into the state tournament. The Warriors only dropped six sets all season but did not see another tournament qualifier.
After making State as the No. 8 seed a year ago, Shelton qualified this season as the third seed with a 29-3 record. The Flyers beat Overton 2-0 during the regular season and could see the Eagles again in the semifinals.
