Three repeat visitors from last season -- Nebraska, Minnesota and Texas -- and one very, very familiar presence -- Stanford -- make up the volleyball final four this year. Here's a look at who's headed to Columbus, Ohio, and what we'll see this week from the best of the best.
1. Stanford: Doing Stanford stuff again
There's no debate which school has had its hand prints on the NCAA tournament the most throughout the event's history: Stanford is in the final four for the 20th time. The sixth-seeded Cardinal upset No. 3 Wisconsin on the Badgers' home court in the Madison Regional final.
Stanford's first final four was in 1982, the second year of the NCAA tournament, and the Cardinal's first national championship was in 1992. But it's been 12 years since the last of the Cardinal's six NCAA titles. And in that time, Penn State passed Stanford for the most with seven, with six of them coming between 2007-2014.
In the past decade, in fact, Stanford has dealt more with big disappointments in the NCAA tournament than big celebrations:
Three consecutive NCAA final losses from 2006-08.
One national semifinal loss.
Two down-to-the wire fifth-set losses in the elite eight.
Three losses in the second round, including last year to Loyola Marymount.
The Cardinal were without 2014 first-team All-American Inky Ajanaku last year because of a knee injury, and despite still having a strong senior presence, fell short of repeating their '14 final four trip.
This season, Ajanaku was back as the "den mother" to a team loaded with freshman talent.
The Cardinal were the highest-seeded Pac-12 team in the NCAA field, despite not winning the league title. Yet it looked like another tough ending for Stanford when it fell into a two-set hole at UW Fieldhouse, where Wisconsin had lost just once (to Minnesota) all season. Somehow, though, when their backs were really up against the wall, the Cardinal just started playing freely. They climbed all the way back to stun the Badgers 15-9 in the fifth set, and in doing so, brought the West Coast back into the final four. Last year, all four teams were from the Central time zone for the first time, and the same would have been true this year if Wisconsin had won.
Now, Ajanaku, who had 20 kills and 11 blocks against Wisconsin, gets her second trip to the final four with lots of help from youngsters like Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Kathryn Plummer.
The Cardinal face Minnesota in the semifinals, a rematch of the teams' early-season meeting at Stanford on Aug. 28. Stanford won that one 3-1.
2. Minnesota: Gophers on the prowl
No. 2 seed Minnesota is the only final four team that has not won an NCAA title; this is the Gophers' fifth time making it this far. The closest they've come to the pinnacle was a 3-0 loss to Stanford in the 2004 final.
But if you were going to pick a favorite just based on the four teams' regional performances, it might well be the Gophers. They beat No. 15 seed Missouri, the SEC co-champion, 3-1. Then the Gophers faced No. 10 UCLA, which tied for second in the Pac-12 with Stanford.
Minnesota started the first set slowly, trailing the Bruins 6-0, and then took off. They prevailed in a sweep and now have won 14 matches in a row, the longest current winning streak of any of the final four teams.
The Gophers had five different players who had double-digit kills against Missouri, led by Big Ten Player of the Year Sarah Wilhite, and the attack was also pretty spread out against UCLA. With the Big Ten Setter of the Year, Samantha Seliger-Swenson, Minnesota is a really difficult team to defend because there are so many options.
Last year, the Gophers won the Big Ten title and then fell in the national semifinals to Texas, 3-1. That was a growth experience for Minnesota under coach Hugh McCutcheon, who is in his fifth season in Minneapolis and has built up quite a powerhouse.
"I was extremely proud of our athletes for the way they responded to the different style of play we got to see from UCLA," McCutcheon said. "A lot of defensive discipline on their part."
For what it's worth, the Gophers' national semifinal opponent, Stanford, lost both of its Pac-12 matches this season to the Bruins, 3-1 at UCLA and 3-2 at Stanford. Those are the Cardinal's only losses since mid-October.
3. Texas: Longhorns here again
The "bully of the Big 12," Texas finally got knocked of its conference perch for the first time since Nebraska left the league in 2011. Kansas won the league, with Texas second. A new sheriff in town?
Well, not exactly. Nothing can take the league title from the Jayhawks, of course. But in the NCAA tournament, it's the same old story: Fourth-seeded Texas is in the final four. The Longhorns advanced there for the fifth season in a row and for the eighth time in the past nine years. (Kansas went to the final four as well last year, but was upset in the second round this season by Creighton, the same team that Texas swept in the regional final.)
The problem for Texas, though, has been finishing the job once it gets this far -- which perhaps isn't a fair way to look at it.
Yes, Texas has just one title in recent years -- in 2012 -- to add to the one the Longhorns won way back in 1988. But this current streak of success means they've reached the final four both in years where they've been a truly great team and in years when they overachieved.
Such was the case last year, in fact, when injuries left them a bit less talented -- but even more determined. Texas got to the 2015 NCAA final, but at that point was overpowered by Nebraska, 3-0.
This season, they faced the Huskers in August on a neutral court in Eugene, Oregon, and were swept again. In Big 12 play, Texas fell to Kansas and to Iowa State.
And the Longhorns almost stumbled in the regional semifinals, losing a 2-0 lead and facing two match points in the fifth set before a dramatic rally to beat BYU. That close call was followed up by the exact opposite kind of match: a 3-0 statement over Creighton.
So if you're not sure exactly what we'll see from the Longhorns in Columbus, the truth is that they might not be sure, either. But these things are certain: They have an extremely experienced setter in senior Chloe Collins, and three hitters with great ability to put the ball down: Paulina Prieto Cerame, Ebony Nwanebu and Micaya White.
"This team has been up and down this entire year," Collins said. "To go and achieve [the final four] is something special for us, because we know all the obstacles we've been through this whole season."
4. Nebraska: Seeking a repeat
The Huskers saw their season flash before their eyes Friday afternoon, facing two match points against Penn State. But such is the nature of volleyball that momentum can turn on the proverbial dime -- and when it does, it can be breathtaking to behold.
So close to elimination -- and the end of their dream of repeating as NCAA champions -- the Huskers scored four consecutive points to win the third set. With a new life, they didn't squander it: Nebraska beat Penn State in five sets, and then looked like a favorite to win it all after dominating Pac-12 champion Washington in the final.
There are no doubts about Nebraska's strengths: experience and chemistry. Kadie and Amber Rolfzen are both playing at a high level, and fellow seniors Justine Wong-Orantes and Andie Malloy have also been key contributors. Briana Holman, a transfer from LSU, has helped solidify Nebraska's block, and pulling it all together is setter Kelly Hunter.
The pressure on the Huskers last year to win the title in Omaha, Nebraska, was extreme, and accomplishing that no doubt helped steel them for their tougher moments this year.
However, there weren't a lot of those. The Huskers let a 2-0 lead get away at Minnesota in late November and found themselves in a five-set match they lost to the Gophers. They fell short in that test but didn't in their five-setter Friday with Penn State.
The Huskers and Longhorns have a very long history -- the Big Red leads the series 32-21 -- and they've maintained their rivalry even after Nebraska leaving the Big 12.
They are two programs -- and two coaches in Nebraska's John Cook and Texas' Jerritt Elliott -- that have carried the torch for collegiate volleyball for a long time. And the fact that they keep running into each other in big moments is a testament to both.