PHOTO GALLERY: Lopers one win away from first national title

The University of Nebraska at Kearney volleyball team will play for the first national championship in program history.

The second-ranked Lopers (38-0) defeated 19th-ranked Rockhurst University (33-8) in four sets Friday to advance to the NCAA Division II title match. It’s the second time UNK volleyball has reached a national championship match. The 2005 team finished as the national runner-up after falling to Grand Valley State University in the Division II championship.

UNK will face top-ranked Cal State San Bernardino (32-0) in the championship match, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at the Auraria Event Center in Denver. It will be broadcast on KRVN 93.1 FM, with a free livestream available at https://www.ncaa.com/game/3909353.

With a victory Saturday, UNK would join Concordia-St. Paul and Hawaii Pacific as the only Division II schools to finish a season undefeated. Concordia-St. Paul went 37-0 in 2009 and Hawaii Pacific was 28-0 in 2000.

Photos by Corbey R. Dorsey, UNK Communications