OMAHA, Neb. -- Texas seniors have now won more volleyball matches -- 113 -- than any class in the history of the program. Considering how good the Longhorns have been for so many years, that's quite a lofty place.

"But it's not the class you expected, right?" Texas senior middle blocker Molly McCage said with a grin. "We don't have giant power hitters. We're just people that work hard. We are what our coach calls blue-collar kind of people. Every single touch counts for this team."

Certainly it did Thursday in a 3-1 national semifinal victory over Minnesota. And it will be the same thing Saturday, as the No. 3 seed Longhorns take on No. 4 seed Nebraska for the national championship (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Amy Neal, front left, led Texas with a career-high 25 kills. Paulina Prieto Cerame (19) recorded 19, and freshman Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani (27) added 15. AP Photo/Nati Harnik

That will be a battle of very familiar foes who formerly were conference rivals. Both programs are past NCAA champions, with Nebraska winning three titles and Texas two. This is Nebraska's seventh appearance in the national championship match; it's the fifth for Texas. Texas and Nebraska have met once before for the NCAA championship. Nebraska won 3-1 in 1995.

The Huskers continued a decades-long mastery of Kansas, winning 3-1. And in a match that was expected to be just as tight as it turned out to be, Texas edged No. 2 seed Minnesota despite having first-team All-American middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu leave because of cramping. But in keeping with how the Longhorns have soldiered through other obstacles this season, they dealt with it.

"This is a team that never gives up. There's a reason why I love coaching this group," Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. "Just the way that we played tonight was remarkable."

It was the kind of tightrope-walking match where a four-point lead seemed enormous. That's the margin by which the Longhorns closed it out, 25-21, after winning the first two sets 26-24 and 27-25. The Gophers took the third set 25-23, and you can glean from those scores just how little separation there was between the teams.

That was what you'd think would happen between the Big Ten champion Gophers and the Big 12 champion Longhorns. In the second semifinal, history and the Huskers prevailed, as Nebraska ended the Cinderella run of No. 9 seed Kansas, which was appearing in its first national semifinal after knocking off top-seeded USC in a regional final.

First-team All-American Kadie Rolfzen led Nebraska with 14 kills against Kansas. AP Photo/Nati Harnik

Nebraska has never lost to Kansas, with an all-time series record now of 87-0-1. It has been a much closer competition with Texas. Nebraska leads that series 30-22, but the Longhorns have won the last five meetings including their regular-season matchup this year, 3-2 on Sept. 4 in Austin, Texas.

For years, the Huskers dominated the Big Eight and the Longhorns did the same in the Southwest Conference. When the Big 12 formed in 1996, both volleyball teams then actually had a league rival. And even after Nebraska left for the Big Ten in 2011, the programs have continued to play each other.

The Huskers will have the home-court advantage Saturday, playing only 50 miles from their Lincoln campus. But both of these programs are used to competing in front of loud and boisterous crowds. Saturday's final should be great theater, with tension hanging on every point.

That's the nature of matches on this stage. It was definitely the case between Texas and Minnesota, because one little mistake or one big play here or there made the difference.

"No one was in one rotation for a long time or went on big runs," Texas outside hitter Amy Neal said. "But at this point in the tournament, everyone is fighting for their season, so you're just going as hard as you can on every single ball."

Neal as a freshman struggled to find court time and battled confidence issues. An Austin native, she considered transferring from her hometown university because she wasn't convinced she could play well enough for the Longhorns.

But she improved steadily as a sophomore and junior, and now has had a fantastic senior season, earning Big 12 player of the year and first-team All-American honors. At 5 feet 9, she was the "little engine that could" against Minnesota's difficult block, leading Texas with a career-high 25 kills. That came on 67 swings, her most this season. Definitely a very full night's work.

"I could have easily gotten discouraged getting blocked, but it was about keeping my confidence for my teammates and trusting they had my back," Neal said. "I knew I just had to keep going and not get timid."

Texas got 19 kills from junior Paulina Prieto Cerame and 15 from freshman Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani, who hit .583 for the match.

"They're the big hitters on our team," Neal said. "We expect that from them, because they love to do that: bomb balls straight down."

No one thinks of Neal as a bomber. She's more like the chess player who just keeps figuring out different ways to beat you. She has been the Longhorns' glue this season, and her senior class members can now try to finish their careers the way they started as freshmen in 2012 -- with an NCAA title.