The opening weekend in Lincoln for the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament featured two completely different storylines, but showcased how much of a storybook season that Nebraska volleyball has been on.

After drubbing Long Island in the opening match, the Huskers had to scrap and claw their way to a straight-set sweep over unseeded Kansas State. Nebraska will take on Kansas in a rematch of their spring match in April.

Over 8,600 people watched the Huskers win set one 25-17, set two 25-21 and set three 25-16. 

Here are a few quick takeaways from Saturday’s match:

Changing of the errors

Friday night’s game against LIU featured a boatload of service errors, but Saturday’s story was about the attack errors.

Part of the problem in Nebraska’s offense was how good Kansas State’s block was, recording their fourth straight game with eight or more stuffs. The Wildcats posted eight blocks in the game and accounted for nearly half of the Husker attack errors. The other ten attack errors, to get to the final total of 18, were off of some risky shots and cross-court attacks that went haywire. The 18 attack errors for Nebraska were their most since posting 26 against Creighton in a five-set thriller in September, and were their most for a three-set match this year.

“Their block was doing a really good job of getting touches that we kept trying to bounce,” head coach Dani Busboom Kelly said postgame. “They were disrupting our offense, which usually is a bit crisper.”

In what found itself being crisp tonight, the Huskers tied their next-highest total in aces with seven tonight, and four of them came from their defensive specialists. Junior setter Bergen Reilly and freshmen outside hitters Teraya Sigler and Virginia Adriano also threw up an ace on the board. It marked the 11th time in 32 games that Nebraska has achieved five or more aces.

The offense had a hard time clicking throughout the night, but found itself playing its best volleyball at the end of the match. If there is ever a time to get better, it is at the end of the game. The hit percentage was on a roller-coaster through the game, but peaked near .400% in the third set. The adjustment coming out of the locker room was paramount and the Huskers did it.

“At some point [opponents] are going to switch it up on us,” junior outside hitter Harper Murray said postgame. “I think to beat us, you’re going to have to find different ways to score.”

Two woman wrecking crew

When Nebraska’s offense struggled to score, the defense picked it up.

Junior libero Laney Choboy earned the starting assignment for the second game of the postseason. In a competitive game like this, the defense would have to show up. Choboy’s counterpart, whom she has competed with all season, ended up sharing some of the glory with her.

Sophomore defensive specialist Olivia Mauch posted 13 digs in the win, posting her third-highest total of the year behind two outputs of 14 and a 16-dig performance against Creighton. She also contributed two of the seven aces on the night, just the fifth time this year she’s recorded multiple aces in a match. She was a key part in some big-time defensive plays to keep up some critical points.

Choboy got better as the night went along, getting 12 digs and five assists. She also got two aces tonight, her second multi-ace game of the year, as the other came against Illinois in early November. The critical digs, though, came up at massive turning points of the game, continuing her spectacular junior season as a first-touch receiver.

“I think when it comes down to defense, it comes down to [Mauch and Choboy],” Reilly said postgame. “They really kept us in that game.”

The defense as a whole had a spectacular night in what resembled “old-school Nebraska volleyball,” as Busboom-Kelly put it. Sigler helped contribute nine digs, Murray had six, and Reilly had five. It was truly an all-around effort, with five blocks to boot, to help the Huskers pull out a huge win.

“Our defense hung in there, we were ready for long rallies,” Busboom-Kelly said.

Home crowd advantage

Getting to host playoff games is not a privilege that every program is able to have. Getting to host playoff games for the second weekend in all three years of being a part of your volleyball team is something special.

“I don’t think people understand how much of an advantage [hosting at home] is and how cool it is too,” Murray said. “We say all the time, it’s really hard to beat us here.”

The crowd came alive for a play you would see out of a movie, where Mauch had to pancake an attack, but her pass went offline. Reilly got a hand on it and the ball seemed destined for the stands until Sigler swatted the ball across the net and back into play. The roof nearly blew off the building.

“That was the loudest I’ve heard Devaney, maybe all season,” Reilly said.

Continued sellouts and strong home-court advantage, even with a large contingency of purple-clad fans in the crowd making the three-hour trip north, have helped propel Nebraska far in the past. To this point, they have experienced a similar story. An added advantage comes in the way of the Final Four being hosted at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. While only a maximum of two more home games remain, they should get to enjoy lots of the Nebraska faithful cheering them on.

What’s next

Nebraska will get the fourth-seeded team in their regional next Thursday, Dec. 11, or Friday, Dec. 12, in Kansas. The Jayhawks finished second in the Big 12 this season behind Arizona State and will come into the game 24-10. Kansas swept through High Point 3-0 in their first game and then defeated fifth-seeded Miami in four sets on Friday.

The winner of the Nebraska/Kansas game will face either Texas A&M or Louisville in the regional final. Both teams swept through their first round game, but the Cardinals had some added trouble against pesky Marquette, who took them the distance in a five-set thriller. The Aggies had to deal with a stingy TCU team that hung around through all four sets in their contest. The regional final will be either Saturday, Dec. 13, or Sunday, Dec. 14.

Danny Berg is a volleyball beat writer at The Daily Nebraskan. Follow him on X and Instagram.

sports@dailynebraskan.com 

PROVIDENCE, R.I.– The Providence College men’s and women’s track teams competed at the Alden Invitational at Brown University in Providence on Saturday, Dec. 6.  Sophomore Chloe Higgins (Morristown, N.J.) established a Friar program record as she finished second in the 300 in a time of 39.95.  Junior Shea Podbelski (Norton, Mass) also ran a strong race for the women’s team as she won the 1,000 meters in a time of 3:01.85.  Sophomore Thomas Breen (Providence, R.I.) and senior Grady Satterfield (Bowdoinham, Maine) helped lead the men’s team.  Breen captured the 600 meters (1:20.75) and Satterfield won the 3,000 meters (8:40.79).
 
 
RESULTS:  https://live.802timing.com/meets/59392
 
Also, posting a strong result in the women’s 300 meters was sophomore Keira Kelly (Scotch Plains, N.J.), who finished fifth.  She ran a personal best time of 40.51.  Junior Polly Bogdan (Rochester, N.Y.) ran the 600 meters and placed fifth (1:38.56).
 
On the men’s side, sophomore Adam Wedlake (Westford, Mass.) placed second in the mile (4:20.58).   Freshman Jack Dowd (Pearl River, N.Y.) was third in the 1,000 meters (2:30.71).  Also in the 1,000 meters, freshman Matt McCabe (Marshfield, Mass.) placed fourth (2:33.81).  Junior Owen Comiskey (Sherborn, Mass.) was fourth in the in the 600 meters (1:23.35).
 
The Friar track teams will return to action at the Harvard Beantown Challenge on Jan. 17 in Cambridge, Mass.
 
For more information on the Providence College men’s and women’s indoor track teams, follow @FriarsXCTrack on Twitter. 
 
-GO FRIARS- 
 

No. 2 seed Louisville volleyball defeated Marquette in five sets Saturday night at L&N Arena to advance to the regional round of the NCAA Tournament.

Chloe Chicoine led the Cardinals in kills with a career-high 28. She and Payton Petersen combined for 47 of Louisville’s 77 kills. Nayelis Cabello led UofL with 62 assists.

“I feel so fortunate as a coach to have such great competitors and great people,” head coach Dan Meske said after the match. “To watch them keep getting better and keep battling together, it was really cool. I kept looking Chloe in the eye, (and) I kept saying, ‘Good things are about to happen, because we got you on the court.'”

UofL will battle No. 3 seed Texas A&M next week in Lincoln, Nebraska, for a spot in the Elite Eight.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Coverage during the match:

The Cardinals are headed to their seventh straight regional and first with Dan Meske as head coach after taking the fifth set 15-12.

MIDDLETOWN, CT. –  The Wesleyan men’s track and field team opened the 2025-26 season nearly where the team left off in 2025 as Steve Paul ’28 tied the school record for the men’s indoor 60m dash at the Wesleyan Winter Invite as four took home first place.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Set in 2012 by LaDarius Drew, Paul tied Drew’s 6.93 time and claimed first place in the event, the first of the day for the Cardinals.
• Placing first in the 400m, Jack Park ’29 ran a 51.96 in his first outing with the Cardinals. Alex Hofmann ’29 placed second with a final time of 52.12.
• In the 3,000m, Coleman Love ’28 took first with a top time of 8:56.70. Cullen McCleary ’29 followed in second, finishing with a 9:26.64.
• Hyatt Hicks ’28 finished second in the 600m, crossing the finish line at 1:25.87.
• The 4x400m relay team of Hicks, Hofmann, Reese Connors ’29 and Auren Director ’29 placed second with a combined 3:28.35.
• In the field events, Rami Hayes-Messinger ’26 took first in the weight throw with a final distance of 15.88m. Hayes-Messinger also placed second in the shot put, throwing for 13.25m.
• Taking third in the high jump, Jonah Levine-Fried ’29 finished with a distance of 1.70.

The Cardinals return to action in 2026, beginning the new year on Saturday, Jan. 10, when they host the Wesleyan Indoor Invite.
 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Marquette University women’s volleyball team (18-11, 11-5 BIG EAST) fell to two-seed and No. 9 Louisville (26-6, 16-4 ACC) Saturday evening in the NCAA Tournament Second Round at the L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. 

Natalie Ring led the Golden Eagles with 29 kills and a .324 hitting percentage, also adding six digs. Hattie Bray put up 11 kills and a season-high nine blocks, while Elena Radeff tallied 10 kills and seven digs. Isabela Haggard set a new MU NCAA match record with 55 assists, while Adriana Studer tallied 20 digs.

It was a game of runs to start, with a four-point burst from MU led by four kills from Ring to put the Golden Eagles up early. Louisville responded with a four of their own to take the advantage, but Parks tallied a pair of kills to string three together and lead again, 10-9. Another Cardinal run brought the lead back, and each team traded points with MU holding a 15-14 advantage at the media timeout. MU continued to side out, but another Ring kill forced a Cardinal timeout, up 21-18. A Bray and Radeff block, followed by an ace set up set point for Marquette, and a service error gave MU the 25-21 set one win. 

Louisville started the second strong, building a three-point edge, but the big block of Bray and Haggard kept MU within striking distance. A three-point burst from the home team forced a Marquette timeout trailing 9-4, and the Cardinals extended that rally to six to open a 12-4 lead. Despite the fight from Marquette, Louisville continued to side out at a high pace and kept the pressure on the Golden Eagles. The home team took the second set, 25-11, to even the match at one set each. 

Marquette held the advantage in the third, starting with a 5-1 run fueled by blocks from Bray, Ring, and Radeff, with a Radeff ace to force a break from Louisville. MU kept the gas pedal down, running a string of five points together to break open a 7-1 lead. Louisville put together a 3-0 stretch to cut the MU lead to three and force a timeout, with Radeff ending the run on a kill. Ring showed her prowess, keeping Marquette ahead by a slim two-point margin, with both teams fighting to take the important third set. Marquette was the first to 20, with Ring going on a solo three-point burst to put the Golden Eagles ahead, 22-19, forcing a Louisville timeout. Out of the timeout, Louisville clawed back to take a 23-22 advantage, but Marquette responded with authority and rallied off three-straight to take the third, 25-25, and a pivotal third set victory. 

The Cardinals responded to their setback in the last set, jumping out to a 10-4 advantage early, but the Golden Eagles stayed scrappy, snapping off a 3-0 run to trim the deficit to three. Louisville maintained their steady attack, with another run forcing a Marquette timeout trailing 19-13. With the pressure put on, Louisville secured a 25-19 fourth set win to force a decisive fifth set. 

It was a thriller in the fifth, with Louisville taking an early advantage. Marquette kept fighting, keeping it tight, but UL was the first to eight as the Golden Eagles switched to their starting bench in front of the Blue and Gold faithful. The Cardinals were first to double digits, with the Golden Eagles taking a timeout to settle the crowd, down three points. MU fought back with a three-point run powered by a pair of kills from Ring, pulling the Golden Eagles within two. Louisville would then find the match winner with a high kill off the block, winning the match in five sets.

NOTABLES       

• Natalie Ring extended her double-digit kills streak to 32 with 29 today, hitting the mark in every match since 11/30/2024. 
• Natalie Ring set a new career-best with 29 kills.
• Natalie Ring tallied 20+ kills for the eighth time this season. 
• Hattie Bray set a season-high in blocks with nine.
• Isabela Haggard set a new MU NCAA match record with 55 assists.
• Elena Radeff tallied her highest kill total (10) since a 10 kill effort at Creighton on 11/1.
• MU dropped to 2-6 in five-set matches in 2025. 

POSTGAME COMMENTS

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LEWISBURG, Pa. – Indiana University of Pennsylvania opened its indoor track and field season with a series of top-10 performances, highlighted by senior multi-event standout Renee Simmonds, who won the women’s pentathlon at the Bucknell Bison Opener on Friday and Saturday.

Simmonds totaled 3,102 points to take the event, finishing first in the shot put (12.03 meters) and adding top-four marks in the hurdles, high jump and long jump. She also placed 11th in the open shot put with a throw of 10.95 meters.

On the track, freshman Sterlene Scott posted IUP’s top sprint performance of the weekend, running 7.84 seconds in the 60-meter dash prelims to tie for 10th in a field of nearly 50 sprinters. Emma Laughlin finished close behind in 7.95.

In the hurdles, Bryna Kelly advanced to finals with an 8.95 preliminary time before finishing seventh overall.

The Crimson Hawks also earned several solid mid-distance results. Cailey Trosch ran 1:04.08 in the 400, placing 10th, and freshman Alyssa Hoover opened her collegiate career with a 13th-place finish in the 800 (2:30.93). Sarah Pidcoe followed in 1:07.58 in the 400.

In field events, IUP landed four top-20 finishes in the long jump. Nataiah Robertson led the group with a ninth-place leap of 5.09 meters. Maura Penrod (4.91) and Hannah Yeykal (4.80) also scored top-20 placements. In the pole vault, Jenna Wilt cleared 3.25 meters to tie for eighth.

In the triple jump, sophomore Jahnaya Wimberley placed fourth with a mark of 11.09 meters, while Sara Dewyer (9.82) and Ava Blair (9.56) added depth for the Hawks.

On the men’s side, Alex Amador recorded IUP’s top individual track finish, taking fifth in the 800 meters in 2:00.23. Gabe Pacyna (2:02.07), Gavin McGinn (2:06.42) and Jason Clifford (2:09.16) helped IUP place four runners inside the top 20.

In the sprints, Demitrius Carter ran 7.18 in the 60-meter dash prelims, while Donovan Ellis clocked 7.20. Antonio Harrison placed 26th in the 200 with a time of 23.80.

Hurdler Zach Debose narrowly missed the 60-meter hurdle final after finishing ninth in the prelims in 8.67. Freshman Gabriel Olaniyi followed in 9.66.

The men also produced a trio of 3,000-meter efforts, led by Anthony Solis, who ran 9:56.65, and throwers who contributed multiple entries in the shot and weight fields.

IUP will continue its indoor schedule next weekend as the Crimson Hawks prepare for the full PSAC slate leading into championship season.