Preseason practice is flying by for No. 1 Nebraska volleyball.
With less than a week and a half until the Huskers take the court at the First Serve Showcase to open the 2025 season, the team still has plenty of work to do.
However, the early Red-White Scrimmage and Saturday’s Alumni Match served as natural breaks in the dog days of camp and have helped the team continue to push forward.
“I felt like fall camp was going to go by really slow for me; I don’t know why, just starting out, I thought it was going to go by super slow,” Harper Murray said on Wednesday. “But it’s not, it’s gone by super fast, and I’m really excited. I think the Red-white and Alumni Match and scrimmaging at practice every day helps, because we get into playing and you feel like you’re really close. The alumni match will be fun, because I feel like right after that is when it’s really going to hit that we have a game a few days later. So it’s gone by fast for most of us, I think, but two-a-days are hard, they’re really hard, but we get through it together. So it’s been cool.”
The amount of six-on-six the team plays in practices has also kept things from getting too monotonous in practice. That’s a change from the way John Cook ran his practices, and Murray said she’s seen some of the benefits under Dani Busboom Kelly.
“I feel like we’re a super competitive team, and we have a lot of girls this year,” Murray said. “This is one of the biggest rosters I’ve ever been a part of, so we have the numbers to scrimmage every day, and John didn’t scrimmage as much as Dani. I know Dani likes to play a lot, and it’s been fun just learning and seeing how we all work together. You want to scrimmage, because you want to see what lineups go well, who passes next to each other well, who can block together. So I think it’s smart on Dani’s part to have us play as much as we do, just because we get to see and feel out our lineups and feel who we play next to.”
The increased scrimmaging is possible in part because of the 17-player roster. The Huskers can compete regularly without fear of wearing down, but it’s also going to make for some difficult decisions for Busboom Kelly and her staff when the season-opener rolls around. Coming out of the Red-White, the head coach said she didn’t necessarily see any potential starters run away with a job based on their performance. However, while not everyone can play in a given match, she sees the depth as a long-term advantage for the team.
“The depth is pretty amazing,” Busboom Kelly said. “Our practices are really tough. That’s just going to make us stronger in the end. That’s why I’m very excited to play against somebody else, even if it’s alum, this weekend, to really see how our eight players can perform together, seven or eight, without playing against each other, because it’s very hard to tell how good we are, how good one individual is, because the line is so thin between maybe our top outside and our fourth outside; it’s razor thin.
“So against somebody else, we’ll get to use that depth, get creative with our lineups, and I think that is just so important when you’re talking about the longevity of a season and being our best in December, wear and tear, team morale, all that’s really important to have a deep team.”
Busboom Kelly highlighted serve and pass as a key area she planned to focus more on in practice this week based on what she saw in the Red-White, though she admitted it’s hard to know what to make of a scrimmage like that where the team is playing against itself in front of fans for the first time since the spring. On Wednesday, she said she likes what she’s seen on the practice court.
“I thought just the last couple days, we played a lot cleaner, so I’m chalking some of that up to nerves, but definitely we want to be one of the best serving and passing teams in the country,” Busboom Kelly said. “Nebraska always is. This team is no different, so we want to continue to fine tune that, and that’s a pretty big priority going into the First Serve Showcase.”
Other Notes:
>> Busboom Kelly said that although they haven’t graded out everything in practice so far this camp, Laney Choboy and Virginia Adriano have stood out to her from the service line. Adriano notched a match-high three aces in the Red-White Scrimmage on Saturday while Choboy recorded 14 aces as a part-time server as a freshman, though she didn’t serve last season.
>> Busboom Kelly offered her assessment of the setting from Bergen Reilly and Campbell Flynn in practice and in public. She introduced a faster tempo on offense when she took over in Lincoln, and the setters and hitters are still working on fine-tuning their connections.
“I think the setters have a lot of work to do,” Busboom Kelly said. “We’re setting the middle great. I think our tempo needs to smoothen out a little bit, and we’ve got to get a little bit more consistent behind to our right sides and our slides. But you have to remember the Red-White was a whole week earlier than it’s ever been, so we’ve only been practicing for — we had six days, five days of practice. So that’ll come, and I’m not worried about that. The thing is they’re playing confident. We already talked about their well-rounded games. Campbell’s improved a ton from a defensive standpoint.
“A lot of those things that you can’t really work on every day to get better at were great. It’s the location and some of the tempo that we’re going to continue to work on that’ll just get better and better the more we play together and the more we settle into a lineup.”
>> Murray said her blocking is something she’s been focusing on throughout the offseason, and she was proud of her performance in that area in the Red-White Scrimmage. She finished with three stuffs on the stat sheet, though that isn’t always an accurate representation of blocking prowess.
“I feel like blocking is one of the hardest things to adjust to adjust to when you get to college, and I feel like my freshman and sophomore year, I was never a great blocker, but as we get to a higher level and as I’m going into my upperclassman season, I really want to make sure that’s something that I improve on,” Murray said. “It can be moments of the game that change points and that give you an advantage, so I want to just make sure that I’m keeping it consistent.”
Danielle Cirrito during Jan. 9 race. Photo courtesy of Stony Brook University Athletics
Stony Brook women’s track & field competed in its first meet of the New Year on Jan. 9 at the TCNJ Invitational from The Armory in New York City. As a team, the Seawolves recorded seven top-eight placements.
HIGHLIGHTS
Amelie Guzman recorded a second-place finish in the 3,000m (10:15.53).
Danielle Cirrito finished second in the mile run event (5:06.99).
Olivia Schwartz placed third in the 500m (1:18.24).
Sophia Squires produced a fifth-place finish in the mile run (5:10.08).
Samantha Osei-Kyei finished fifth in the 500m (1:18.81).
Jade Pazmino placed sixth in the 800m event (2:29.07).
Alejandra Garcia produced a seventh place run in the mile, setting a new PR with a time of 5:13.33.
Up next, the team continues its busy January slate next Friday returning to The Armory for the Ramapo College Invitation on January 16, with action set to begin at 9:30 am.
WINCHESTER, Va. – After a week in Florida leading into the spring semester, the Franklin & Marshall’s women’s track & field team competed at Shenandoah’s Kaye & JJ Smith Invitational. The Diplomats got the January portion of their schedule off to a great start with a pair of school records, with four other marks that rank in the top 10 in program history.
Tara Silverman broke the school record in the 3,000 meters that was formerly held by All-American and F&M Hall of Famer Sheena Crawley ’13. Silverman finished in a time of 10:19.87. Teammates Annalise Kauffman (11:01.19) and Georgeia Hodgson (11:36.98) finished second and sixth in that same event.
Lauren Dunnigan once again broke her own school record in the 60 meter dash as she finished with a time of 7.75 seconds during the finals of that event. That is currently the second-fastest time in the Centennial Conference this season. Dunnigan was also the individual champion in the 200 meter dash as her time of 26.56 seconds was the second-fastest in school history. Dunnigan capped her day with a time of 9.15 seconds to take first (her third event title of the day) in the 60 meter hurdles.
The Diplomats finished with five individual titles on Sunday as Jordyn Collie won the 400 meters with a time of 1:05.42. Her performance highlighted seven Diplomats in the top 10 of that event, as Avery Canady (1:06.33) and Abby Bachman (1:06.52) took the silver and bronze positions. Collie was also the team’s top finish in the 800 meters (2:33.68), with Bachman (2:44.52) and Sophia Bloom (2:53.15) each turning in top 10 individual finishes.
Amanda Imhauser and Hayden Adams both had busy days in their return to competition. Imhauser was third in the 60 meter hurdles (10.24) and long jump (4.84m), sixth in the high hump (1.35m) and shot put (9.30m), and seventh in the 200 meters (29.14). Adams took third in the pole vault as she cleared 3.20 meters to rank second in school history. She added a fifth-place showing in the high jump (1.38m). Max McCoy led the Diplomats in the both throwing events as she took third in the shot put (11.13m) and fourth in the weight throw (12.07m). Both of those marks were top 10 performances in school history.
Women’s track & field will return to competition this Saturday, January 17 when the team travels to Catholic’s Cardinal Classic.
Franklin & Marshall Event Winners / Top 10 Performances
60 Meters
1. Lauren Dunning (7.75) – school record
200 Meters
1. Lauren Dunnigan (26.56) – second in school history
3,000 Meters
1. Tara Silverman (10:19.87) – school record
Pole Vault
3. Hayden Adams (3.20m) – second in school history
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men’s volleyball team completed a successful weekend at Worthen Arena, defeating NJIT in four sets (25-13, 21-25, 25-12, 25-15) Saturday evening.
The Cardinals (3-0, 0-0 MIVA) limited the Highlanders (0-4, 0-0 EIVA) to a 0.80 hitting clip while averaging .391 themselves, along with a team block total of 15.5 compared to NJIT’s 3. The evening saw just one lead change, three points into the fourth set, as NJIT recorded an attack error at the end of a Patrick Rogers serve.
Rogers led the way as he matched his kill total from the evening prior, tallying 16 while hitting .522, along with six digs, two assists and a team-leading three aces. Ryan Louis was credited with 11 kills on a .318 clip, two aces, four digs and a career-high seven block assists. Wil Basilio earned nine kills, three digs and four block assists.
Ball State’s defense halted the Highlanders at the net, aided by Jacob Surette who recorded a career-best nine block assists, Louis’ seven and Braydon Savitski-Lynde’s five. Savitski-Lynde also completed five kills while hitting .522. Freshman libero Adir Ben Shloosh led the men with eight digs.
Lucas Machado’s hustle was on full display throughout the match, dishing out 37 assists with three kills.
The Cardinals led by as much as 14 in the opening set, highlighted by an 8-0 run which brought them to set-point. After three-straight points by the Highlanders, Rogers punched a kill to finish it, capping off a set that saw Ball State hit an efficient .688 clip.
Set two was a different story, as the score tied seven times until NJIT’s late momentum pushed them just enough to claim the set.
The men’s squad was unfazed, easily taking sets three and four. Rogers swatted nine kills between the two sets, and claimed two of his three aces in set four, with one of those bringing the Cardinals to match point. Surette’s four block assists were also instrumental, including back-to-back blocks assists by him and Basilio.
In his first career appearance with the Cardinals, sophomore Jason Harris put the exclamation point on the weekend with the final kill of the match, finishing with two.
The Ball State men’s volleyball program ride this momentum into next week when it travels to Phoenix, Ariz. for the First Point Collegiate Challenge Tournament at the Phoenix Convention Center. The men square off against No. 1 UCLA Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. ET, followed by No. 9 Stanford Jan. 18 at 4 p.m. ET.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Men’s Volleyball team defeated Harvard 3-1 Saturday night to close out the final round of the 61st ASICS Invitational. The Gauchos open the 2026 season undefeated, having also beaten Kentucky State and Maryville earlier in the tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Harvard opened the gate with a first-set win, taking it 25-22. The Gauchos hit just 0.074 in the first and were unable to collapse Harvard’s early lead.
The Gauchos finally clicked during the second, bringing it home 25-18. Santa Barbara and Harvard stayed even through the second, with neither team managing to gain more than a three-point lead until the set’s finale. At 19-18, Santa Barbara went on a six-point scoring run that brought them directly to victory.
Santa Barbara shone in the third, capturing a 25-14 success for their cleanest win of the match. The Gauchos made off with a 7-2 head start and stayed at least three points ahead at all times. Senior Owen Loncar sealed the set with a service ace.
Finally, the Gauchos closed out the match by winning the fourth and final set 25-19. They held a slight initial lead before springing multiple points ahead of the Crimson.
Santa Barbara revived their hitting percentage after the grim first set, hitting 57% in the remaining three. As a team, they dug 42 digs and made ten aces.
George Bruening put on a hitting masterclass, annihilating 26 kills and hitting .455. He tied his career record in kills and made ten in the fourth set alone. Ben Pearson delivered the match’s second highest kill count with nine, while Riggs Guy lasered eight. Guy also placed a career-best six assists.
Cole Schobel achieved all over the court, popping 42 assists, five kills, and a block. He also led the match in service aces with four, hit .714, and tied Jason Walmer for the match-high dig count at nine. Joe Wallace followed with seven digs and freshman Dylan Pilkvist made a team leading 5 block assists
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will continue home play for their next match, hosting The Master’s University on Friday, Jan. 16 at 7:00 p.m. in the Thunderdome.
UC San Diego men’s volleyball (1-0, 0-0 Big West) kicked off its 2026 campaign with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Jessup (0-1, 0-0 MPSF) on Tuesday, Jan. 6, at LionTree Arena.
The key to the Tritons’ victory was the offensive firepower of junior outside hitter Josh Ewert, who racked up a game-high 17 kills, including the final point in two of the four sets. Junior outside hitter Leo Pravednikov added 15 kills of his own.
The first set showcased opening-game jitters with both sides committing a multitude of attacking errors. Ewert came to play from the first serve, racking up five kills in the opening set alone. However, Jessup had its own go-to guy — senior middle blocker Clement Osahon Jr. caused major issues for the Tritons early on. By the end of the set, UCSD shook off its early errors and created some separation. Fittingly, Ewert scored the set point, a kill that pushed his team over the line to clinch the first set with a score of 25-20.
The second set started sloppily, but a vicious kill from Triton junior middle blocker Leo Wiemelt ignited a spark. A sneaky dump set from senior setter John Luers extended the Tritons’ lead to six. Yet, UCSD was plagued by service errors following strong kills, allowing Jessup to remain on the Tritons’ heels.
“[The offense] is so potent at times, and then, at times, we struggled with the blockers and getting the ball in the court consistently,” head coach Brad Rostratter said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “So, our strengths can be our weaknesses.”
Ewert led the Tritons to set point after a crafty tool of the Warriors’ block. Despite a final 3-point push from Jessup, a powerful kill from senior middle blocker Peter Selcho drove UCSD over the line 25-22.
Jessup refused to go quietly in the third. After a couple of early kills from Ewert, the Warriors found their momentum. UCSD responded with a block from Wiemelt and an emphatic kill and ace from junior outside hitter Sebastiano Sani. However, a solo 3-0 run from Jessup’s senior opposite hitter Carter Depue tied the game at 18. Late Triton errors ultimately allowed Jessup to build its lead and eventually take the set 25-22.
“Their middles did a really good job of committing, slowing down our middles, and touching and defending the middle of the court,” Rostratter said. “It’s something they did really, really well. And we struggled; it took a little bit of adjusting to their higher quick set.”
The Tritons decisively regained control in the fourth set, and Ewert set the tone with back-to-back service aces. UCSD went on an 8-2 run, which included a vicious kill from Selcho and another ace from Ewert. For the first time in the match, the Tritons had a comfortable lead at 18-11. Ewert sent one last back-row kill past the unresponsive Warriors to take the fourth set 25-20 for UCSD.
The Tritons stayed hot with a 3-1 home victory against Daemen on Friday, Jan. 9. UCSD will finish off its three-game homestand against Rockhurst on Sunday, Jan. 11, before heading to Utah to face BYU in a two-game road trip from Jan. 16-17.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Purdue Fort Wayne men’s volleyball team collected their first win of the season on Sunday night (Jan. 11), topping NJIT in the Mastodons’ second five set match of the season (25-20, 18-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12).
Owen Banner and Carlo Huisden led the ‘Dons offensively in the match, combining for 43 of the ‘Dons 67 kills. Banner finished with 21 kills, two aces, nine digs and three total blocks. Huisden tallied 22 kills on a .472 hitting percentage, along with seven digs.
Both teams battled early in the first set, until NJIT took the lead with a 5-1 run. Purdue Fort Wayne rallied back midway through the set with their own 6-1 run to claim a 16-13 lead. The Mastodons finished the set on a .481 hitting percentage to take the frame 25-20.
The Highlanders jumped out to an early second set lead, using a 6-2 run. NJIT added onto their lead with the help of another 6-1 run, sitting on top of a 16-9 score. Despite the ‘Dons boasting another high hitting percentage (.429), the Highlanders maintained the lead and finished out the set at 25-18.
Purdue Fort Wayne rallied to begin the third set, shooting out on a 7-0 run. Banner earned nine of his kills and the Mastodons defense rejected four attacks during the frame. The ‘Dons took a 2-1 set lead after a 25-22 conclusion.
The fourth set was highly contested, neither side owned larger than a three point lead. Both teams were held to under .100 hitting percentage. NJIT forced a fifth set after taking the fourth 25-23.
Purdue Fort Wayne dropped the first two points of the final frame, but bounced back with a 6-1 run. NJIT closed the gap to 9-11 after a 3-0 run of their own. The Mastodons managed to hold on to their lead and close out the contest at 15-12.
Hunter Hopkins finished with a near double-double of 53 assists and nine digs. Casey Lyons tied his career-high with eight block assists. Andrew Mayer dug out 11 attacks in the contest.
Purdue Fort Wayne moves to 1-1. NJIT falls to 0-5. The Mastodons will take on the Under Armour Challenge, hosted by Lindenwood, next weekend. The ‘Dons will face off against Menlo on Friday (Jan. 16) and No. 11 CSUN on Saturday (Jan. 17).
