LINCOLN—The Nebraska volleyball team stood in a circle in the middle of the court. Their faces were slack with shock. Tears were beginning to flow. Harper Murray talked to them before bringing them together for one final break.

After shaking hands with Texas A&M, the Huskers turned and walked to the locker room. Rebekah Allick, with red eyes and damp cheeks, raised her arms to acknowledge the sold-out crowd of 8,650.

Only a few minutes earlier, Logan Lednicky’s final attack hit the floor as Texas A&M had accomplished something no other team had done this season — beat Nebraska. 

The final point came at the end of a 2-hour, 46-minute marathon, but it also came suddenly.  

Nebraska (33-1) dropped the first two sets but rallied to force a fifth set after a wild, marathon fourth in which NU faced three match points. The Huskers staved off one more set point before the Aggies finished off a 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 35-37, 15-13 victory Sunday afternoon in the NCAA regional final. 

Murray said even though they were devastated after the loss, many of them apologized after the match, and she didn’t fault any of her teammates for coming up short. 

“It sucks right now, but we have to walk away with our heads high,” said Murray, who finished with a career-high 25 kills. “We do so many amazing things every year, and it might not work out the way you want to, but there’s so much to be proud of.”

The setback was Nebraska’s home loss since falling to Minnesota on Nov. 26, 2022, and its first postseason loss at home since losing in the regional final to Texas in 2013. 

Texas A&M moves on to play Pitt in its first-ever national semifinal on Thursday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The Aggies twice reached the regional final in 1999 and 2001, but fell short both times. The other semifinal will match Kentucky and Wisconsin. 

A&M coach Jamie Morrison said he was proud of his players for the effort they put in and for not backing down in front of an impressive NU team and an enthusiastic crowd, earning a win that was broadcast nationally on ABC. 

“I got to tip my cap to Nebraska, and I’m looking forward to going back and watching that match,” he said. “I think it might have been one of the most entertaining matches in the history of the sport, but I’m just beyond proud.”

Nebraska rode the energy of the environment and jumped out to a 10-3 lead after four straight points, including two backrow kills from Murray. However, A&M began to chip away, winning five of the next six rallies. The Aggies then went in front with a 10-0 run that featured two aces by Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, three kills from Emily Hellmuth and all four NU hitting errors in the set. 

Cos-Okpalla said after the match, she had no idea that her service run had reached 10 points in a row. She said whether it was the Huskers’ early lead or falling behind Louisville 0-2 in the regional semifinal on Friday, they just worry about the next point.

“We always talk about response is everything, whether we’re down a couple points, down a set or two,” she said. “Obviously, we responded pretty well on Friday. Just coming into this match again, we knew who we were playing, but we just focused really on us. The response was great today.”

Down, 20-15, freshman middle blocker Manaia Ogbechie checked in and sparked NU with a kill on the first rally. Nebraska closed to 21-20. After the teams traded service errors, the Aggies won three of the final four rallies, including an ace by setter Maddie Waak. 

Ogbechie appeared in four of the five sets in place of Andi Jackson, who struggled and finished with six kills and five errors on 22 attacks. Busboom Kelly said she tried to give the Huskers a spark by turning to the freshman middle blocker, and it worked early on. 

“We all were watching the game, so I think Andi was hitting like .100 and nothing was going right for her,”  she said. “I thought, ‘Okay, let’s give Manaia a try.’ She made a few plays, and so we left her in there.”

The Aggies went up 4-1 in the second set after another ace by Waak. Nebraska took a brief lead at 8-6 after scoring four points in a row. However, Waak responded with a pair of aces and went up 14-12. Nebraska couldn’t close the gap the rest of the way. NU got as close as 24-22 before Lednicky ended the set with a kill. 

Texas A&M set the tone during the first two sets with its serve. Eight of its nine aces came in the first two sets, including four by Waak. In addition, the Aggies recorded six blocks in the second set, and their physicality wore on the Huskers. 

Busboom Kelly said A&M got a lot of hands on their attacks and it took them time to counter their strength at the net. The Aggies finished with 17 blocks, including nine by Morgan Perkins and eight by Cos-Okpalla. 

“We started out the match trying to do that and out-physical them, and that’s not going to happen,” she said. “ As the game went on, we adjusted well and started swinging high. We got a little bit one-dimensional, but I think that was a little bit passing. I thought our passing was okay, but that got us out of our comfort zone.”

Eventually, the Huskers adjusted, started the third set with more fight, and went up 10-5 after a kill by Virginia Adriano. The Aggies responded with four points in a row, including a kill by libero Tatum Thomas. Teraya Sigler put the Huskers up 12-9 with an ace. Eventually, A&M closed to 18-17 after an ace from Thomas, but Allick and Murray had back-to-back kills to put NU in the red zone. Murray later wrapped up the set with her sixth kill in the frame. 

In the fourth set, Texas A&M went up 11-7 after four straight NU hitting errors. The Aggies led by as much as 18-11 before the Huskers fought back. 

They won eight out of the next nine rallies to tie it up at 19-all. The teams traded pairs of points until Adriano gave Nebraska its first set point at 24-23. 

Then things got wild as they entered bonus points: Adriano attempted her only serve of the match. Teraya Sigler played the front row. Ogbechie served for just the second time this season, and then the set went long enough for her to get her third attempt. Texas A&M had three match points, but couldn’t convert. 

After both teams ran out of substitutes, challenges and timeouts, the Huskers finally ended the marathon on their 10th set point when Adriano got a touch call on an attack. 

“I did have a lot of confidence that we were going to win that,” Busboom Kelly said. “It wasn’t a panic moment when we ran out of subs. It was like, ‘Well, this crew is good enough to win this set.’ I kept telling myself that, and it was pretty great to see us make it through two times with no subs. I thought that they were just really confident, even though they hadn’t done that all year.”

The Aggies went in front 5-3 after back-to-back Nebraska hitting errors. The Huskers looked like they were about to tie the set at 7-all, but the officials said the ball touched Allick after she tooled it off the A&M block. 

Texas A&M led by as much as 13-9 before Nebraska scored three points in a row to cut its deficit to one point. NU fought off one match point, but Lednicky ended it with a kill. 

“It’s hard to beat us in our own gym, and they found a way to do that,” Murray said. “ I don’t think we could get a lot of momentum going, and that really hurt us in the end.”

Kyndal Stowers led Texas A&M with 25 kills and 16 digs, while Lednicky added 24 kills. Emily Hellmuth chipped in 13 kills and a pair of aces. 

After a season of good health and only minor injuries, NU’s luck ran out during the final week of the season. Senior opposite Allie Sczech tripped on a ball during serving practice before the match. After she was helped to the locker room, where she stayed until the start of the third set, she returned to the bench in street clothes and a walking boot. 

In addition, Bergen Reilly was battling an illness and wasn’t at full strength. The Huskers had to stick with her after backup setter Campbell Flynn broke her hand in practice and wasn’t available. 

Reilly finished with 58 assists and 13 digs as NU hit .270 for the match. Busboom Kelly said even after dropping the record-setting fourth set, they were ready to carry the fight on to the fifth. 

“It’s tough. You look at our setter, and it’s like, ‘Are you gonna make it?’ And she’s looking at you like ‘I don’t know.’” Busboom Kelly said. “ Other than that, I felt like everybody else was in there willing us to win. We’re going to make this as easy as we can for Bergen. We had no other option at that point.”

Allick put up a career-best 15 kills on a .480 clip and four blocks in her final match as a Husker. Olivia Mauch led the team with 13 digs and didn’t commit an error in 20 serve receptions. 

Although Nebraska’s season ended earlier than everyone expected, Busboom Kelly said she wasn’t upset with the effort. She said Texas A&M played a great game and relied on its experience to pull out the victory. 

“As a coach, I don’t feel upset. I know we didn’t make the Final Four. We’re not winning a national championship, but we maxed out today,” Busboom Kelly said. “When we can walk away from the last game this season and feel like we gave it our all and look back and have no regrets, that’s what I’m really proud of, and I hope these players don’t have any regrets either.”

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