Nebraska Volleyball Season Preview + News

Just like Nebraska football season is quickly approaching, and being hyped up like every offseason, so is volleyball. Nebraska volleyball is worth the hype right now as they were named the preseason #1 team in the nation. This is usually reserved for the National Championship winning team from the previous season so you can probably imagine that Penn State wasn’t that happy about this.

The Red-White Scrimmage took place on Saturday, August 9th where we got our first look at the full roster for the 2025 season. While they played a couple matches in the spring, this was our first chance at seeing Allie Sczech, Kenna Cogill, Virginia Adriano and Manaia Ogbechie in action in a Husker uniform. These 4 did not disappoint either. They probably made it even harder on Husker fans that are trying to guess the starting lineup come August 22nd. Harper Murray even posted a TikTok about people trying to make assumptions and said she sometimes laughs when reading the comments on these posts as well. Husker fans are passionate that’s for sure.

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The MVP of the Red-White match was someone that I don’t know if people were expecting because most of the focus had been on Andi Jackson this offseason. Don’t get me wrong, Jackson is still amazing and is on the National Player of the Year watchlist, but Rebekah Allick showed out on Saturday. She had 12 kills and led the team in the hitting percentage column hitting .455%. I wouldn’t want to pick the lineup for this team, that’s for sure.

The last preseason match is the Alumni Match this Saturday, on the 16th, at 6:00pm. On the Alumni team, as of 8/11, is Kelly Hunter, Jordan Larson, Lauren Stivrins, Kenzie Maloney, Lindsay Krause, Leyla Blackwell and Ally Batenhorst. Hopefully more additions will be announced this week as we get closer to the match on Saturday.

The Huskers season starts off on August 22nd when they host the AVCA First Serve Showcase this year. They kick it off with a bang when they take on Pitt on Friday and Stanford on Sunday, 8/24. They will, then, head to Nashville and play a match against Lipscomb on 8/29 before the Broadway Block Party starts. They will only play one match in this showcase against Kentucky on 8/31.

The Ameritas Players Challenge will return to the Bob Devaney Sports Center with Wright State and Cal coming in this year to play the Huskers. Nebraska will take on Wright State on 9/5 and then Cal on 9/7. Wright State and Cal will play each other on the day in between the Huskers matches on 9/6.

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The Husker Invitational is the last showcase weekend for the Huskers preseason. Grand Canyon, Drake and Utah will be coming to Lincoln to compete in this. Nebraska will play Utah on 9/12 and then Grand Canyon on 9/13. They will not play Drake this weekend.

Their last two preseason games will be the following week starting with the yearly matchup against Creighton on 9/16 and then their preseason finale against Arizona on 9/20. B1G play goes into full swing on Wednesday the 24th.

The Huskers will start B1G play out at home against Michigan on 9/24 and then will play them again, in Michigan, on 10/19. A match against Maryland, on 9/27, will close out September for Nebraska before they go on the road.

The long awaited rematch against Penn State will come early in the B1G season when they travel to University Park on 10/3. This match is already sold out at Rec Hall. They will play the Nittany Lions again on 11/28. Their road trip will end against Rutgers on 10/4.

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The Huskers will head home for only one match when they welcome Washington to the Devaney Center for the first time as the Huskies being a B1G member.

Nebraska will go on another road trip that will include 3 matches with their first match being against Purdue on Sunday, 10/12. They might head home after this match since they play Michigan State almost a week later on Friday, 10/17. Their rematch with Michigan will be on Sunday of this road trip.

Two more home games come after a three game road trip for the Huskers. Northwestern will come into Lincoln on Friday, 10/24. They will play Michigan State for the second time of the season the next day on 10/25.

One match that Husker fans always love to see is of course the yearly battle against the Wisconsin Badgers. While we’ve been getting a home-and-home series every year recently, this is the first year in awhile that we won’t see this happen. The Huskers will travel to Madison on 10/31 and this will be the only matchup of the season between these two.

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Nebraska seems to only get a couple games in a row at home before having to travel again this season. After the match against the Badgers, the Huskers will return home to play Oregon for the first B1G match against them in Devaney on Sunday, 11/2. Illinois comes into town on Thursday, 11/6, but that doesn’t end their week as they will head to Minnesota on 11/8.

Friday, 11/14 starts a short road trip to the west coast to take on the two teams that came to Lincoln last season. They will face a UCLA team, on 11/14, that seems to be gaining momentum in the offseason this year and could be in the top of the B1G standings. They close out the road trip against Ally Batenhorst’s old school in USC on 11/16.

With four matches remaining in the season, they will face three new teams and 1 team they have already faced. Even though Iowa would like it to be a rivalry, it’s really not because Husker Volleyball owns them. The Hawkeyes come to Lincoln on Thursday, 11/20. They will also face Indiana that same weekend on Saturday, 11/22.

The regular season will close out with Penn State coming to Devaney on Friday, 11/28 for a rematch of one of the first matches of conference play. Their finale will come against Ohio State, the next day, on 11/29.

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Ally Batenhorst Vies for LA2028 Beach Volleyball Spot

Sara Hughes is the reigning beach volleyball world champion and has been searching for her new partner. Hughes suffered an Achilles tendon injury earlier this year and her partner decided to team up with Molly Shaw after Hughes and Cheng placed 5th at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Ally Batenhorst just came off of her first season of professional volleyball where she played, indoor, for the Omaha Supernovas. Batenhorst has experience on the sand from her time at Nebraska when they played sand volleyball in the winter.

Ally Batenhorst is the right height for beach volleyball standing at 6’5. This really attracted Hughes to her when she was searching for a partner. She was attracted to her work ethic. Hughes said “We want to be the hardest working team and we will be the hardest working team.

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Omaha Supernovas Bring Merritt Beason Back to Nebraska + John Cook Joins the Front Office

Merritt Beason has signed with the Omaha Supernovas for the 2026 season and Nebraska fans couldn’t be happier that she is back. She was picked #1 overall by the Atlanta Vibe last November. She had 191 kills and 16 aces in her first season and was also named as an All-Star, playing in the first All-Star match in PVF history.

John Cook had a hand in bringing Beason back as he was named Co-Owner and General Manager of the Supernovas right before signing Beason. Cook is looking forward to growing the game at the professional level after spending so much time at the collegiate level.