Nebraska’s ‘Best Volleyball of the Year’ Emerging in Time for Postseason

It took defending national champion Penn State two entire sets to reach 25 points Friday night against No. 1 Nebraska.

Somehow, the nation’s best volleyball team is getting better, and it showed Friday night in a 25-14, 25-11, 25-14 sweep of the No. 25 Nittany Lions during Nebraska’s Black Out match.

“It was so smooth,” Nebraska junior middle blocker Andi Jackson said in the postgame press conference. “This is, I think, by far one of the smoothest games we’ve played. Everything was just clicking for us. We served amazing, we played amazing defense, and I think offensively we were just clicking and that’s because of our passers and because of Bergen (Reilly) of course.”

For the second time this season, Nebraska swept the team that ended their run for a championship in 2024. It’s been a sticking point for the top-ranked Huskers this season. Despite Penn State having what many would characterize as a down year, Nebraska has seemingly saved their best for Penn State.

Back on Oct. 3, Nebraska arguably played better against a PSU team that didn’t stand a chance in slowing down the train that was on the tracks that day. Nebraska swept the Nittany Lions 25-6, 25-15, 25-13. The statement was received then, and it’s safe to say the statement’s been received once again.

“It feels great,” Nebraska junior outside hitter Harper Murray said following the Friday night sweep. “I feel like we kind of got our redemption back from last year, and that’s something a lot of us never have forgotten. I’m sure we won’t, so it feels great to come out here the past few months and beat them in a sweep both times, especially in their gym because that’s a hard gym to play in.”

Murray also echoed Jackson’s sentiment about the Huskers being at the top of their game once again against PSU.

“I feel this game was honestly probably the best we’ve played all year,” Murray admitted. “There were absolutely no cracks (Friday), and I feel like that just shows our potential and that’s how we need to continue to play the next six-to-seven games. We need to keep that level of play up.”

The Huskers also stopped to smell the roses a bit Friday night, deciding to celebrate being crowned Big Ten Champions after the Penn State win instead of after the conference-clinching win at Indiana. The reasoning was pretty simple – they wanted to celebrate it with thousands of their closest friends.

It’s the third-straight year Nebraska’s finished on top of the conference, which means the junior class at NU hasn’t experienced a season without a conference championship.

“It obviously feels great,” Murray said. “I think it’s special for Bergen, Andi, Laney and I to share that together. Obviously, our goal is to go four-for-four, but I think it’s just really cool – having so many changes within the process like transfers, new coach and everything. The fact that we’re still able to find a way to win as well as we do, I think is really impressive, and it’s a testament to the relationships and just the hard work that we’ve put in over the past three years.”

That hard work is about to ramp up for both the players and the coaching staff. They still have a Saturday match with Ohio State to finish out the regular season, but after that, the Huskers will learn the path to their ultimate goal of winning a national championship.

Ever since the devastating loss to Penn State last year, it’s been about the only thing on the mind for the only undefeated team in major college volleyball. However, Saturday still holds importance for them, as they’re vying for the rare chance to finish the regular season a perfect 30-0.

“It’s not an easy thing to do,” Jackson said. “I think we just talked about it in the locker room. We’re really going to soak this up and enjoy it because winning the Big Ten and having the opportunity to go 30-0 is such a special thing, and we don’t want to take that for granted. We’re going to soak it up.”

That’s been a teaching all year from first-year coach Dani Busboom Kelly. The coaching change in Lincoln this season has been well-documented, and for Nebraska to land a former player and coaching candidate like Busboom Kelly has been a dream pairing.

Busboom Kelly knows what it’s like to play on championship volleyball teams. She also knows what it’s like to lead teams to the ultimate stage. That experience, both as a player and a coach, is what’s leading to the mindset of truly stopping to smell the roses during such a successful season.

“I think we’re all doing a great job of that,” Busboom Kelly said in her postgame press conference following Nebraska’s sweep of Penn State. “That’s why you see us continuing to improve because we’re staying in the moment one game at a time. We’re using our depth. We’re mentally in a really good spot because of that.”

That mindset and the play seen from the team Friday night has undefeated Nebraska somehow improving as the season goes on. Prior to the Penn State match, both Busboom Kelly and her players were singing the praises of a much-improved Nittany Lion squad. For them to sweep them in the same fashion they did back in early October shows what kind of level Nebraska’s risen to as well.

“(It’s) really important,” Busboom Kelly said of peaking at this time of the year. “You want to be continuing to improve. You want to be hitting your peak this time of year, and it takes a really mature team to do that. Are we doing everything right to stay healthy and to be physically at our best not just mentally at our best in the end of November.”

Next up is a Saturday night showdown with Ohio State in the Bob Devaney Sports Center. As mentioned, the team will be looking to improve to 30-0 on the year, but they’ll be doing so while also soaking in another jam-packed home crowd.

“We have to take advantage of how it feels right now, but we do have a game (Saturday), so new day, new team,” Murray said of the quick turnaround. “Our main goal is to win a national championship, so I don’t think it’s hard for us to move on and look at the next game, look at the next day and come into practice and work for what’s ahead. Obviously, we want to take advantage and soak up all the feeling that we have right now and have fun with it, but we know that we have bigger things that we want to accomplish.”

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