Two-year senior volleyball captain Amy Gordon has truly lived and breathed volleyball her entire life. Her parents met while playing volleyball so she has been watching and hearing about volleyball long before she even started to play competitively.
“It’s kind of a cute story, but I was kind of brought into it so I grew up watching my mom and dad play in tournaments.” Gordon said.
Gordon, a Chicago-area native, started playing competitive volleyball for a club team in fifth grade. It wasn’t long before she was playing for her junior high and later her high school team while still playing for her club. She also played soccer, but juggling the time commitment to both sports became too distracting.
“Sophomore year of high school I had to choose one or the other because it was getting too cumbersome to do both,” Gordon said. “I was always better at volleyball and liked it more because I liked the team aspect more. I was just able to excel at volleyball more from that point out and really dedicate myself to playing in college.”
Since coming to Cornell, she has never regretted her decision to play the game her whole family loves. As captain last year, her best memory of playing volleyball for the Red was when the team won its third consecutive Ivy League title.
“We had been working for our one goal and you know it was for the first time in my three years of winning that we really controlled our own destiny,” Gordon said. “We had lost to them earlier in the season but we were so focused and so dedicated. It was my best friends and I on the court playing our hearts out and we absolutely dominated. And it was the most unbelievable feeling to know everything we worked for paid off.”
Now that Gordon is an experienced captain she feels even closer to all her teammates. While she holds the title of captain, all the upperclassmen share the leadership role on the team.
“I feel like I’m really close with everyone but I feel like we all respect each other,” Gordon said. “The only difference is that my teammates voted me into the position. I don’t do anything besides call the coin tosses in the beginning.”
While Gordon has enjoyed a lot of success at Cornell, she got off to a slightly rocky start. During preseason her freshman year, while unpacking groceries, she stood up too quickly and slammed her head into the freezer door handle. She hit the handle hard enough to sustain a concussion and was forced to sit out the first few matches of the season.
“Everyone made fun of me for it,” Gordon said. “It wasn’t funny at the time but looking back, it is pretty funny.”
Of course, anyone who follows the women’s volleyball team is wondering what Gordon gave up as her team sacrifice this year.
“I gave up chocolate which is a huge sacrifice for me because as anyone who knows me will tell you, I love chocolate,” Gordon said. “I’ve been craving it lately but the cravings are getting few and far between.”

---

Read More

State

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyomingPuerto RicoUS Virgin IslandsArmed Forces AmericasArmed Forces PacificArmed Forces EuropeNorthern Mariana IslandsMarshall IslandsAmerican SamoaFederated States of MicronesiaGuamPalauAlberta, CanadaBritish Columbia, CanadaManitoba, CanadaNew Brunswick, CanadaNewfoundland, CanadaNova Scotia, CanadaNorthwest Territories, CanadaNunavut, CanadaOntario, CanadaPrince Edward Island, CanadaQuebec, CanadaSaskatchewan, CanadaYukon Territory, Canada

Zip Code

Country

United States of AmericaUS Virgin IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsCanadaMexico, United Mexican StatesBahamas, Commonwealth of theCuba, Republic ofDominican RepublicHaiti, Republic ofJamaicaAfghanistanAlbania, People’s Socialist Republic ofAlgeria, People’s Democratic Republic ofAmerican SamoaAndorra, Principality ofAngola, Republic ofAnguillaAntarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S)Antigua and BarbudaArgentina, Argentine RepublicArmeniaArubaAustralia, Commonwealth ofAustria, Republic ofAzerbaijan, Republic ofBahrain, Kingdom ofBangladesh, People’s Republic ofBarbadosBelarusBelgium, Kingdom ofBelizeBenin, People’s Republic ofBermudaBhutan, Kingdom ofBolivia, Republic ofBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswana, Republic ofBouvet Island (Bouvetoya)Brazil, Federative Republic ofBritish Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago)British Virgin IslandsBrunei DarussalamBulgaria, People’s Republic ofBurkina FasoBurundi, Republic ofCambodia, Kingdom ofCameroon, United Republic ofCape Verde, Republic ofCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChad, Republic ofChile, Republic ofChina, People’s Republic ofChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombia, Republic ofComoros, Union of theCongo, Democratic Republic ofCongo, People’s Republic ofCook IslandsCosta Rica, Republic ofCote D’Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of theCyprus, Republic ofCzech RepublicDenmark, Kingdom ofDjibouti, Republic ofDominica, Commonwealth ofEcuador, Republic ofEgypt, Arab Republic ofEl Salvador, Republic ofEquatorial Guinea, Republic ofEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFaeroe IslandsFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Fiji, Republic of the Fiji IslandsFinland, Republic ofFrance, French RepublicFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabon, Gabonese RepublicGambia, Republic of theGeorgiaGermanyGhana, Republic ofGibraltarGreece, Hellenic RepublicGreenlandGrenadaGuadaloupeGuamGuatemala, Republic ofGuinea, Revolutionary People’s Rep’c ofGuinea-Bissau, Republic ofGuyana, Republic ofHeard and McDonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)Honduras, Republic ofHong Kong, Special Administrative Region of ChinaHrvatska (Croatia)Hungary, Hungarian People’s RepublicIceland, Republic ofIndia, Republic ofIndonesia, Republic ofIran, Islamic Republic ofIraq, Republic ofIrelandIsrael, State ofItaly, Italian RepublicJapanJordan, Hashemite Kingdom ofKazakhstan, Republic ofKenya, Republic ofKiribati, Republic ofKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwait, State ofKyrgyz RepublicLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanon, Lebanese RepublicLesotho, Kingdom ofLiberia, Republic ofLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtenstein, Principality ofLithuaniaLuxembourg, Grand Duchy ofMacao, Special Administrative Region of ChinaMacedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascar, Republic ofMalawi, Republic ofMalaysiaMaldives, Republic ofMali, Republic ofMalta, Republic ofMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritania, Islamic Republic ofMauritiusMayotteMicronesia, Federated States ofMoldova, Republic ofMonaco, Principality ofMongolia, Mongolian People’s RepublicMontserratMorocco, Kingdom ofMozambique, People’s Republic ofMyanmarNamibiaNauru, Republic ofNepal, Kingdom ofNetherlands AntillesNetherlands, Kingdom of theNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaragua, Republic ofNiger, Republic of theNigeria, Federal Republic ofNiue, Republic ofNorfolk IslandNorthern Mariana IslandsNorway, Kingdom ofOman, Sultanate ofPakistan, Islamic Republic ofPalauPalestinian Territory, OccupiedPanama, Republic ofPapua New GuineaParaguay, Republic ofPeru, Republic ofPhilippines, Republic of thePitcairn IslandPoland, Polish People’s RepublicPortugal, Portuguese RepublicPuerto RicoQatar, State ofReunionRomania, Socialist Republic ofRussian FederationRwanda, Rwandese RepublicSamoa, Independent State ofSan Marino, Republic ofSao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic ofSaudi Arabia, Kingdom ofSenegal, Republic ofSerbia and MontenegroSeychelles, Republic ofSierra Leone, Republic ofSingapore, Republic ofSlovakia (Slovak Republic)SloveniaSolomon IslandsSomalia, Somali RepublicSouth Africa, Republic ofSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSpain, Spanish StateSri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic ofSt. HelenaSt. Kitts and NevisSt. LuciaSt. Pierre and MiquelonSt. Vincent and the GrenadinesSudan, Democratic Republic of theSuriname, Republic ofSvalbard & Jan Mayen IslandsSwaziland, Kingdom ofSweden, Kingdom ofSwitzerland, Swiss ConfederationSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwan, Province of ChinaTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailand, Kingdom ofTimor-Leste, Democratic Republic ofTogo, Togolese RepublicTokelau (Tokelau Islands)Tonga, Kingdom ofTrinidad and Tobago, Republic ofTunisia, Republic ofTurkey, Republic ofTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUganda, Republic ofUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited Kingdom of Great Britain & N. IrelandUruguay, Eastern Republic ofUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofViet Nam, Socialist Republic ofWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambia, Republic ofZimbabwe

HONOLULU – No. 1 Long Beach State battled No. 3 Hawai’i in the Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, but came up short in a 3-1 [21-25, 22-25, 25-21, 22-25] setback on Saturday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

The Beach (27-3), which were the top seed in the tournament, will await their seeding in the NCAA Tournament, while the Bows (26-5), which were the No. 2 seed, clinched the automatic berth for The Big West.

The 2025 NC Men’s Volleyball Championship selection show will air live on Sunday, April 27 at 1 p.m. (PT) on NCAA.com.

The competitive contest saw the conference foes battle each other through 28 ties over four sets. Long Beach State led Hawaii in nearly every statistical category. The Beach held the advantage in kills (58-51), assists (56-47), aces (8-5), and blocks (8-7). The two teams were evenly matched with 24 digs apiece, while the Rainbow Warriors finished with a .411 hitting percentage to LBSU’s .342 clip.

LBSU senior opposite Nato Dickinson led all scorers with a career-high 21 kills and seven digs, while hitting .485 (21-5-33) in the match.

 

That’s what we call a Tor-NATO!??? pic.twitter.com/TcRIJBLCdu

— Long Beach State Men’s VB (@LBSUMVB) April 27, 2025

Freshmen Alex Kandev and Moni Nikolov also turned in solid showings. Kandev finished the match with 12 kills on a .391 attack percentage (12-3-23), while posting a career-best with five blocks.

Nikolov, meanwhile, paced the Beach to their 27th match of the year in which they hit over .300 as he dished out 47 assists. He also added seven kills on a .455 clip (7-2-11), while logging four digs, and serving up four aces – all of which came consecutively in the third set.

The match began with both teams trading points early on. By the media timeout, Hawaii held a one-point lead over Long Beach State (15-14). Following 12 ties, the Bows scored three-straight points to take a 22-19 lead over the Beach. That lead would hold the remainder of the frame, as the Rainbow Warriors claimed the first set, 25-21.

Despite the Beach hitting .379 in the second set, Hawaii managed to post a .600 attack percentage in the frame. With both teams’ efficient hitting, LBSU and UH found themselves deadlocked at 22-all. However, three-straight Long Beach State miscues helped Hawaii close the set on a 3-0 run as the Bows claimed the second set, 25-22.

Trying to avoid the sweep, the Beach got a strong serving run from Nikolov, who tallied four-straight aces to bring his career total to 94 which is just six aces short of the NCAA All-Eras record. Leading 7-2 after the 5-0 run, the Beach seemed to settle in as they jumped out in front to an eight-point advantage (12-4) thanks to a block by Isaiah Preuitt and Kandev, followed by a Kandev kill. The Bows tried to claw their way back into the set, but couldn’t come any closer than three (23-20), before Long Beach State took the third set by a score of 25-21.

 

Count ’em up! That’s 3 straight aces for Moni Nikolov! ??????#GoBeach pic.twitter.com/xypPbaDV8D

— Long Beach State Men’s VB (@LBSUMVB) April 27, 2025

The Beach continued their strong performance into the fourth set. Long Beach State used a 6-0 run to jump out in front of Hawaii, 12-6, thanks to a pair of kills from Nikolov. Hawaii would go on to score five-straight points to get themselves back in the game (13-13). The Bows broke the 11th and final tie of the frame which led to a 4-0 UH run that sent the Rainbow Warriors to match point (24-20). Skyler Varga knocked down a kill to prolong the match, but Hawaii was quick to counter and win the set, and match 25-22.

Hawaii’s Adrien Roure was named MVP of the tournament after recording 11 kills on a .579 attack percentage. He narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs to go along with three assists, one block, and one ace.

Setter Tread Rosenthal finished the match with 42 assists, while adding five kills, four blocks, and three digs.

The National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship will take place at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio from May 8-12.

 

The unofficial first match of the Dani Busboom Kelly era was dominance from the home side.

Nebraska volleyball swept Kansas over four sets Saturday: 25-20, 18, 21, 22. The teams had agreed before the match to play at least four sets, even if one side swept the first three.

The Huskers hit .285 for the match, holding the Jayhawks to .214. NU added eight blocks and six aces.

Box score (sets 1-3) | Gallery

With so many players seeing action and different lineups being used, there can be some difficulty gauging some of the performances. Still, here are a few takeaways from the match.

Harper Murray is a legitimate national player of the year candidate

Maybe a little early to begin the campaign, but Murray continues to make major offseason improvements. This time she added a jump serve. That new weapon resulted in an ace as she consistently kept the Jayhawk serve receive off balance.

For the match, Murray finished with five kills and five digs. With another way to impact matches this fall, the two-time All-American should be someone that makes all the preseason watch lists.

Middles dominate

No surprise here, but Andi Jackson and Rebekah Allick remain really good. The pair each had 11 kills and four blocks, hitting .556 and .524, respectively. Jackson had one of the best swings on a ball out of the back row the Devaney Center has ever seen and Allick added a service ace to her offensive production.

That back row attack from Jackson is something that Busboom Kelly is happy to have after seeing the talented middle dominate a practice drill.

“We’re like, ‘we should probably do that in a game’,” Busboom Kelly said. “So we just started having her play right back when she serves and gave Bergen (Reilly) the green like to set her.

“That was really fun to see it work and it really worked. It wasn’t just kind of worked.”

HOW ‘BOUT AJ OUT OF THE BACK ROW? @aandijackson #GBR pic.twitter.com/TXowT4rufm

— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) April 27, 2025

Freshmen introduce themselves

A total of 13 Huskers saw time in the match, including all five freshman: Teraya Sigler, Keri Leimback, Ryan Hunter, Campbell Flynn, and Skyler Pierce.

Two that jumped out offensively were Sigler and Hunter. Sigler had six kills over two sets, hitting .556. Hunter tallied 11 kills and hit .563.

“Super aggressive for a freshman to come out there and swing away, and some of those out of system swings were pretty insane,” Busboom Kelly said of Hunter. “I told her… ‘your job is to block ball and kill balls and let’s not worry about anything else’ and she did that tonight.”

We may never shut up about this one

T @Ryanmatea pic.twitter.com/o7uVlh525T

— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) April 27, 2025

Don’t expect a 6-2, but the Huskers have two solid setters

The job remains Bergen Reilly’s, but if something were to happen (knock on wood), the Huskers have a good one in the reigning High School Gatorade Player of the Year Campbell Flynn. Flynn ran the offense for the third and fourth sets, which were the best (.395) and worst (.156) hitting percentage sets for the Big Red. The true freshman had 23 assist and three digs.

Reilly orchestrated the offense for the first two sets. She finished with 19 assists, one kill, one service ace, and eight digs.

New libero in flux

Replacing the legend that was Lexi Rodriguez is no easy task, and it appears that the competition is ongoing.

Both Laney Choboy and Olivia Mauch spent time at the position Saturday, getting two sets each. Choboy finished with18 digs while Mauch had 12.

“Going in and out of being libero is not easy and their stats might not be easy when we look at them tomorrow morning, but I thought their play was very, very good,” Busboom Kelly said. “It’s one of the deepest groups of liberos I’ve ever coached.”

What needs work

DBK was honest in her assessment of the match during postgame, noting that she would like to keep the middle attacking going next week but also clean up a couple other spots.

“If we serve tougher and can smooth out our blocking, those would be two big areas of improvement,” Busboom Kelly said.

Next up

Nebraska heads west for another spring match. The Huskers will take on South Dakota State next Saturday at 2 p.m. CDT at Ord High School. The match will be broadcast on Nebraska Public Media and the Huskers Radio Network.

Nebraska Athletics Set Synopses

Set 1: Nebraska used a 4-0 run to take a 7-4 lead, keyed by Murray’s jump serve. She had an ace, and Landfair and Jackson each had kills. Allick pounded two kills to help NU to an 11-6 lead, and kills by Murray and Jackson made it 15-11 at the media timeout. After Kansas cut it to 15-13, Jackson had a kill and Allick had a solo block to help NU back to an 18-13 lead. But the Jayhawks answered to get within 19-18 after a 5-1 spurt. Allick terminated to keep the Huskers in front, 20-18. Allick and Jackson posted back-to-back kills to make it 23-19, and Pierce and Jackson combined for a block for set point. The Huskers won 25-20. 

Set 2: NU got off to a hot start with kills by Allick and Murray. Freshman Ryan Hunter then had a kill and a block with Allick in her first collegiate action to make it 4-1. Murray and Jackson recorded kills to keep NU on top, 8-6, and Hunter tacked on two more kills for a 12-8 Husker advantage. Murray and Jackson put NU up 15-10 at the media break. Jackson smashed back-to-back kills for an 18-13 advantage, and Reilly served an ace before a kill by Allick made it 21-15. The Huskers closed out a 25-18 win to go up 2-0. 

Set 3: The Huskers fought to a 9-6 lead with Hunter posting three kills, Sigler two, and Choboy serving an ace. Landfair’s second kill of the set and another by Sigler made it 11-7. Sigler tacked on another before Ryan followed suit for a 13-10 lead. But the Jayhawks answered with a 5-1 run to go ahead 15-14. Kansas then served long and Landfair tipped a kill to NU back in front. With the score tied 16-16, Allick posted a kill, and Hunter and Sigler stepped up once again for the Big Red to make it 19-17. Allick terminated again, and a block by Sigler and Jackson put the Huskers up 22-18. Hunter notched her ninth kill, and Jackson’s 10th earned set point. NU won 25-21.

Set 4: Kansas came out strong, taking a 12-8 lead. Murray stepped up with two kills and a block with Jackson to help NU rally to tie the score at 12-12 with Choboy serving the 4-0 run. Grace Nelson answered with two kills for KU to put the Jayhawks back up 14-12, but Jackson combined with Flynn for a block and tallied a kill before a Mauch ace sparked the Huskers to a 19-15 lead. Kansas stormed back to tie the score at 20-20, but the Huskers were up to the task, scoring a 4-0 run with an ace by Keri Leimbach, a block by Allick and Hunter, and a kill by Murray. Another Murray kill ended the match, 25-22.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.