Dani Busboom-Kelly makes bold statement about Nebraska volleyball

Nebraska volleyball head coach Dani Busboom-Kelly isn’t shying away from expectations ahead of the 2025 season. Instead, she’s embracing them.

The first-year head coach found out that her team was ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Preseason poll, which was released on Thursday. Instead of acting surprised. Busboom-Kelly admitted that is where she ranked Nebraska volleyball ahead of the season opener.

“I’m not surprised,” Dani Busboom Kelly said. “I get a vote and I voted ourselves No. 1. We’re pretty talented.”

Pretty talented indeed.

Whether it’s Harper Murray, Andi Jackson, Bergen Reilly, Rebekah Allick, Flynn Campbell, Taylor Landfair, Laney Choboy, Skyler Pierce, Ryan Hunter, or one of the other weapons, you’d be hard-pressed to find a college volleyball team more talented than the Huskers.

Of course, that might have been true last season, when Lexi Rodriguez was anchoring the defense. Rankings don’t mean much. Winning the Big Ten and winning the NCAA tournament. That’s all that matters.

Four Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 11 of the 2025 preseason poll. Penn State, the defending national champions, is ranked No. 2. The Nittany Lions beat the Huskers in the Final Four last season. Pittsburgh is third, followed by fourth-ranked Louisville, where Busboom-Kelly coached last season.

Texas rounded out the top five. Wisconsin is eighth. Minnesota is 11th.

Nebraska volleyball will be tested early in the season. The Huskers will open the season against third-ranked Pittsburgh in Lincoln on Aug. 22 (6 PM CST, Fox). They will then host sixth-ranked Stanford on Sunday (Aug. 24, 2:30 CST, ESPN).

The Huskers also have seventh-ranked Kentucky, 11th-ranked Creighton, and 23rd-ranked Utah in non-conference play. Nebraska has 11 top-25 matchups on the schedule based on the preseason poll.

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