Breaking down Nebraska volleyball’s NCAA tournament opening weekend

The quest to win the national championship starts on Friday night for the Nebraska volleyball team. The Huskers open the 64-team tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, following a 30-0 regular season.

Nebraska volleyball boasts the Big Ten Coach of the Year in Dani Busboom-Kelly, along with the Big Ten Player of the Year in Bergen Reilly, as well as four first-team All-Big Ten selections.

Nebraska volleyball leads the country in hitting percentage (.351), which would be a school record. The Huskers also have the best hitting-percentage defense (.125). The difference is hitting percentage is .227. The second-best in college volleyball is .164.

If you’re wondering why Reilly won Big Ten Player of the Year, it’s because she’s the engineer behind the best offense in Nebraska volleyball history. Think about that for a second.

Andi Jackson had the best hitting percentage in Big Ten history this season (.559 in Big Ten matches only). Harper Murray is as good as it gets, and so is Rebekah Allick, who is just as dangerous on the attack now as she is on defense. Taylor Landfair and Virginia Adriano could be top hitters for other programs, yet are the fourth and fifth options for Nebraska, which seems to have an endless amount of hitting talent on the roster.

Busboom-Kelly has also played a part in this. She’s coached Reilly to be more aggressive. She’s allowed Jackson to have more back-row attacks. The result has been incredible.

The Huskers will play Long Island Friday night. First, Kansas State and San Diego will do battle at 4:30 PM CST. Nebraska volleyball will play 30 minutes after. All matches will be broadcast on ESPN+. The radio broadcast can be streamed at Huskers.com.

Getting to know Nebraska volleyball opponents

Here’s what you need to know about the other teams playing this weekend in Lincoln. The second-round match will take place on Saturday at 7 p.m. CST.

This is via Huskers.com. 

Long Island 

• LIU (20-8, 15-1 NEC) won the NEC Tournament title, 3-1 over St. Francis, to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
• Sara van Gisteren leads the Sharks with 3.92 kills per set and ranks 20th nationally with 52 aces on the year.
• Yasmeen Muhammad (2.23 kills per set) ranks third in the nation with a .453 hitting percentage.
• Karly Klaer (10.06 assists per set) was the NEC Setter of the Year, and Miabella Musignac (4.01 digs per set) was the NEC Defensive Player of the Year.

San Diego

• San Diego (25-4, 18-0 WCC) has won 18 matches in a row, the sixth-longest win streak in the nation.
• Nemo Beach leads the Toreros with 3.99 kills per set and has served 36 aces.
• Isabel Clark adds 3.22 kills per set.
• Setter Kylie Munday puts up 9.98 assists per set.
• Libero Olivia Bennett contributes 3.76 digs per set.

Kansas State

• Kansas State (17-9, 10-8 Big 12) is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
• Lincoln native Shaylee Myers ranks ninth nationally with 4.76 kills per set, which led the Big 12.
• Aniya Clinton adds 3.69 kills per set, and Avery Stones chips in 2.71 kills per set.
• Setter Ava LeGrand paces the attack with 10.15 assists per set, and libero Symone Sims provides 4.08 digs per set.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.