‘Freedom’ for Bergen Reilly is a good thing for Nebraska volleyball

Bergen Reilly had one of the best freshman seasons a setter has ever had for Nebraska volleyball. She was the first freshman to win Big Ten Setter of the Year, earned Second-Team All-American honors, and helped the Huskers reach the national championship match without a single senior.

Reilly, a 6-foot-1 sophomore from South Dakota, is poised to be even better as a sophomore. She’s surrounded by more weapons, especially with the addition of First-Team All-American outside hitter Taylor Landfair, and Nebraska volleyball head coach John Cook said Reilly has more freedom to run “her offense.”

“She’s in her second year so she’s way more calm, composed and knows what she needs to do,” Cook said this week. “The thing about Bergen is that when she makes a mistake, she just tells you before you even say anything. That’s pretty cool. It’s always like a golfer telling you on the swing, “I didn’t do that right.” That’s where she’s at. She’s really in tune with everything. We’re trying to open things up for her and let her be a little bit more free-flowing. She’s really good at that.”

Reilly talked about how running her own offense was a big goal for her during the offseason.

More freedom for Nebraska volleyball setter Bergen Reilly

“Coming in as a freshman, you don’t want to change too much. You go with what the coaches say. During the off-season, they let me gave a little more freedom and said, “You go run your offense.” Just ironing things out with that, getting everyone on the same page, and working really hard on the fundamentals to nail that down.”

With Merritt Beason, another First-Team All-American and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Harper Murray, along with Andi Jackson (middle), Lindsey Krause, and also Landfair, as well as Rebekah Allick, the Nebraska volleyball team is loaded and Reilly has no shortage of weapons.

In a sense, it’s like a quarterback playing point guard and there’s no one I’d rather have running the Huskers’ offense in the 2024 season.

“There are four new people, but we had time with (Skyler Pierce) and (Olivia Mauch) in the spring to get to know them and get connections with them,” Reilly said. “It’s been a lot easier knowing the ropes and not questioning every day, “What’s today going to be like?” We have an idea every day of what the day is going to look like.”

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.