Nebraska Volleyball 2026: The Standard Is a Title
Nebraska volleyball does not enter seasons hoping to be relevant. It enters them as the favorite. This year is no different — and the expectations are heavier than they have been in a long time.
The Huskers are the unanimous preseason Big Ten favorite and the No. 1 team in the AVCA Coaches Poll. They return from a 33-1 season that included a perfect 20-0 conference record, a third straight Big Ten championship, and the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. The only blemish was a five-set regional-final loss to Texas A&M that ended another run one match short of the Final Four.
Year 2 under Dani Busboom Kelly is not about proving the transition from John Cook worked. That already happened. This season is about finishing the job.
The Core That Makes Them No. 1
Three seniors form the best returning trio in the country:
Bergen Reilly, setter — the engine. Unanimous Preseason All-Big Ten.
Andi Jackson, middle blocker — reigning AVCA Middle Blocker of the Year. Hit .467 overall and .559 in Big Ten play last season.
Harper Murray, outside hitter — career-best 3.54 kills per set in 2025, already 19th in program history in career kills.
All three are on the AVCA National Player of the Year watch list. They have been to the brink. They have not won a national title. That is the entire story of this roster.
Nebraska did not lose a single player to the transfer portal for the second straight year and did not add anyone from it. Busboom Kelly is running it back with the players already in the gym, plus three freshmen.
The Holes That Have to Be Filled
Two important pieces are gone:
Middle blocker Rebekah Allick, a first-team All-Big Ten player and vocal leader.
Outside hitter Taylor Landfair, a former Big Ten Player of the Year.
The replacements are internal. Sophomore Manaia Ogbechie and redshirt freshman Kenna Cogill are the next middles behind Jackson. On the outside, junior Skyler Pierce and sophomore Teraya Sigler are the leading candidates to join Murray, with freshman Gabby DiVita in the mix. Opposite Virginia Adriano needs a more consistent second year.
What the Red-White scrimmage showed
The first public look came Sunday, Aug. 16 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. A scrimmage-record 10,753 fans watched Red beat White 3-1 (27-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-17).
The headline was defense. Neither side hit over .200. Middles and the back row made kills hard to come by — exactly what Busboom Kelly said she wants.
Manaia Ogbechie stole the show with 13 blocks. She did not even know the number until afterward. That is the most important development of the afternoon: the player asked to help replace Allick looked like a starter at the net.
On the pins, Virginia Adriano and Teraya Sigler led everyone with 11 kills apiece. Skyler Pierce added 10. The hitting percentages were messy — typical for an intra-squad match against a defense that knows every tendency — but the volume from Pierce and Sigler supports the idea that both will play significant roles next to Murray.
Bergen Reilly ran the Red side with 37 assists, 13 digs, and five blocks. Libero Laney Choboy had 16 digs. Serving, a stated offseason emphasis, produced 13 aces.
The scrimmage did not lock a starting six. It did answer the first question of camp: the second-wave middles and outside hitters are ready to share the floor, and the defense is already a problem for opposing attackers.
The Schedule and the Target
The season opens on the road in a national spotlight:
Aug. 27: Spikes Under the Lights at AT&T Stadium vs. Florida
Aug. 29–30: Players Era Showcase in Las Vegas (UNLV, then Texas)
Early September: South Dakota State, DePaul, Missouri at Wrigley Field
Home slate starts Sept. 10
Big Ten play begins Sept. 25–26 against Rutgers and Ohio State, then a tough early-league stretch at Penn State, Maryland, and Indiana.
Wisconsin, Penn State, and Purdue are the conference teams most likely to push them. Nationally, Texas, Kentucky, Pitt, and Stanford are waiting in December.
What Matters
The Huskers do not need to rediscover an identity. They need to replace two high-level starters without losing their edge, stay healthy through a national early-season gauntlet, and win the matches that ended the last three title runs.
The Red-White confirmed the depth is real and the block is coming along. Reilly, Jackson, and Murray have done almost everything except hoist the last trophy. The 2026 season is about whether that is still enough — or whether this is finally the year Nebraska volleyball finishes what it has been building toward.