The top-ranked University of Nebraska women’s volleyball team stepped up in the spotlight during its nationally televised Oct. 10 matchup against No. 7 Wisconsin, beating the Badgers easily in front of a John Cook Arena crowd dressed in all black.
The Cornhusker women swept the Badgers 25-23, 25-14, 25-20, for their 14th sweep of the season. It was a convincing performance for those tuning in from around the country, but no surprise to Nebraska volleyball fans who have watched this program become an unstoppable force in recent years.
If Saturday’s nationally televised match was your wake-up call, here are five things to know as you get familiar with this impressive team.
1. In search of perfection
When the No. 6 SMU Mustangs pulled off a shocking win against the No. 2 Pittsburgh Panthers on Oct. 7, it left Nebraska as the lone remaining unbeaten team in the NCAA. According to Sports Illustrated, it’s been 15 years since Penn State finished a perfect season, only the fourth team to pull off the feat and win a national championship since the NCAA volleyball championship began in 1981.
Nebraska is well past the halfway point for this season, sitting at 17-0 with 11 games remaining before the Big 10 tournament begins on Nov. 20. Undefeated in conference play going into Saturday’s matchup, Wisconsin was considered to be Nebraska’s biggest obstacle to a perfect regular season, according to SI, but the rest of the schedule won’t be easy.
2. A new coach brings out the broom
Nebraska’s women aren’t just winning, they’re winning in style. The team has swept its opponent in 14 of its 17 wins. The Huskers dropped a single set in each of three matches against Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Florida Gulf Coast, all of which took place between Sept. 12-20.
When a rough week means winning 3-1 instead of 3-0, you’re operating on a different level.
This penchant for sweeping teams may become a hallmark of Cornhusker culture under coach Dani Busboom Kelly, who directed the team through an impressive streak of 48 straight sets won over 15 matches during her inaugural season in 2025.
3. Four potential Player of the Year winners
On Oct. 8, Nebraska sophomore middle blocker Manaia Ogbechie was added to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Player of the Year Watch List, one of 16 players added midseason to the initial list of 30 that was announced in July.
The original list included three teammates: middle blocker Andi Jackson, outside hitter Harper Murray, and setter Bergen Reilly, seniors. The young Ogbechie has been off to a strong start, earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors in September. She also earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 12, following the Wisconsin match.
4. The defenders lead from the back
While scorers like Harper Murray get much of the attention, Nebraska’s back-row defenders—known in some volleyball circles as “littles,” a term the Huskers endearingly embrace—have been helping to drive this winning streak.
Senior Laney Choboy, who led the team with 13 digs against Wisconsin, and junior Olivia Mauch, who backed her up with 12, create a wall behind the team that cultivates a certain level of confidence.
“Our block and our back row just suffocated them,” Bergen Reilly told SI after the Wisconsin match. “We talked in the locker room; littles don’t really score a point but they controlled that game. It’s so freeing at the net or being in the back row, knowing [that if] Liv [Mauch] and Laney [Choboy] are back there, it’s probably going to be up. They find ways to control the game without scoring and I don’t think there’s many littles in the country that can do that.”
5. Part of a bigger picture
This unbeaten Cornhuskers team is helping drive a movement that’s seen women’s volleyball become a force in Nebraska in recent years.
On Aug. 20, 2023, the Huskers faced off against University of Nebraska-Omaha in front of 92,003 fans at Memorial Stadium, shattering not only the all-time record for Division I women’s college volleyball attendance but the world record for attendance at any women’s sporting event in history, according to the NCAA.
The Cornhuskers also helped break the regular-season indoor attendance record for DI women’s volleyball attendance when they played Creighton at CHI Health Center in Omaha in front of a sold-out crowd of 17,675.
Meanwhile, the Omaha Supernovas, one of eight active teams in Major League Volleyball, lead the league in average attendance, breaking their own single-game record in March when they drew a sellout crowd of 16,838 at the CHI Health Center.
Knowing all that, it was a no-brainer in September when the International Volleyball Federation announced Omaha as one of three host cities for the 2027 Women’s Volleyball World Cup. It’s unclear why Nebraska will only host the opening rounds rather than the finals, but we’ll take what we can get.
If it takes the world a little longer to recognize Nebraska as the center of the volleyball world, so be it. We can wait.
READ MORE: Omaha named host city for 2027 Women’s Volleyball World Cup
