After a Long Wait, Nebraska Comes Out Firing Against Kansas for a Sweep

LINCOLN—After sitting around for a 9:25 p.m. CST first serve, it didn’t take long for Nebraska to take control against Kansas.

The top-seeded Huskers scored the first four points of the match and smothered the Jayhawks for a 25-12, 25-11, 25-12 sweep in 80 minutes Friday evening at the Devaney Center.

Andi Jackson said they prepped well this week and were not going to let the long, five-set match between Texas A&M and Louisville throw them off. The Huskers talked about not changing their routine as they waited in the locker room, trying to remain present in the moment.

“There’s obviously some jitters in the gym. A game going five right before you and watching that, it can make you feel a lot of emotions,” Jackson said. “We just wanted to be where our feet are. We talked about that, and I think it really showed with how we went out. We didn’t let any outside noise affect us. We went in there and did the thing.”

Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson attacks against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraska advances to the regional final for the 13th time in the last 14 years. NU’s 34 regional final appearances are the most in NCAA history. The Huskers will play Texas A&M on Sunday at 2 p.m. on ABC.

The Huskers (33-0) hit .450 for the match while limiting KU to a .029 hitting percentage with 25 kills and 22 errors. Junior setter Bergen Reilly, who was dealing with an illness, tallied 30 assists and six digs. NU finished with just five hitting errors, which tied for its lowest total since only committing four against Michigan in 2021.

Rebekah Allick finished the night with a 1.000 hitting percentage with nine kills on nine attacks. It was the second perfect performance in her career. She went 3-for-3 in one set against Florida A&M in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament.

For the postseason, the senior middle blocker is averaging 2.78 kills per set with a .647 hitting percentage.

“My motto right now is try to kill everything,” Allick said.

Nebraska middle blocker Rebekah Allick attacks against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Jackson also put up nine kills while hitting .600 with five blocks. Combined, NU’s three middle blockers finished with 21 kills on 28 swings without any hitting errors.

Junior Harper Murray chipped in seven kills and a team-high 10 digs, while senior Taylor Landfair and Virginia Adriano had five kills apiece.

In the first set, the Huskers stormed out to a 10-1 lead after back-to-back aces from Olivia Mauch, who finished the match with three aces. NU’s block stifled the Jayhawks, which hit negative in the first set with nine kills and 10 errors. The Huskers recorded six stuffs, led by four from Jackson.

Allick scored six points (five kills and a solo block) during a stretch of nine rallies late in the set to put NU up 21-8. During one play, Landfair send a high set to Allick from across the court. After smashing the ball to the floor, Allick held up her arms in the air in celebration.

Nebraska players huddle during a timeout against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Kansas Coach Matt Ulmer said they struggled to find a way to take the attack to the Huskers. The Jayhawks didn’t serve tough enough as they missed six serves and allowed NU to stay in system too often.

“We just couldn’t even get enough points going just to apply any pressure, and that’s part of the hard part,” Ulmer said. “They set everybody, everybody feels comfortable. Bergen is in total control. I just think they’re very, very confident right now.”

Kansas (24-11) stayed close early in the second set as it only trailed 9-7 after a kill from Katie Dalton. However, the Huskers then took over with five straight points. After two points from Kansas, NU went on a 6-0 run. The Jayhawks managed two more points, but the Huskers closed with five straight points, capped off by an ace from Laney Choboy.

“We have been working on just attacking our serve over the last couple of months, but I think today, we just really put the pressure on it,” said Choboy, who finished with nine digs. “It makes it hard to run an offense if the other team is serving really tough.”

Nebraska libero Laney Choboy passes the ball against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The third set was the same formula: the Huskers sprinted out to an early lead and never allowed KU to gain any momentum. Even after subbing in middle blocker Manaia Ogbechie for Allick and Allie Sczech coming in at opposite, the offense didn’t miss a beat. NU hit .621 in the set with 19 kills and one error on 29 swings.

Rhian Swanson, Jovana Zelenovic, and Reese Ptacek all finished with six kills to pace KU on offense. The Jayhawks were hitting negative through two sets before rebounding in the third.

Ulmer said there was little they could do to slow down the undefeated Huskers.

“Dani’s amazing, and the team that she has, and everything that everybody’s doing here, it’s first class,” he said. “I’m just excited to watch them on their run. It’s a bummer that we’re a part of it. I’m really happy for them and excited to see where they go.”

Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly and middle blocker Andi Jackson celebrate against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. — Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly and middle blocker Andi Jackson celebrate against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Busboom Kelly said the Huskers faced some adversity this week, dealing with health issues. Reilly was feeling under the weather on Friday, even though her play didn’t indicate she was off her game. Also, Busboom Kelly decided to allow Landfair play all six rotations in the first set after freshman Teraya Sigler had a little scare during warmups.

Nebraska was also without freshman setter Campbell Flynn, who broke her pinky earlier in the week during practice. She was wearing street clothes on the bench with a brace on her right hand. Senior Maisie Boesiger, who was an all-state setter at Norris High School, went through warmups with Reilly and was the backup setter should the Huskers have needed one.

“From there, we’ll see,” Busboom Kelly said. “Roll the dice and maybe play the old rotate, and whoever is in right front will set.”

Texas A&M 3, Louisville 2

AGGIES ARE ELITE 💥#GigEm // #AggieVB pic.twitter.com/Mhyw2u5P8y
— Texas A&M Volleyball (@AggieVolleyball) December 13, 2025

After dropping the first two sets, Logan Lednicky looked down at the scorer’s table and saw a small piece of paper with a simple message on it.

“Something great is about to happen.”

The Texas A&M senior opposite finished with 20 kills and helped fuel a reverse sweep by the third-seeded Aggies for a 23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-12 win over second-seeded Louisville.

“We just came out strong in that third. And we were all like, literally, why not us? Something great is about to happen. I think that’s super cool.”

Texas A&M opposite hitter Logan Lednicky attacks against Louisville in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals in Lincoln. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Early on, Louisville was the team making all the plays late. The Cardinals scored the final two points of the first set to win the deuce game. Then they scored the final eight points of the second set to erase a five-point deficit.

During intermission, A&M coach Jamie Morrison said the thought popped into his head that they were going to be OK and would find a way out of the deficit.

“Louisville is a very, very good team. They’re well coached, they have great players, but we did what we’ve done all year,” Morrison said. “We were gritty, we believed in each other, we played good volleyball, we showed the world who we were in the biggest moments.”

The third set also came down to the final two points, but this time the Aggies finished as Kyndal Stowers recorded kills on the final two points.

Texas A&M outside hitter Kyndal Stowers attacks against Louisville in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals in Lincoln. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

In the fourth set, A&M’s block took over as it limited the Cardinals to .000 hitting thanks to nine blocks, including seven from Ifenna Cos-Okpalla.

In the fifth set, the Aggies got a kill from Lednicky, who then teamed up with Cos-Okpalla for a two-point lead that they never relinquished. Stowers ended the match with her 17th kill.

Lednicky finished with 20 kills while Cos-Okpalla added nine kills and 12 blocks.

Texas A&M players huddle during a timeout against Louisville in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals in Lincoln | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Louisville finished its first season under Dan Meske 26-7. Chloe Chicoine led the Cardinals with 26 kills while hitting .300. Payton Petersen added 18 kills and 13 digs.

“They played a great match, and they won,” Meske said. We’re really proud of the season we had, and we fought really hard, but we still didn’t win the match. We would have liked to close that one. We had some players play exceptionally well.

“Those left sides carried a lot of offense, and, quite frankly, just needed probably a little bit more help offensively. You can’t just win with a couple of players. You can win here and there, but it’s hard to win big in these moments.”

Former Nebraska AD and current Texas A&M AD celebrates after the Aggies beat Louisville in five sets in Lincoln. — Former Nebraska AD and current Texas A&M AD celebrates after the Aggies beat Louisville in five sets in Lincoln in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semis. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

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