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College Volleyball's Footprint is Growing, One Nebraska Road Match at a Time

It's already been a historic year for the Nebraska volleyball team, but other schools are making history of their own by simply hosting the Big Red.
Spencer Schubert|
We all know about Nebraska's popularity in Lincoln and across the state, but the Husker volleyball team is making quite a name for themselves nationally at venues both big and small.
We all know about Nebraska's popularity in Lincoln and across the state, but the Husker volleyball team is making quite a name for themselves nationally at venues both big and small. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

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Nebraska CornhuskersNebraska CornhuskersLipscomb Bisons

For the first time in 2025, the No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team hit the road to take on Lipscomb, and it went relatively according to plan. The top-ranked Huskers swept Lipscomb, 25-13, 25-21, 25-15.

The Bisons (yes, it's with an "s") went 19-11 in 2024, and are opening up their 2025 season with quite the gauntlet. A Friday night match against the top-ranked team in the country and a Saturday match against 7th-ranked Kentucky, which is a team Nebraska will meet on Sunday. A win against either would be program defining, so for Bisons coach Brandon Rosenthal, it's a rare weekend where moral victories can be achieved.

The first was history in the making, as Lipscomb set a new home volleyball attendance record Friday night with 4,235 fans pouring into Allen Arena to watch the Bisons take on the Huskers. The second moral victory was if his team could hold its own. In his eyes, they did so in spades.

"I just love the way we came out here and competed," Rosenthal said after the loss. "An environment like this is incredible. I'm bursting out with pride just in the sense of what our girls did to be a part of that. I couldn't be more proud of tonight and what it is."

It's not often you'll see a coach ecstatic after being swept in their season opener, but for a program looking to build itself up to the caliber of a Nebraska or Kentucky, this weekend is more about team growth than moving a marker into the win column.

"Yeah, you want to win, but you have to tip your hat to them," Rosenthal said. "Those last four or five plays where both teams were going at it is just amazing volleyball. The future is bright, and this is exactly where we want to be. What a night, truly what a night for our leadership to allow something like this. It was awesome."

Nebraska also found plenty of value in the Friday night match-up, as head coach Dani Busboom-Kelly was able to flex the team's depth and get some of her younger players some valuable court time. Freshman setter Campbell Flynn and redshirt freshman outside hitter Skyler Pierce were just two who benefited from the match leaning Nebraska's way early.

For Lipscomb, though, this weekend isn't a measuring stick as much as it is a chance to simply battle test the team before trying to make a run at the NCAA tournament through its conference slate. In 2024, the Bisons saw much of the same in the early part of the season.

In the first month of last year, Lipscomb played matches against No. 11 Kansas, No. 14 BYU, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Arizona State, and No. 19 Georgia Tech. They did lose all of those games last season, but it also sparked the Bisons to a 14-2 record in the Atlantic Sun Conference, with their season ending in a conference championship match loss to Florida Gulf Coast.

When considering that path in 2024, it's not as much of a surprise to see the Bisons starting 2025 against No. 1 Nebraska and No. 7 Kentucky.

"That's what we want to do," Rosenthal said immediately following the Nebraska match. "We want to test ourselves now and learn. There was a lot of things we learned in the last two hours. It was awesome. We'll be able to take that and apply it to the (Kentucky match) and from there who knows?"

Lipscomb squares off with Kentucky on Saturday, and Nebraska will have its third top-10 showdown in its first four matches to start the year on Sunday. The chance of the Bisons upsetting the Wildcats Saturday may be low, but their head coach knows that win or lose, his team is growing.

"My biggest thing was I thought we competed extremely hard," Rosenthal said of his team's effort against Nebraska. "That's all I care about. The score will take care of itself."

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Spencer Schubert
SPENCER SCHUBERT

Spencer Schubert is a born-and-raised Nebraskan who now calls Hastings home. He grew up in Kearney idolizing the Huskers as every kid in Nebraska did in the 1990s, and he turned that passion into a career of covering the Big Red. Schubert graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2009, and kickstarted what's now become a 17 year career in journalism. He's served in a variety of roles in broadcasting, including weekend sports anchor at KHGI-TV(NTV) in Kearney, Sports Director at WOAY-TV in West Virginia and Assistant News Director, Executive Producer and Evening News Anchor for KSNB-TV(Local4) in Hastings. Off the clock, you'll likely find Schubert with a golf club in his hand and spending time with his wife, 5-year-old daughter and dog Emmy.

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