Homegrown Huskers Prepare for an Emotional Senior Night Sendoff

For half of Nebraska volleyball's outgoing senior class, this weekend will serve as their second senior night in the Cornhusker state.

Maisie Boesiger and Rebekah Allick know Nebraska volleyball through and through, and they're now staring down their final regular season weekend as Huskers. | Kenneth Larabee/KLIN

Nearly a fourth of Nebraska’s volleyball roster will be playing their final home regular-season matches this weekend, with a Penn State-Ohio State finish starting Friday night against the Nittany Lions.

Defensive specialist Maisie Boesiger, middle blocker Rebekah Allick, outside hitter Taylor Landfair, and opposite hitter Allie Sczech will be lacing up the sneakers for their final regular-season finale in Husker red on Saturday.

It helps knowing it won’t be their actual last match in the Bob Devaney Sports Center this season, but Saturday’s match against the Buckeyes will come with the “Senior Night” flair to it, and emotions will certainly be high.

Maisie Boesiger is one of two homegrown Husker seniors after playing her high school career at nearby Norris High School. | Kenneth Larabee/KLIN

“I mean, growing up here, it’s just that much more special,” Boesiger said during the team’s weekly player press conference. “We grew up knowing all the traditions and the history and just how amazing and special Nebraska volleyball is. Every little girl who grows up around here dreams to be a Husker.”

Boesiger signed to play at Nebraska after a standout high school career at Norris High School. She was joined in the press conference by Allick, who spent her high school years at both Lincoln North Star and Waverly High School. It’s fitting that half of this year’s senior class will be holding their second senior night in Nebraska.

“I’ve been trying to not think about being a senior,” Allick said during the press conference. “I feel like it goes by so fast. I’m just very grateful that I got to watch all of these amazing, beautiful women come through this program. Now it’s my turn, and it’s a really weird feeling, but it’s also very cool.”

The Bob Devaney Sports Center has been sold out for every Nebraska volleyball match since the Huskers moved to the building in 2013. On Friday, it will host its first "blackout" match. | Nebraska Athletics

The top-ranked Huskers will be finishing the regular season in style this weekend with a “Blackout” game Friday evening against the reigning national champion Penn State. They’ll then take on Ohio State in what will be an emotionally-charged night in the Bob.

Given that Nebraska’s also the unanimous No. 1 team in the country, they’ll also be hosting when the postseason kicks off, but that’s not slowing down the emotions for the team – including head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. She says she’ll try to keep her team level Saturday night, but she knows emotions will play a huge part in what fans will see on the court that night.

“I think it always does,” Busboom Kelly said about emotions fueling her players. “I think senior days are always tricky because the first few points are emotional and of course the announcement is emotional, and you can feel it in the fans, so it’s going to be emotional no matter what we talk about or how we try to prep for it. It’s just being able to settle in and put those emotions aside for a short time.”

Nebraska volleyball coach Dani Busboom Kelly knows a thing or two about senior nights in Lincoln, and she says emotions will be high Saturday night. | Nebraska Athletics

It also helps that this year’s senior class is one laden with leadership. The player who embodies that fact most has been Allick in 2025. Of all the players on last year’s team that fell short of a national championship, no one has been more vocal about the redemption tour this season. Penn State met that rude awakening in Happy Valley earlier this season.

Allick’s attention to detail during this final stretch of her college career has allowed Busboom Kelly to take a step back and truly soak it all in.

“She’s pretty fun to coach,” Busboom Kelly said when asked about Allick. “She’s challenging in a positive way. She brings so much energy, always is the competitive fire. If you’re not doing something in practice that’s super competitive, she’s going to ask you, “What are we doing this for?” I felt like she’s grown a lot in these 10 months as a leader, and I think she’s really grown her love for volleyball in general.”

Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly said she has enjoyed watching senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick grow as a leader this season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Busboom Kelly elaborated on how Allick has stepped up this season.

“I feel like from January to now, it’s grown substantially,” Busboom Kelly said of Allick’s leadership. “Everybody wants to win, but she’s probably the most vocal about it, but she’s also adamant that she wants to go out loving these last few moments. I think that’s really cool as a leader and somebody who has fallen short the last couple years to say that out loud.”

Friday night will give the Huskers yet another chance to avenge their season-ending loss to Penn State in 2024, but a season sweep of the Nittany Lions is just the tip of the iceberg for the top-ranked squad in the land.

This weekend may not impact the large scale of the 2025 season or even postseason seeding, but it’s one of the last opportunities some home-state Huskers will have to see the fans that helped them build the program into what it is today.

Nebraska middle blocker Rebekah Allick is one of the main reasons the Huskers are the best team in the nation in 2025. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

To put this season into perspective, Nebraska is a perfect 28-0. Behind them are No. 2 Kentucky and No. 3 Texas, who both have two losses, then every other team in major college volleyball has at least four losses. Even if the Huskers were to not win a set this weekend, they’d likely be the top overall seed once the postseason starts.

That kind of security will also allow for Allick and Boesiger to really soak in the weekend’s festivities, even if they don’t actually want to think about it.

“There’s no way to prepare for it,” Allick said. “I remember – I think about Lexi (Rodriguez) a lot. The second she started talking about it, she’d start crying, and I was like ‘Oh, got it. Just don’t talk about it.’ I see now why she did it because it’s kind of like a baby. I don’t know how else to describe it, but it’s my relationship with this program and this state. It’s something I hold very near and dear to me, and the fact that it’s almost over absolutely blows. I can’t believe it’s almost over.”

Emotions will be high for four Nebraska seniors when they take the court against Ohio State Saturday night. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“I just think that being from here makes it even more special,” Boesiger reiterated. “I’ve made some of the best memories over my four years here, and it’s so bittersweet that it’s coming to an end. It’s not our last game playing here, we still have more, so that also is a little more comforting because we know it’s not just going to all end this weekend, but it’s just so special.”

First serve against No. 25 Penn State is set for 5:30 p.m. CST Friday evening. Senior Night against Ohio State is set for 8 p.m. CST and will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network.

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