Huskers Pick Up Ranked Win In Front of Record Crowd

Two days after seeing its 48-set winning streak broken, Nebraska started a new one while snapping USC’s longest unbeaten stretch since 2015.

The Trojans entered the match having won their last nine matches, but they couldn’t keep up with the top-ranked Huskers. Nebraska earned a 25-13, 25-16, 25-20 victory over No. 17 USC Sunday at a sold-out Galen Center.

Rebekah Allick said the streaks are nice, but they are all byproducts of their goal of finishing the season with a win in the national championship match.

“I’m really proud of my girls for making all these cool awards, but we’re after one thing — and that’s December 21 and to be 1-0 on that day,” she said. “The set streak was really fun, but we weren’t playing out of our minds to have a streak.”

The Huskers (26-0, 16-0) controlled the match as there were only five ties and three lead changes all afternoon. NU needs just one more win in the final two weeks to clinch at least a share of its third straight Big Ten title.

Harper Murray celebrates with Bergen Reilly after a point against USC. Murray tied for the team lead with 10 kills. | Nebraska Athletics

After dropping a set to UCLA on Friday, NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said she thought the Bruins had outworked the Huskers on defense.

Against the Trojans, NU used a better effort to limit them to a .156 hitting percentage. The Huskers didn’t give up an ace, won the blocking battle 8-5, and outdug USC 54-29. NU started sophomore Olivia Mauch at libero as she finished with 11 digs.

“There was no outworking us today,” she said. “I’m just fired up for that win. USC is a very good team. They’re going to do great in the tournament, and to be able to play great on both sides of the ball is great to see.”

Nebraska also relied on a balanced offensive effort directed by 42 assists from junior Bergen Reilly, who also led the Huskers with 14 digs.

Virginia Adriano, Taylor Landfair, and Harper Murray all finished with 10 kills. Middle blocker Rebekah Allick added nine kills on 13 errorless swings, while Andi Jackson put up eight kills on a .467 hitting percentage while adding five blocks.

“It’s pretty balanced. That’s what we like to see,” Busboom Kelly said. “It’s pretty crazy how efficient (our middles) are. It just makes everybody so confident, and gives Bergen a lot of confidence. They’re continuing to put up great numbers.”

It wasn’t just the stars that were efficient. Teraya Sigler added a kill on two swings, and Reilly terminated both of her attacks. Manaia Ogbechie got in for limited action in front of her hometown crowd and recorded two kills on three swings, along with a block of Adonia Faumuina.

“Our middles, Bekka and Andi, are so good, but when we put Manaia in, it’s like, ‘Oh, now we’re gonna make some plays,” Busboom Kelly said. “She’s just so talented, and I definitely wanted to get her in front of all of her friends and family. She’s got a lot of them here. She got the most impressive block of the day.”

BIG OLE BLOCK FOR THE CALI GIRL 🌴 @ManaiaOgbechie x #GBR pic.twitter.com/mu2poLEtbj
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 16, 2025

The Huskers took control of the first set with five straight points, including an ace from Murray, to go up 8-4. After a sideout, NU added three more points on kills from Reilly, Landfair, and Allick, and USC never got closer than six points the rest of the way as the Huskers hit .500 in the set with just one hitting error.

Nebraska led 11-3 in the second set as its first four rotations added at least one point on their serve. The Huskers stretched their lead to 18-9 after a 4-0 run, capped by a kill from Murray, before the teams traded side outs for the rest of the set.

NU scored seven consecutive points in the third set, but USC slowly climbed back in the set. The Trojans (20-6, 11-5) used a pair of 3-0 scoring runs (their longest of the match) to close to 16-14 before a solo block by Jackson and a hitting error put the Huskers back up by four.

London Wijay led USC with 10 kills, and Faumuina added nine kills, but all three of its starting pin hitters finished below .200 hitting.

"THAT'S NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL."

- Paul Sunderland

🙂‍↕️🤏 pic.twitter.com/lLzckk4YC2
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 16, 2025

The match was the first time USC sold out its home arena for a volleyball match. The attendance of 9,072 fans set a new school record.

However, the crowd had a strong partisan lean for Nebraska. After the match, the Husker fans stayed afterward to try to get a photo or an autograph from the Huskers. Most of the sold-out crowd, Allick said, a lot of them stayed in the same hotel as them and delivered inspirational messages to her and her teammates.

“Husker nation is a big old happy family,” she said. “All these amazing things remind you why you play for Nebraska. It’s bigger than high-level volleyball. It’s a big family, and you’re representing a whole state.”

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