Internal Compass Unchanged as No. 1 Nebraska Begins Postseason Play

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's the mentality for the Nebraska volleyball team as they begin postseason play Friday night.

After dropping just one set in all of Big Ten Play, the top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team isn't changing a thing ahead of postseason play. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The wait is finally over for the Nebraska volleyball team.

After a perfect 30-0 regular season, the top-ranked Huskers are back in the postseason with dreams of national championships dancing in their heads – and understandably so.

The Huskers dropped just one set in all of Big Ten Conference play in 2025…one set! However, that one set came to a team that plays a different style of volleyball, which in the NCAA Tournament is commonplace.

Despite now being the home team of the coach of the year and player/setter of the year in the Big Ten, the Huskers enter this year’s tournament steady and with plenty of humility.

Nebraska's Bergen Reilly was named Big Ten Setter and Player of the Year for her stellar 2025 season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“It’s an interesting team because I don’t feel like we have to be humbled or anything,” Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly said during a Thursday press conference ahead of her team’s opening round match against Long Island University. “I feel like this team is very humble, especially for the amount of success we’ve had. I don’t feel like they need to be pumped up.”

Understandably so, considering the team was focused on the postseason back in August. The team’s five-set loss to eventual national champion Penn State last season has been a thorn in their side all year in 2025. It still also stands as their last loss, given that the sole undefeated season in major college volleyball resides in Lincoln.

The Huskers figure to start the postseason as strongly as they managed the season, and even if they do, it’ll be a mirror of how the 2024 postseason kicked off. Fans might remember, the Huskers made quick work of both Florida A&M and Miami in the first and second rounds last year.

While the team plans to start with the same firepower this weekend, their coach still knows there will be some added pressure.

It may look and feel like another home Nebraska volleyball match Friday, but the postseason will add a layer of pressure. | Amarillo Mullen

“The stress is heightened,” Busboom Kelly said. “Your emotions are a little bit heightened, but it’s still just volleyball and what’s gotten us to this point is what will continue our success. We don’t want to stray away from any of that.”

The message from the coaches this season has been to stop and smell the roses – to enjoy every moment of the season. It’s safe to say the team has listened and followed that guidance. When you only drop one set in conference play, you have some time to soak up a lot of successful volleyball.

So much so that Busboom Kelly admitted that there haven’t been many “lows” to build on this season. In fact, if you’re going to even say Nebraska had a down stretch of the year, you’d be right in guessing it wasn’t during actual games. Instead, it was in practice.

Both players and coaches have admitted that practices are where the team has grown the most this season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“It’s not a point where we’re having to really get on each other,” Busboom Kelly said. “It’s like ‘hey, we got to recognize this is not good and not our standard and we’ve got to change it.’ We had a low in practice, but we got out of it. We ended on a great note.”

To play devil’s advocate, it can also be a curse that the most adversity a team has faced has been when they’ve been playing against themselves. However, if you scroll all the way up to the early part of the schedule for NU, you will see that they did actually have a couple of five-set matches this year against Kentucky and Creighton.

Those showdowns may have been back when golf season was alive and well in Nebraska, but the attitude the team had then is the same you’ll see them showcase now. Emotionally, this season, you’d be hard-pressed to tell if the Huskers just swept their 10th straight opponent or survived a five-set thriller.

Throughout the entire season, the top-ranked Huskers have been able to keep their emotions in check. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

“That goes back to leadership, and I think Bekah’s (Allick) grown a ton just from an outsider’s perspective watching her the last three years – keeping her emotions super even keeled,” Busboom Kelly. “I think that the whole junior class has done a great job. When we hit the lows, it wasn’t for very long and the highs were what they were. We’ve just been very consistent with the play and our mentality.”

It's that consistency the Huskers hope to lean on Friday and hopefully Saturday this weekend in Lincoln. Thanks to the downright battles in practice and the team camaraderie seeming to be at an all-time high, many with the red “N” on their jersey feel they’re ready to handle the pressure of the postseason.

“I think the players probably feel it more to be honest,” Busboom Kelly said. “They’re the ones that are seeing and reading and hearing more of the outside noise. As a coach, you’re a little more focused on the task at hand and there’s a lot, especially into these tournament weekends where you’re prepping for three teams in three days. There’s a lot that goes into that and you’re still doing other parts of your job.”

Nebraska volleyball coach Dani Busboom Kelly will kick off her first postseason with the Big Red Friday against LIU. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The first match on tap Friday will be a showdown between San Diego and Kansas State at 4:30 p.m. CST. The Huskers will then take on LIU 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first match. Knowing Nebraska fans, the Bob Devaney Sports Center will be nearly full for the first match and most certainly jam-packed for Nebraska’s postseason opener.

For the first time in months, Nebraska will be taking on teams outside of the Big Ten, which can certainly shake up the style of play and how the opposition may choose to attack the Huskers. However, Busboom Kelly said she has no plans to tweak how she talks to the team for this opening weekend.

“I just think our messaging is going to be pretty consistent to what it’s been the whole year,” Busboom Kelly said. “We’re going to play a lot of great teams. We’ve got to continue to trust what we’ve been doing. That’s made us great. I think it’s going to be the same.”

Nebraska volleyball coach Dani Busboom Kelly says her messaging won't change as her team begins what they hope to be a lengthy postseason run. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

After sweeping the opening weekend in 2024, the Huskers needed four sets to upend No. 23 Dayton before eventually falling in five sets to No. 2 Penn State in the NCAA Final Four. Both players and coaches know there will be plenty of tests in front of them, and they have to find a way to overcome them if they want to be hoisting the trophy at the end of the year.

However, just like the season, NU plans to enjoy the process.

“Bekah’s been saying this a lot, which coming from her means a little bit more, but she doesn’t want any joy to be taken away from this group if the outcome isn’t what we all want it to be,” Busboom Kelly said. “I think that’s a great mentality to have going into the tournament, that we really want to soak up these next hopefully three weeks together. You don’t want to wish them away or be stressed about them. We want to enjoy it and continue to max each other out.”

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