Key Numbers to Know, What They Might Mean Going into Nebraska’s Non-Conference Finale

Some key numbers to know - and what they might mean in the bigger picture - going into Nebraska’s non-conference finale.

How important is good passing really?

Nebraska’s Good Pass Percentage, sometimes called In-System Pass Percentage, is at 51.5% on the season. This is the frequency in which Nebraska passes a serve well enough that the setter has all offensive options available.

I’ve talked a lot about the Huskers’ shaky passing, but is this really throwing a wrench in Nebraska’s attack? And how does it compare to its top Big Ten competitors? Are we making much ado about nothing?

Well, Nebraska wouldn’t be switching around its libero if Dani Busboom Kelly and staff were entirely satisfied with the passing. Junior Laney Choboy started the season in the libero jersey, but after some struggles, sophomore Olivia Mauch has earned the spot. Both have their strengths, but neither has seized the job decisively.

Laney Choboy (6) receives a Stanford serve. — Laney Choboy (6) has split time at libero with Olivia Mauch. | Amarillo Mullen

In an admittedly small sample size in Nebraska’s nine matches this season, being the Huskers’ libero has been a little like being Spinal Tap’s drummer. If you measure passing on a 3-point scale (3=perfect pass, 2=good pass, 1=just kept the ball from hitting the floor, 0=you got aced), you’d expect your libero to pass at least a 2.20. Choboy has hit that mark in only two matches this season. Ironically, one of them was against Creighton, when she was a defensive specialist, and Mauch was the starting libero.

Mauch, generally considered the stronger of the two at serve receive, passed a 1.88 vs. the Bluejays.

Part of how Nebraska’s 2025 passing is viewed is undoubtedly informed by last season, when the Huskers passed an excellent 2.30 and were in system 59.6% of the time off serve receive. The Huskers had All-American libero Lexi Rodriguez anchoring the back row. She passed a 2.42 with a 65% Good Pass mark. Teams avoided serving her if they could help it.

Nebraska libero Olivia Mauch digs a ball against No. 18 Creighton. A pretty cool photo, huh? | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Still, it hasn’t hurt the Huskers’ attack yet. You can be shaky at passing and still have a high attacking efficiency. Look no further than Texas, which is at 48.4% Good Pass, but thanks to a trio of dynamic pin hitters and a very good setter, might have the highest offensive ceiling in the country. Like a golfer who is poor off the tee, but still makes birdies due to being an excellent putter, all that matters is the end result of the hole (or rally).

Nebraska is hitting .300 on the season and has hit over .300 in six matches, despite a first contact that should improve as the year goes along. Conference play is usually when coaches lock in lineups, which should let players get used to the communication and responsibilities of who is taking serves.

And the Huskers stack up favorably to the rest of the presumed Big Ten frontrunners. Wisconsin, which has hit over .400 in four straight matches, leads the way, passing a 2.16 with 54.7% Good Pass.

Penn State (2.16, 45.7) and Minnesota (2.06, 48.9) are a touch below Nebraska’s passing. Purdue is a step under them at 1.93 and 42.1%.

So maybe we should give Nebraska some more time to iron out passing before we sound an alarm.

What is Nebraska’s best attacking rotation?

Sorry if this is too rudimentary for you expert ball-knowers, but for the benefit of those new to the sport, a quick explanation of rotations.

There are six rotations in volleyball - one for each player on the court. Each player’s position rotates through the six rotations, once each time your team sides out (gets the serve). Three rotations are in the back row, three in the front row.

Coaches can decide at the start of each set what rotation to begin in. But once that’s been decided, you have to follow that order for the rest of the set. So if a team starts a set in Rotation 3, it then goes to Ro4, Ro5, Ro6, then back to Ro1, and so on.

A team might decide to start a set in a certain rotation based on a number of factors: How often do you want your strong attacking rotations to come up in a set, who do you want to serve more often, how do you want your front-row blockers aligned with your opponent’s rotations?

John Cook often said he loved the chess match of rotations because it provided six mini-games within a match.

Here’s what Nebraska’s rotations look like so far in 2025.

Nebraska's attack percentage by rotation | Data from VolleyMetrics

Rotation 2 is, by far, the Huskers’ best attacking rotation. NU is hitting .412 in this lineup, which has either Teraya Sigler or Taylor Landfair serving and three front-row attackers - Harper Murray, Rebekah Allick, and Virginia Adriano.

Rotation 1 and Rotation 6 are pretty close for the next-best mark. Both feature Landfair and Allick in the front row, who also happen to be two of Nebraska’s best blockers.

The relative struggle of Rotation 3 is a bit of a surprise. You’d expect Murray, Adriano, and Andi Jackson being in the front row would yield a more efficient attack. However, Jackson's hitting numbers so far this year have dipped from 2024 (.320, down from .439 a year ago).

Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson fires a shot past Creighton outside hitter Abbey Hayes. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

But the biggest deviation from the season average on Tuesday against Creighton was Nebraska hitting just .043 in Rotation 6. The Huskers shuffled a number of servers through that rotation, trying to find a way to pressure the Bluejays.

Nebraska began the match with Jackson serving in Ro6, but after a couple of errors, Busboom Kelly gave both freshman setter Campbell Flynn and senior DS Maisie Boesiger a shot late in the match.

Keep an eye on this rotation as the Huskers move into Big Ten play.

Nebraska is still a really good defensive team

Serving, which I haven’t thought Nebraska has been really strong on this season, is a team’s first line of defense.

The numbers tell me my eyes may not be giving the Husker servers enough credit. Nebraska’s opponents have only notched a 45.9% Good Pass mark this year, below the 51.7 GP% NU allowed last season.

Nebraska also leads the country in opponent attack percentage (.110). No Husker opponent has reached .200 hitting this season, with Creighton’s .173 being the high-water mark so far.

Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray digs a ball against Creighton. She finished the match with 10 digs. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

You would expect a team with such a low opponent hitting efficiency to be racking up blocks, which drags down attack percentage. But, Nebraska is only 41st in the country, averaging 2.64 blocks per set.

So how are the Huskers doing it? An answer could lie in Nebraska’s Good Block Touch percentage. That measures the frequency with which the Husker blockers direct an opposing shot to a teammate’s dig.

Nebraska might not be among the nation’s leaders in stuffing shots for a point, but Husker blockers have been excellent at denying opposing attackers points while starting transition chances for its own offense.

Nebraska's Rebekah Allick fights to get the ball over the net with a Stanford defender. | Amarillo Mullen

NU’s Good Block Touch percentage is 51.3%, so over half the time an opponent swings, Nebraska ends up controlling the ball. Compare that to a couple of the nation’s leaders in stuff blocks. Georgia, which leads the country at 3.34 blocks per set, has a Good Touch Percentage of 45.8%. Louisville, which led the nation in blocks last season under Busboom Kelly and is No. 5 in the statistic so far this year, has a GT% of 48.8.

And while I think number of digs is a misleading way of measuring defensive efficiency, it’s worth noting Nebraska leads the Big Ten at 14.15 digs per set.

Add it up, and Nebraska's attacking mark is 190 points better than its opponents. Those are Final Four-caliber numbers.

More From Nebraska on SI

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.