Landfair, Huskers Are Ready for the Big Ten Grind

The Huskers open up league play Wednesday at home against Michigan.

Taylor Landfair celebrates one of her first kills as a Husker. | Amarillo Mullen

Taylor Landfair knows her way around the Big Ten pretty well. 

The senior outside hitter is gearing up for her sixth go around of the conference after she played at Minnesota for four years (she missed most of the 2021 season with an injury), and is now in her second season with the Huskers. 

Landfair has as much experience with the league as first-year Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly, who served as an assistant coach for five years with the Huskers from 2012 to 2016. She is ready for the grind of the 10-week league schedule and the challenges of playing consistently during bicoastal road trips and packed opponent gyms. 

“Every new year brings something different, especially with the new coaching and this whole new team,” she said. “I think it’s gonna be cool being able to experience the Big Ten with Dani.”

The Huskers kick off the Big Ten schedule against Michigan on Wednesday at John Cook Arena. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CDT for the match on BTN. 

Former Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook poses next to his stature with his successor Dani Busboom Kelly. | Nebraska Athletics

While Landfair is quite familiar with the league, Busboom Kelly said she has some catching up to do. After spending the past eight years in the ACC, she will have to reacclimate herself to the Big Ten's teams and gyms. 

Busboom Kelly said she’s looking forward to playing in Purdue’s Holloway Gym (“It’s really loud and small, and their student section is one of the best.”) and Wisconsin’s Field House, where she went 2-1 as an assistant. She’s also never played at USC or UCLA. 

“I’m pretty familiar with it, but haven’t paid that close attention to players,” she said. “It’s a little bit of a learning curve, but very similar to the ACC and volleyball.”

With the Big Ten season comes more road matches. After an early-season trip to Nashville, the Huskers will play every match in September in the state of Nebraska. They have seven home matches, and the only road trip was to Omaha to play Creighton. 

Even though Bubsoom Kelly likes the comfort of sleeping in their own beds and the routine of regular recovery, they miss the bonding and team unity that come from being on the road. 

“It feels like we haven’t had team meals together in such a long time, and we haven’t spent a lot of one-on-one time together, which is what you organically get on the road,” she said. “Not doing that for a whole month felt like we missed a little bit of that.”

Sophomore libero Olivia Mauch said even though the Huskers are 10-0, she doesn’t think they’ve played their best volleyball of the season. She said they haven’t played the best lately, but they’re out to prove that they can win a third-straight conference title.

“I’m really excited for what we can do,” she said. “We can make a really big statement starting off here this week.”

Even with the unblemished record, Busboom Kelly said their defense has room for improvement. In the last two matches, Creighton hit .173 and Arizona finished with a .250 hitting percentage. While those are not bad to give up, they are the two highest clips by opponents this season. 

The Huskers returned to practice this week with a renewed focus on floor coverage and converting more block touches into points. Landfair said she appreciates that the coaches call them out for not performing at the level they should be, especially on defense. 

“How can we step up? How can we set a really high standard for ourselves, but then also meet that standard?” she said. “In practice, it’s always being down ready, making sure that we take advantage of every single defensive drill we have, and making sure that we’re extra prepared for all of our games, especially the scouting report.”

The Huskers stand for the National Anthem prior to their match against Arizona. | Amarillo Mullen

Busboom Kelly said she doesn’t expect anyone to be complacent because if they aren’t getting better, someone else could take their spot on the court. Each match presents an opportunity for the team to improve on the court and continue their upward trajectory. 

While the Huskers want to start on the right foot against Michigan on Wednesday, they know that it’s a long journey ahead of them. 

“Each game is really important for who we want to be in December. We want to take it each game at a time,” she said. “The goal is to win a Big Ten championship, but that’s also not the ultimate goal for this year.”

Michigan enters Wednesday's match against the Huskers with a 10-1 record. | Michigan Athletics

Scouting Michigan

The Wolverines enter Wednesday’s match with a 10-1 record, with their only loss coming at Virginia. 

Michigan runs a 6-2 offense with Omaha Skutt graduate Morgan Burke as one of the two setters. Senior outside hitter Allison Jacobs leads the attack with 4.32 kills per set. The Wolverines also have three players hitting above .400, led by Serena Nyambio’s .471 hitting percentage. 

“This is a team that’s playing very confident, and they get everybody involved offensively. Even though they have Jacobs, they really do a good job of setting everybody,” Busboom Kelly said. “Their coach (Erin Virtue) does a great job, and they play with a lot of joy. They just love volleyball. It’s a vibe I get even from watching film.” 

Mauch Honored to be Libero

Nebraska sophomore Olivia Mauch has started the last three matches at libero. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

After beginning the year as a defensive specialist, Mauch has started at libero in each of NU’s last three matches. 

The Bennington native said it’s an honor to wear the libero jersey for the Huskers. 

“Growing up in Nebraska and watching them, I’ve always looked up to the Nebraska liberos,” she said. “I hope that I can be a role model for the little girls who look up to me in whatever position I play.”

Mauch is averaging 2.61 digs per set and has a team-best 61.6 good pass percentage. Against Arizona, although she was only served at seven times, she had a perfect 3.0 passing grade out of a three-point scale. 

Landfair said Mauch brings a calming presence to the position and is consistent. 

“She’s a type of player that we can always look to whenever we need a good pass,” Landfair said. “We just know that she’s down and ready to cover for us, or she’s down, ready to dig any of these hard types of hits. She does bring calmness, but she also brings confidence.”

Home Recovery Ongoing

In April 2024, Mauch’s family home near Bennington was destroyed by a tornado that swept through the Omaha-metro area. 

Since then, the rest of her family has been living in a rental home nearby. Although their lease there is up at the end of October, the rebuild has been progressing slowly, and the new house probably won’t be finished by then. 

While the recovery process hasn’t been fun, they’ve tried to make the best of the situation. Mauch said her parents attend all of her matches, which is a refreshing experience. 

“I get to go home a lot, so it’s nice to go back and help out as much as I can,” she said. “We’ve been trying to redesign our kitchen, which has been fun, so there’s been some family bonding.”

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