Monday Digs: Emptying the Notebook on Husker Volleyball's Big Weekend

Emptying the notebook - and my brain - from Nebraska’s weekend. I’ll try to do this more as the season goes along, when maybe our podcast schedule with Volleyball State - and trying to pay at least some attention to my family on the weekends - makes it difficult to wring everything out by Sunday evening.

We talked about this plenty on both the Volleyball Late postgame show Friday and the newest Volleyball State (check your podcast feeds Tuesday or get it live as a subscriber), but I still can’t get over just how shockingly bad Penn State was on Friday.

From Friday's Volleyball Late postgame for @I80Club subscribers:

By any statistic you want to pick, Nebraska's sweep of Penn State was historic in the Huskers' dominance of their long-time rival. pic.twitter.com/DvjNzt379U
— Volleyball State Podcast (@VolleyballPod) October 6, 2025

The 34 points the Nittany Lions scored were tied for the fourth-fewest Nebraska has allowed in a match - to anyone - since sets began to get played to 25 points in 2008. The other schools on this ignominious list are a who’s who of Big Ten bottom feeders and the sacrificial lambs sent to Lincoln for the early rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Credit to my Volleyball State co-host Lincoln Arneal for the research on this.

Fewest points allowed by Nebraska in the 25-point Rally-Scoring Era

29 - Florida A&M, Dec. 2024
32 - Maryland, Oct. 2015
32 - Rutgers, Nov. 2017
34 - Penn State, Oct. 2025
34 - Delaware St, Dec. 2022
34 - Wake Forest, Aug. 2018
34 - Oral Roberts, Sept. 2017
35 - Rutgers, Sept. 2022
35 - Missouri State, Sept. 2018
35 - Indiana, Nov. 2017
36 - Louisiana-Monroe, Aug. 2013

Yes, Nebraska played well on Friday. But Penn State stunk, and their head coach said as much during a funeral dirge postgame press conference.

“It was a disappointing effort on our part,” Katie Schumacher-Cawley said. “I think that’s a really good Nebraska team, but I don’t think we responded well and weren’t ready to go.”

I couldn’t find records for the lowest hitting percentage in Penn State’s online record book, but it’s hard to imagine a previous Nittany Lions team hitting (-.114) like they did on Friday. Penn State only managed to hit above .000 in one of their six rotations. That came in Ro1, with leading attacker Kennedy Martin delivering three of her 11 kills.

Every other Penn State player combined for five kills.

Rebekah Allick (5) and Virginia Adriano (9) go up for a block. — Rebekah Allick (5) and Virginia Adriano (9) led a Husker defense that held Penn State to a negative hitting percentage. | Amarillo Mullen

Pressed to find a positive for her team in the match, Schumacher-Cawley had to dig deep to point to the tough serving of reserve outside hitter Karis Willow, who served an ace after coming off the bench for just her third appearance of the season.

Fair play to Willow, but if that’s your highlight, things have not gone well.

Nebraska, which boasts the nation’s top defense currently, holding teams to just .102 hitting on the season, can bottle up most teams. But, Schumacher-Cawley was right to be disheartened in a Penn State block and defense that, already struggling this season, failed to challenge Husker hitters in any meaningful way.

“Defensively, we were really bad,” she said. “They were able to set anywhere along the net that they wanted. Sometimes it was uncontested. They’re a good team. They’ll find ways to score, but we didn’t help ourselves for sure.”

I mean, THIS? This shot should never drop for a kill.

When we talk about Penn State's defense being off last night, this is what we mean.

There's just no way this shot from Allick should drop for a kill. pic.twitter.com/adM3UAooHt
— Volleyball State Podcast (@VolleyballPod) October 4, 2025

Penn State rebounded, barely, holding off Maryland in five sets on Sunday, but it’s a mess in Happy Valley right now. Schumacher-Cawley has an enormous challenge to rally a team that seems pretty shaken after the loss of setter Izzy Starck, who walked away from the team last month, and find a way to avoid becoming the first Penn State team to ever miss the NCAA Tournament.

What do we like?

When I pointed out Penn State’s shocking stinker on Friday, Nebraska fans have been predictably defensive of the Huskers’ own contributions to that result.

So, let’s hand out some flowers. And like many of the flowers I’ve given in my life, they come accompanied with an admission that I was wrong.

At the start of the year, in our preseason podcasts and live chats with fans in the I-80 Club Discord (again, subscribe for just $5/month), I wondered if junior Bergen Reilly was keeping the starting setter job warm until freshman Campbell Flynn got her feet under her.

Reilly has responded by playing some of the best volleyball of her career, an admission I’ll happily make now. Monday, she was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week for the 11th time in her career.

Nebraska setter Bergen Reilly during the AVCA First Serve. — Reilly could be the first Husker setter since Rachel Holloway in 2007 to set an offense that hit over .300 for the season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Always a tremendous defensive player (she leads the team in digs!), Reilly has found a rhythm with her assortment of talented attackers. The Huskers are hitting .327 on the year, putting them in the top five nationally, and seem like a safe bet at this point to become the first Nebraska team since 2007 to eclipse .300 hitting for a season.

Reilly has particularly shined in the last two weeks. The Huskers are hitting .389 over their last five matches, and have topped .300 in 11 of their 14 matches in 2025.

That’s a credit to Reilly’s stewardship of the offense. As is Nebraska’s balance. Of their five starting attackers, none has fewer than 11 percent of NU’s attacks. Harper Murray leads the way, taking 25 percent of the Huskers’ swings. But compare that to other top teams, where one player dominates the attack.

PLAYER	Percent of Team's Total Attacks
Kennedy Martin (Penn State)	32%
Olivia Babcock (Pittsburgh)	34%
Mimi Colyer (Wisconsin)	34%

Reilly has kept opponents off balance, working in more sets to back-row attackers and even upping her own aggressiveness at the net, averaging one kill per set over the last six matches.

That balance might actually hurt Nebraska's players chances at postseason honors, where eye-catching statistics can sway those who pick all-conference and All-American teams.

Hurt, with one exception: If the season ended today, Reilly undoubtedly would win her third straight Big Ten Setter of the Year honor.

What can improve?

It hasn’t bitten Nebraska yet this season in a 14-0 start, but I continue to check passing stats after each match. It was the Best of Times/Worst of Times last weekend.

Nebraska’s back row was excellent against Penn State, passing a 2.3 out of 3 and putting up a season-best 70 percent Good Pass Percentage. But, Sunday against Rutgers, the Huskers dropped below a 2.0 for just the second time all season, passing 1.89 with a season-low 39 percent GP%.

Laney Choboy (6) receives a Stanford serve. — Laney Choboy (6) has split time with sophomore Olivia Mauch as Nebraska's libero this season. | Amarillo Mullen

Not that it hurt the Huskers’ offensive production, NU hit .390 for goodness’ sake, and switched liberos, giving Laney Choboy the start in the off-colored jersey.

Nebraska continues to work on the passing relationships with new players in the back row. The Huskers are passing a 2.13 this season, down from an outstanding 2.30 last year when they were anchored by All-American Lexi Rodriguez.

But if we’re looking for something to nitpick for an undefeated, No. 1-ranked team, the first contact would be it.

Caught my eye

Every time Dani Busboom Kelly decides to dig into her reserve depth, we’re reminded just what a luxury the Huskers have in having a player like Manaia Ogbechie coming off the bench.

The freshman middle blocker again had Nebraska opponents envious of the Huskers’ spoiled standing when she was given her third start of the year against Rutgers, while Rebekah Allick was given the day off.

Manaia Ogbechie (14) readies for a kill. — Freshman middle blocker Manaia Ogbechie is hitting .500 on the year. And she doesn't even start. | Amarillo Mullen

Ogbechie had five kills without an error on 10 swings (.500) and added eight blocks. She’s hit .500 or better in all four of her starts this year, and is hitting an even .500 on the season, which would be a school record and lead the Big Ten if she had enough attempts to qualify.

Remember, Ogbechie was a late addition to Nebraska’s 2025 recruiting class. She originally committed to Northwestern. But when the Wildcats made a coaching change, and Ayden Ames switched her commitment from Nebraska to Texas, the Huskers reestablished the connection with Ogbechie in the spring of 2024.

With Ogbechie and fellow freshman Kenna Cogill, plus top 2026 middle recruit Keoni Williams, arriving next season, the Huskers seem like they’ll be alright in the middle when Allick and junior starter Andi Jackson are finished.

Numbers to know

Volleyball is full of statistics, and Lord knows, I throw a lot of them at you. But here are a few numbers to know heading into this week.

.225 - Nebraska’s net attack percentage. That is, the Huskers’ .327 attacking mark compared to their .102 opponent hitting percentage.

The difference between those two numbers is the closest thing to a Grand Unified Theory of Volleyball I can think of. If your net attack percentage is +100 percentage points, you’re winning a lot of matches. If it’s 200, like Nebraska’s this year, that’s a Final Four-caliber team.

Last year, only Pittsburgh was +.200. Creighton, at +.194, was pretty close. Nebraska was at +.139.

58.8 - Nebraska’s Good Block Touch percentage against Penn State on Friday. This is the percentage of a team’s blocking attempts on which they either stuff or get a block touch that leads to a controlled dig.

Nebraska corralled nearly three-fifths of Penn State’s attacks, holding the Nittany Lions to a negative hitting mark. If your Block Touch % is 50 percent or better, you’re probably a pretty good defensive team. The Huskers are third in the Big Ten for the season at 50.2 percent.

4 - Out of six rotations in which the Huskers have a hitting percentage of .300 or better. And even the ones that don’t, Rotations 4 and 5, are above .270. A testament to Nebraska’s balance and danger they pose in each rotation.

The Week Ahead

Friday: Washington (7-7) at Nebraska (14-0), 8:00 p.m., BTN

The Huskies evened their Big Ten record at 2-2 after beating Ohio State and Iowa at home last weekend.

Junior outside hitter Kierstyn Barton had 12 kills and hit .450 vs. the Hawkeyes. She leads the Huskies and is top 10 in the conference, averaging 3.9 kills per set.

But Washington has struggled to keep opposing offenses in check this year. Their .223 opponent hitting percentage ranks 17th in the Big Ten.

Sunday: Nebraska at No. 12 Purdue (12-2), Noon, B1G+

We’re streaming this one? Make sure your B1G+ subscription is paid up and count on logging in a minimum of twice on Sunday.

The Boilermakers are one of the Big Ten’s feel-good stories. Credit Coach Dave Shondell for putting together a tough group after losing outside hitters Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine to the transfer portal after last season.

Junior Kenna Wollard has stepped into Purdue’s starring role. After playing opposite hitter last year, she’s moved to the left and has put up at least 14 kills in all but one match. She had 33 last week in the Boilermakers’ reverse sweep of UCLA after Purdue fought off four match points in Game 3.

Wollard leads an offense that can go swing for swing with anyone, hitting .297. Elkhorn North product Grace Heaney is averaging 3 kills per set at opposite, and setter Taylor Anderson is third in the Big Ten, averaging 10.6 assists per set.

The last two meetings between Nebraska and Purdue have gone to five sets, with the Huskers surviving 17-15 in John Cook Arena last year.

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