Nebraska's Balance Outweighs Stars in Creighton Win

There are several star players on the roster for No. 1 Nebraska, but Tuesday night's win over Creighton was truly a full team effort.

Every single player needed to do their part for No. 1 Nebraska to outlast No. 18 Creighton in Omaha Tuesday night. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraska junior outside hitter Harper Murray led all players in kills Tuesday night against No. 18 Creighton, tallying 17 on the night.

That’s a headline a lot of people expect every time the Husker volleyball team takes the floor, but not often can you follow that up by saying Murray was also the least efficient Nebraska player that recorded a kill in the match.

Murray had nine errors to go with her 17 kills on 50 swings, which means Nebraska surviving Creighton in a five-set thriller had more to do with how the Huskers rallied around Murray.

Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray led all players in kills Tuesday night, but none of her success came easily. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Junior middle blocker Andi Jackson chipped in 13 kills, but possibly the surprise of the night came from true freshman opposite hitter Virginia Adriano who also finished the night with 13 kills, many of them coming in the pivotal late sets of the match.

“You sort of (have) been waiting to see Virginia take over a game like she did in that third,” Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “We told the team we’ve got to trust Virginia to kill some balls back there, and she came out of the locker room and killed a bunch of balls and then got her serve going. You just see what a weapon that is when she trusted, and I thought it was awesome.”

A record-breaking night 🔥

Virginia Adriano and #1 Nebraska hold off #18 Creighton in front of a record-breaking 17,675 fans in Omaha pic.twitter.com/N2JpDEPDVs

— Avid (@AvidVolley) September 17, 2025

In front of a record, sell-out crowd, Adriano shined with a .320 hitting average against a Creighton defense that benefited early and often from Nebraska being out of system. And you might not have been able to tell, but nerves were at an all-time high for the freshman from Italy.

“I was kind of scared, honestly,” Adriano said. “Stress is high in this kind of game, but I try to rely on teammates that have confidence in that moment, so I tried to do that, and it kind of helped.”

When you’re a budding star on the top-ranked volleyball team in the country, you have plenty of teammates to lean on. Senior outside hitter Taylor Landfair was a fourth Husker who recorded double-digit kills in the match with 12, and Nebraska’s ability to spread the wealth around was enough to keep Creighton at bay.

Creighton played better than most against the top-ranked Huskers Tuesday night, forcing the match to five sets. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“I’ve said it before,” Creighton volleyball coach Brian Rosen said. “I think they are the true number one team in the country right now. We’ve gotten to now see all the other teams compete, and they’re very balanced. They have very few weaknesses. I thought we did a really nice job executing our service pressure. I thought that’s what kind of was missing in the first set.”

Following the loss to No. 1 Nebraska Tuesday night, the Bluejays are now 5-5 on the year, with all five of their losses coming to nationally-ranked teams, which include No. 2 Penn State, No. 4 Louisville, No. 5 Texas and No. 22 USC. Having that kind of schedule early allowed Creighton to cause more than a few headaches for their in-state rival.

“You could tell early on that Creighton was not going to let our middles beat them, and so we went away from them even though that’s one thing that’s made us great all year,” Busboom Kelly said. “It just opened up those tips for (Rebeka Allick) to strategically place. I thought she did a great job of being smart.”

Nebraska opposite hitter Virginia Adriano attacks against Creighton outside hitter Ava Martin. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

With Nebraska’s strength in the middle neutralized, the Huskers flexed what they could do on the outside, which led to Adriano getting more of a shine in the match. She joked that she made sure to smile once the spotlight was on her as well.

“Someone told me that if I smile, I play better, so I’m trying to improve that because I’m not a very happy face when I play, and I try to do better on that,” Adriano admitted. “Something like that was kind of releasing, so that helped.”

"Someone told me that if I smile I play better" 😁

Virginia Adriano had a lot to grin about after the #Huskers five-set win over Creighton 🏐

Career-high 13 kills on .320 hitting 💪@WOWT6News pic.twitter.com/7qwczVXKUH

— Mason Kern (@MasonKernMedia) September 17, 2025

Adriano’s performance carried the Huskers when they absolutely needed it down the stretch, and it’s not lost on her first-year head coach.

“We really needed that as a team, and I think her personally to have a great game in a big environment where you know she has to take over the game or we might lose that (is great),” Busboom Kelly said.

How Nebraska outlasted Creighton Tuesday night also led to some turned heads. The team featuring the likes of Murray, Jackson and Allick are known for simply overpowering their opposition.

Creighton's serve kept Nebraska off balance most of the night, leading to several out of system rallies. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Creighton’s great service game and Nebraska’s poor serve-receive led to the Huskers being out of system early and often, which forced even the most powerful hitters on the team to find other ways to get the ball down on Creighton’s end. Add on the loudness of the record crowd in attendance, and Nebraska had to switch to a different channel to continue finding success offensively.

“Yeah, I think we just fall back on our training, and like Dani said, go back to what we know and playing Nebraska volleyball,” Nebraska junior setter Bergen Reilly said. “We knew the second set was not even close to our best, and we only lost by four. That was encouraging to us, but it also kind of lit a fire under us. If they’re going to have to beat us, they have to beat us because they play better than us, not just because we hand them the game.”

Once the match reached the pivotal fifth set, it was Nebraska using touch, not power to make enough plays late to earn the win.

Creighton's service game and block kept Nebraska's heavy swingers at bay, forcing the Huskers to attack more creatively. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“That’s something we really pride ourselves on, of not letting the junk score,” Rosen said. “They had three tip kills. I think it was like 3-3, then all of a sudden it was 6-3 on some balls that we’d love to have back. They got us into some, not aces, but just some out-of-system situations that took our middle out of the offense and allowed them to set their block, and when their block is set, it’s a very formidable block.”

Nebraska’s passing still left a lot to be desired, with Reilly leading the team with 43 assists on 105 attempts. Sophomore libero Olivia Mauch chipped in seven assists, and Murray got into the act with four assists of her own.

Nebraska, no doubt, will be internalizing the stats from this match as they get ready for a Saturday home showdown with Arizona, but for the soon-to-be visiting Wildcats, their scouting of Nebraska just got that much harder. The Huskers proved Tuesday night that if you shut down one facet of their game, that just opens the door for another.

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