Nebraska Could Play Matches in a New Venue Next Year

After opening the season in PBA, Dannen and Busboom Kelly are open to playing in the arena again. Plus, where else could the Huskers be trying to schedule matches?

Nebraska went 2-0 at Pinnacle Bank Arena during opening weekend. Those matches aren't likely to be the last the Huskers ever play at PBA and might include postseason matches. | Kaleb Henry

Nebraska volleyball has sold out basketball and hockey arenas, a football stadium and many other venues from coast to coast. 

It's track record of filling all types of venues has promoters thinking big and creatively.

Next year, the Huskers could add another new place to play to their impressive sell-out streak. Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen said the Huskers are likely to play in a non-traditional venue next year on his radio show on Tuesday evening.

“We get invited to go do things because of that draw that other schools don’t get invited to,” Dannen said. “(Former coach) John (Cook) ’s been willing, obviously, with Volleyball Day in Nebraska, but Dani’s also willing to look at, how do we take this show on the road, just to bring more attention to volleyball? Because we are the program that can do that.”

The type of venue isn’t clear yet, but fan speculation has included Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. One idea Dannen shot down was Madison Square Garden in New York City, even though Lindsay Peterson, the director of operations, said it “wasn’t out of the question” during an interview last week. 

On the Master Coaches podcast this week, Cook said Nebraska was working on arranging a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

.@HuskerVB set a women’s sporting event world attendance record in 2023 after playing in their football stadium.

Which “non-traditional venue” would you want to see Nebraska play in?? No guess is too crazy 👀⤵️

Give me Arrowhead (proximity?) or Wrigley (a girl can dream🤷🏼‍♀️) https://t.co/OackME7kTd

— Emily Ehman (@emilyehman) October 22, 2025

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said Dannen is the one bringing her ideas on pitches to host the Huskers in nontraditional matches. While she doesn’t want these types of matches to distract the team or detract from their overall goals, she’s always open to the conversation. 

“Volleyball just continues to grow, and people want to put us on TV on major networks,” Busboom Kelly said. “ Sometimes that might take thinking out of the box to get more eyes.”

While the Huskers could play in a different type of venue in 2026, one arena they found to be quite hospitable this season is Pinnacle Bank Arena. NU opened the season with a pair of sellouts as part of the AVCA First Serve Showcase. Dannen said he imagines they will play a regular-season match at PBA next year. 

Andi Jackson and Laney Choboy said they were in favor of the idea. Choboy said sometimes bigger arenas cause issues for passers getting a good read on serves, but she felt comfortable in PBA. 

Jackson said she loves the thought of returning to PBA. 

“It was a really cool environment. I thought they did a great job with it and hosting,” she said. “I’m all for that because it was a really, really fun environment. It’s basically a home game, so I can’t complain.”

Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson gets ready to spike the ball while Pitt's Dagmar Mourits during the third set of the AVCA First Serve. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

After playing in front of crowds of more than 11,000 in Michigan and Michigan State last weekend, Dannen wants to get bigger crowds for volleyball matches. It’s one of the reasons why they are expanding John Cook Arena to a capacity larger than 10,000. 

Busboom Kelly often played matches in the 22,090-seat KFC Yum! Center during her eight years at Louisville, instead of its on-campus arena, which only fits around 1,200 fans. She said the two early-season matches at PBA proved they could fill it with a loud, energetic crowd. While she doesn’t want to make the move full-time, she’s open to moving the occasional match from Devaney to the bigger PBA. 

“If we can double our fans, I don’t know why we wouldn’t do it,” Busboom Kelly said. “I know there are scheduling issues, which we’ll work through. I do think Devaney is more of a home-court advantage, but I don’t think it’s so significant of a home-court advantage to keep 8,000 people out from watching us play.”

Dannen is also open to the idea of playing postseason matches in the Haymarket arena. However, finding an open weekend in December is more challenging because men’s and women’s basketball get first preference, and their schedule is set months in advance, including Big Ten games. 

“If we can find a way to squeeze one of the weekends of the NCAA Tournament out of it, we’re going to look toward that,” he said. 

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