Nebraska Mixes Up the Lineup, Pulls Off Reverse Sweep Against Kentucky

NASHVILLE—Olivia Mauch first got a little help from her teammates, and then the Nebraska sophomore helped them out.

After the Huskers fell into a 0-2 hole against No. 7 Kentucky, NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly decided to insert Mauch as the libero to replace Laney Choboy. To make the change, director of operations Lindsay Peterson ran to the locker room to get Mauch’s red jersey. Then Mauch’s teammates surrounded her to allow her to quickly swap tops during the break.

While the moment provided a brief moment of privacy in front of the 11,200 fans at Bridgestone Arena, it also served as a rallying point for the Huskers. Mauch helped stabilize the defense as the Huskers rallied for a 24-26, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-8 victory against the seventh-ranked Wildcats Sunday afternoon.

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— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) August 31, 2025

Mauch finished with 14 digs and helped tighten up the serve receive. UK recorded four ace serves in the second set, but only one the rest of the way.

“My team huddled around me and was like, you got it,” Muach said about when she switched jerseys. “They're so supportive. I really couldn't do it without them all.”

In addition to switching to Mauch at libero, Nebraska (4-0) also turned to freshman Virginia Adriano at opposite, with Skyler Pierce subbing in to play one rotation at the left pin, and began setting Harper Murray in the back row more. Adriano finished with just three kills, but added three blocks.

Busboom Kelly said while Mauch provided a huge spark, most of the mistakes during the first two sets were happening on their side of the net. To try to recapture the momentum, she decided to turn to the bench and mix up the lineup.

“I didn't think one person was playing poorly, or even one or two; it was just everybody. So let's make some changes and see if that helps the overall flow of the game,” she said. “That's the beauty of this team, and if they trust that as coaches, we're making the best decisions in the moment that we believe, then we'll have seamless changes throughout the season.”

Busboom Kelly said Choboy, who finished with 10 digs, passed better in the final three sets after resetting when she came off the court for three rotations.

While Mauch helped the defense settle in, Murray fueled the offense. The junior outside hitter finished with 23 kills on a .340 hitting percentage to go with 15 digs and four blocks. Five of her kills in the final three sets came from back-row attacks.

“The game is typically won or lost on the left, so we have to have a left side that can take over, get big kills,” Busboom Kelly said. “We knew that if we could get her the ball in the back row, that that was going to be open. And so we started feeding that, which was also huge. And back row attacks typically create quite a bit of momentum for your side. So we started using that more. And I think she just got a ton of confidence from those few swings and carried that over to her front row play.

Across the net, Kentucky’s outside hitters were the centerpiece of the offense. Brooklyn DeLeye finished with 23 kills while Eva Hudson added 19 kills. However, they both needed more than 60 attacks with hitting percentages of .162 and .185, respectively. The rest of UK’s team combined for 17 kills and hit .154.

Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray heads to the serve line during the Red-White Scrimmage on Saturday. — Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray had a career-high 23 kills against No. 7 Kentucky. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

In front of an announced crowd of 11,200, most of whom were wearing red, the Huskers started quickly and led 13-8 in the first set. However, the Wildcats (1-1) settled in and rallied to tie the set at 16-all before using three straight points to take their first lead at 20-18. The Huskers tied it up 23-23, but Kentucky closed it out on its second set point.

Kentucky finished the second set strong and used a 6-0 run to go up 24-19 before closing it out on the second set point. Despite leading 2-0, UK coach Craig Skinner said he expected the Huskers to fight their way back into the match with their physicality and size.

“There's no way to expect to try and beat a team 3-0 that is the caliber of Nebraska. They're going to make adjustments,” he said. “We compounded it by limiting our offensive options. Brooklyn and Eva can't take 70 swings every night, and we have to have a little bit more balance.”

Despite NU’s adjustments, the Wildcats led 10-9 in the third set. However, Rebekah Allick recorded back-to-back blocks to put NU in front again. The Huskers pulled away with a 4-0 run to set up set point, which Allick put away on a slide. Murray terminated on five of her six attacks in the set.

Allick finished with 10 kills and eight blocks, while fellow middle blocker Andi Jackson totaled 10 kills and four blocks.

Nebraska middle blocker Rebekah Allick and opposite hitter Virginia Adriano celebrate. — Nebraska middle blocker Rebekah Allick and opposite hitter Virginia Adriano celebrate during a five-set win over No. 7 Kentucky in Nashville. | Nebraska Athletics

Kentucky had another chance to finish off the match in the fourth set with the score tied at 21-all, but Jackson recorded a tip kill and Deleye committed a hitting error. After the teams exchanged service errors, Jackson ended the set with a kill on a slide attack.

The Wildcats' serving errors failed at inopportune moments. UK missed 17 serves, compared to 10 for the Huskers, including six by DeLeye.

NU took charge in the fifth set by jumping out to a 6-2 lead, but the Wildcats responded with three points in a row. UK appeared to make it 7-6, but after a call reversal following a challenge, the Huskers led 8-5 as the teams changed sides. Nebraska took control with a 4-0 run late. At match point, Mauch said she was trying to make her serve move while keeping it in.

“Every time I hit the ball hard, it would float out of bounds,” she said. “I was just trying to make it move, hopefully, drop, and that's kind of what it did.”

Nebraska opposite hitter Virginia Adriano, middle blocker Rebekah Allick, and setter Bergen Reilly. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Junior setter Bergen Reilly finished with 46 assists and 18 digs as the Huskers hit .221 for the match. Taylor Landfair added seven kills for the Huskers.

Busboom Kelly said she enjoyed playing in the first edition of the Broadway Block Party in Nashville, but the event caused some challenges. Because the area was hosting a Hot Wheels Monster Trucks event on Friday and Saturday, teams didn’t get into the arena until Sunday morning.

“Once we started playing a little bit smoother, those outside factors didn't come in anymore,” she said. “We talked about this needing to be a total team win, and I thought we did great. We put some people in some tough situations, and they delivered.”

Nebraska will finally play a regular-season match at John Cook Arena this next weekend. The Huskers host Wright State on Friday before taking on California on Sunday.

Nebraska Volleyball 2025 Schedule

Aug. 9 Red 3, White 1
Aug. 16 Nebraska 3, Alumni 1
Aug. 22 Nebraska 3, Pittsburgh 1
Aug. 24 Nebraska 3, Stanford 0
Aug. 29 Nebraska 3, Lipscomb 0
Aug. 31 Nebraska 3, Kentucky 2
Sept. 5 vs. Wright State 7 p.m. B1G+
Sept. 7 vs. California 1 p.m. BTN
Sept. 12 vs. Utah 6 p.m. FS1
Sept. 13 vs. Grand Canyon 6 p.m. NPM
Sept. 16 at Creighton 6:30 p.m. FS1
Sept. 20 vs. Arizona BTN
Sept. 24 vs Michigan 6 p.m. BTN
Sept. 27 vs. Maryland 3 p.m. NPM
Oct. 3 at Penn State 7 p.m. FOX
Oct. 4 at Rutgers
Oct. 10 vs. Washington 8 p.m. BTN
Oct. 12 at Purdue
Oct. 17 at Michigan State
Oct. 19 at Michigan 1 p.m.
Oct. 24 vs. Northwestern NPM
Oct. 25 vs. Michigan State 7:30 p.m. BTN
Oct. 31 at Wisconsin 8 p.m. BTN
Nov. 2 vs. Oregon 1 p.m. BTN
Nov. 6 vs. Illinois 7 p.m. FS1
Nov. 8 at Minnesota 2:30 p.m. NBC
Nov. 14 at UCLA BTN
Nov. 16 at USC 2 p.m. B1G+
Nov. 20 vs. Iowa FS1
Nov. 22 at Indiana
Nov. 28 vs. Penn State 5:30 p.m. BTN
Nov. 29 vs. Ohio State BTN

Home matches are bolded. All times central.

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