Nebraska Pulls Out Dramatic, Record-Breaking Fourth Set Before Heartbreaking Finish

The Huskers set a school record for points in a set against Texas A&M, plus Murray lifting up Allick, Reilly's fight and the Aggies found their "five."

Bergen Reilly and Teraya Sigler celebrate as Nebraska beats Texas A&M in the fourth set of the NCAA Tournament Regional Final, 37-35. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Just after Virginia Adriano’s attack sailed long, the hand of every Nebraska player on the court raised to the sky, calling for a touch. 

The line judge on the Nebraska side of the court put his hand on top of his flag, indicating the ball had gone off the Texas A&M block. Harper Murray fell to her knees, partly out of celebration, but also out of relief. Laney Choboy celebrated with a few spins and shouts of joy. 

Nebraska had outlasted the Aggies 37-35 in a marathon fourth set that took 48 minutes, and featured 10 set points by Nebraska and three match points by the Aggies. The set contained it all: big blocks, more than 40 combined kills, hustle plays, and a test of the players’ wills and stamina.

For Murray, she was just trying to eke out the next point and keep Nebraska’s season alive. 

“In moments like that, I feel like most of us probably aren’t even thinking,” she said, “We’re just going back to the basics. We’re all hyper competitive, and I’ve never actually been in a situation like that, going that far.”

Laney Choboy celebrates a point scored by Manaia Ogbechie against Texas A&M in the regional semifinal | Amarillo Mullen

The 72 total points were the highest scoring set in Nebraska history. The Huskers had twice played 36-34 sets in the postseason — in 2001 in the second round against Colorado State and in 2004 in the regional final against USC. They also went 36-34 in the first set of a regular-season match against Santa Clara in 2002, but in that era, all sets were played to 30 points.

For as long as it was, the set fell short of making history as the longest in NCAA tournament history. That honor belongs to a 41-39 second-set battle where Oregon fended off Minnesota in a 2018 regional semifinal. However, the stakes were much higher on Sunday as one team’s season was on the line and a national network audience was watching the action. 

Earlier in the set, a wild finish seemed improbable. Nebraska had committed four straight hitting errors to give the Aggies an 11-7 advantage. Later, the Huskers trailed 18-11 and were staring down the end of their season. 

Bergen Reilly and Manaia Ogebechie teamed up for a block that kicked off three straight NU points. Texas A&M tried to stem the tide with a timeout, and Logan Lednicky recorded a kill of the break to put the Aggies up 19-14. 

NU responded quickly with five consecutive points. Rebekah Allick notched two kills and a block in the run while Reilly recorded the only ace in the set. Tie set. 

From there, neither team strung more than two points in a row the rest of the set. All of the drama late in the set came on deuce points, as the leading team had just two total attacks on 13 chances to close out the set. 

Harper Murray recorded a career-high 25 kills against the Aggies, including eight in the fourth set. | Amarillo Mullen

Nebraska’s first two set points were erased by first-ball sideout kills by Lednicky. Then Ogbechie missed her serve, just her second of the season. At 27-26, Kyndal Stowers notched another first-ball sideout kill. 

Before their next set point, the Huskers used their last sub of the set to put Teraya Sigler in for Taylor Landfair. The Aggies would continue to rotate players in until their final lineup change at 34-33. 

Texas A&M coach Morrison said he enjoyed watching six players on the court go all the way around and battle it out. 

“That was a really well-played set of volleyball,” he said. “We’re both really, really good volleyball teams, and we’re able to go out there and play almost like international volleyball, where we’re out of subs. We’re just going to go play.”

After the Huskers were called for an invasion on Maddie Waak’s set, they got their first swing to win the set at 29-28, but Murray was blocked. 

Rebekah Allick and Virginia Adriano celebrate a block in a back-and-forth fourth set. The duo teamed up for two blocks in the fourth set. | Amarillo Mullen

Virginia Adriano attempted her only serve of the match. Her serve caught the net, and Lednicky’s attack was stuffed, but Ifenna Cos-Ipkala corralled the deflection and slammed down a kill at the next point before Lednicky notched another FBSO.

Then the Aggies flipped the tables on Nebraska with three straight match points. The first two went away quickly as A&M missed their serve. Then Allick denied the third with a quick kill on NU’s first chance. 

Nebraska went back in front and earned its ninth set point at 35-34, but Stowers recorded a kill before NU could get a swing. On the next set point, Reilly dug a Lednicky attack and Choboy bump set Adriano to close out the set.

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said she was confident in the team’s ability to close out the set even with the lack of timeouts, challenges and subs. 

“We train all the time, everybody to do everything,” she said. “ I had a lot of trust that Virginia could go back there and hit a serve, and it’s Teraya in the front row. It wasn’t like a panic moment when we ran out of subs. This crew is good enough to win this set, and I kept telling myself that. It was pretty great to see us make it through two times with no subs.”

Nebraska setter Bergen Reilly celebrates as Nebraska beats Texas A&M in the fourth set of the NCAA Tournament Regional Final, 37-35. Reilly had the dig that set up the final kill of the set by Virginia Adriano. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

After the final point, the Aggies on the court protested the call and asked Morrison to challenge the play. He opted not to as he walked back to the huddle slowly and began preparations for the fifth set. (Television replay showed that the attack grazed the hands of the A&M block.)

After the break, A&M regrouped and tried to summon up more energy to finish off the match. Lednicky said the fourth set caused them to empty the tank. 

“We were all exhausted after that, especially, like, emotionally,” She said. “ You feel like you’ve given everything to try to take the game and come up a little short. That’s so tough emotionally. We all took a lot of deep breaths right before we went out there, and we were just like, ‘We have more to give.’”

Even though Nebraska came out on the short end in the fifth set, Murray was proud of the determination and resolve the Huskers showed in the fourth set. 

“I think that set showed that we weren’t going to let them take it from us and on our home court and in our gym,” Murray said. “It obviously didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but I think we showed a lot of fight, and that’s something to be proud of.”

Teammates Together

Nebraska middle blocker Rebekah Allick and outside hitter Harper Murray celebrate a point against Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament. After the match, Murray praised Allick for giving everything she could to the team and leaving a lasting legacy. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Rebekah Allick showed up to the press conference still coping with the loss that ended her career at Nebraska just a few minutes earlier. Her eyes were red, and she struggled to answer a few questions. However, when she was asked what she was going through after the match, the emotions welled up. 

“To be honest, I just want to be with my parents,” Allick said while fighting through tears. 

After a few seconds, Harper Murray, who was holding Allick’s hand under the table, stepped in to offer praise for her teammate. 

“I just want to say Bekka has put her heart and soul into this program, and you can tell by her face how much she cares,” Murray said. “ I don’t even care if we win or we lose, because what I tried to tell Bekka in the locker room is that she’s going to take away the memories and the relationships that we’ve made. Winning and losing, yeah, it’s a part of volleyball, and it sucks.

”But she put her heart and soul into this program for four years, and she’s leaving behind a great legacy and has so much to be proud of. We all see how much she cares, and it’s unbelievable.”

All-Regional Team

Texas A&M middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla and opposite hitter Logan Lednicky block an attack from Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Murray and Allick were Nebraska’s two representatives on the seven-player All-Region team. 

The rest of the honorees were opposite Logan Lednicky, outside hitter Kyndal Stowers, setter Maddie Waak and libero Ava Underwood, Texas A&M, and outside hitter Chloe Chicoine from Louisville, who put up 26 kills in a five-set loss to the Aggies in the regional semifinal. 

Find Your Five

Texas A&M players celebrate a point against Nebraska. After losing the fourth set, the Aggies focused on "Finding their Five" for the final set. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Lednicky said the key to the Aggies’ rebounding in the fifth set was their mantra of “Find Your Five.” 

She explained that on an emotional scale of 1 being completely relaxed and 10 being through the roof, they aim to find the midpoint where you are engaged and in control of your emotions and energy. 

“Everyone’s scale is a little bit different. My five could be her 10, or vice versa,” she said. “Finding your five specifically to where you’re gonna thrive the best on the court is something that we’ve all kind of instilled in ourselves.”

Reilly Battles Illness

Nebraska setter Bergen Reilly sets the ball while opposite hitter Virginia Adriano prepares to attack against Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

NU setter Bergen Reilly wasn’t at 100 percent going into the regional final match as she was dealing with an undisclosed illness. 

The Huskers didn’t have a good backup plan at setter with freshman Campbell Flynn unavailable after she broke her pinky finger last week in practice. 

She fought through and finished with 58 assists, tied for a team-high 13 digs and added five kills, two aces and three blocks. The Huskers hit .270 for the match as Texas A&M put up 17 blocks, a season best by an NU opponent. 

After the marathon fourth set, Busboom Kelly said she was worried about how much Reilly had left after playing all those extra points. 

“It’s tough. You look at our setter, and it’s like, ‘Are you gonna make it?’ And she’s looking at you like ‘I don’t know.’” Busboom Kelly said. “Everybody else was in there, willing us to win, and we’re going to make this as easy as we can for Bergen. We had no other option at that point.”

Murray said it was tough to see Reilly suffer after the match, given all she had done to run the offense. She praised Reilly’s ability to fight through adversity to play, make good decisions, and play great defense despite not being at 100 percent. 

“She’s the best setter I’ve ever played with and will probably ever play with, and the fact that she could go out there feeling as sick as she does, and still work her butt off and play like that is. It’s truly amazing. I love her to death.

Reilly may not have been the only NU player under the weather. 

According to Sam McKewon of the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska didn’t have other players available for postmatch interviews because “multiple doctors were dealing with players who had flu-like symptoms.”

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