Nebraska Releases Its 2026 Volleyball Schedule

The Huskers face a challenging start to October and wrap up Big Ten play with three matches in five days.

The Huskers released their schedule on Thursday for the 2026 season. | Amarillo Mullen

The Nebraska road show now has a full itinerary for 2026. 

The season will take the Huskers to Texas, Las Vegas, South Dakota and Chicago in addition to the usual Big Ten sites. The Huskers will start the season away from the newly renovated Devaney Center until their first home match on Sept. 10. 

The Big Ten announced the complete league schedule on Thursday and NU revealed its nonconference schedule, most of which was already known through special event announcements.

Dani Busboom Kelly is entering her second year as the head coach at Nebraska. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The regular season will conclude with the first-ever end-of-season Big Ten Tournament. The event will be played at the Fishers Event Center just outside Indianapolis from Nov. 20-25. 

With the inclusion of the tournament, the league altered its regular season format. The Big Ten has used a 20-match format since 1991, when Penn State joined to give the conference 11 members. When Nebraska joined the league in 2011, the format stayed the same but the number of home and away opponents decreased. It dropped even more over the years when Maryland, Rutgers and the four West Coast teams were added. Now, each team will play each league member just once for a 17-match slate.

Start times and TV information for the matches will be announced later. Also, details for Nebraska's Red-White Scrimmage are still being finalized. 

Now boarding: The 2026 Nebraska Volleyball Schedule ✈️ pic.twitter.com/kPLAsrWCc1

— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) May 28, 2026

Here are some takeaways from the schedule release:

Road Show

The Huskers will start the season heavy on road matches. After the Red-White Scrimmage on Aug. 15 (the details of which are still being finalized), NU won't play another home match for almost four weeks. During the opening weeks of the season, the Huskers will play an exhibition and five regular-season matches on the road.

One More NonCon

The only additional nonconference match that wasn’t previously known was the final one: a match against Florida Gulf Coast on Sept. 20. The match will be part of the Husker Invitational, which also includes North Carolina. The Huskers will also host September matches against New Mexico, Baylor and Georgia Tech for the Ameritas Players Challenge. Creighton and Nebraska will renew their in-state rivalry at a new venue at Pinnacle Bank Arena. 

Spooky Season

The Huskers have a challenging start to October. Every Big Ten week is tough, but the Huskers will face Penn State, Indiana and Wisconsin over a 10-day span starting October 1, with the first two of those matches on the road. Those three teams finished in the top seven of the Big Ten last year and pose the biggest threats to the Huskers’ quest for four straight league titles. 

The 2025 Big Ten Player of the Year and three-time Big Ten Setter of the Year, Bergen Reilly is back for her senior season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Road Trip

Nebraska plays four consecutive road matches during the last weekend in October and starting in November. The Huskers will go to Michigan to face the Wolverines and Spartans. The following weekend, NU makes its annual West Coast Trip and will play Oregon and Washington. Not only do the Huskers play four straight road matches, but both pairs of matches are back-to-backs. 

Midweek Missing

After the Big Ten built its television schedule on Wednesday night matches, the Huskers are not playing any games on Wednesdays. For league matches, NU plays five matches on Thursday, two on Friday, eight on Saturday and once on Sunday and Tuesdays. Including the nonconference matches, the Huskers will play on every day of the week, except for Monday. 

Furious Finish

The Huskers' heaviest stretch comes to close out the regular season. NU plays three matches in five days from Nov. 12-17. Fortunately for the Huskers, all of those matches will be at home as they host Illinois on Nov. 12, Iowa on Nov. 14 and Minnesota on Nov. 17. 

After adjusting quickly to the American college game in 2025, Virginia Adriano is looking to take a big step forward this fall. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Home Blocks

The Huskers play 15 home matches, but they are broken up into four stretches without travel. NU will play eight matches from Sept. 10-26, including Creighton at Pinnacle Bank Arena. After a one-off home match against Wisconsin, Nebraska plays three straight matches in John Cook Arena from Oct. 17-24. The Huskers wrap up the season with three more home matches from Nov. 12-14. If all goes well, the Huskers will hope to add four more home matches in the NCAA Tournament.

Not Quite Done

While most teams will wrap up their regular season with the Big Ten Tournament, Minnesota won’t be sitting around waiting for the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers will host High Point on Nov. 28 to wrap up the regular season.

Nebraska Volleyball's 2026 Schedule

• Aug. 27 vs. Florida/Penn State/SMU 7 p.m. (Spikes Under the Lights Exhibition)
• Aug. 27 vs. Florida/Penn State/SMU (Spikes Under the Lights Exhibition)
• Aug. 29 vs. UNLV (Players Era Showcase)
• Aug. 30 vs. Texas (Players Era Showcase)
• Sep. 2 at South Dakota State
• Sep. 4 at DePaul
• Sep. 6 vs. Missouri (Big Ten/SEC Challenge, Wrigley Field)
• Sep. 10 vs. New Mexico 7 p.m. (Ameritas Players Challenge)
• Sep. 11 vs. Baylor 7 p.m. (Ameritas Players Challenge)
• Sep. 12 vs. Georgia Tech 7 p.m. (Ameritas Players Challenge)
• Sep. 16 vs. Creighton 7 p.m.
• Sep. 18 vs. North Carolina 7 p.m. (Husker Invitational)
• Sep. 20 vs. Florida Gulf Coast 7 p.m. (Husker Invitational)
• Sep. 25 vs. Rutgers 7 p.m.
• Sep. 26 vs. Ohio State 7 p.m.
• Oct. 1 at Penn State 7 p.m.
• Oct. 3 at Maryland 7 p.m.
• Oct. 8 at Indiana 7 p.m.
• Oct. 10 vs. Wisconsin 7 p.m.
• Oct. 15 at Northwestern 7 p.m.
• Oct. 17 vs. Purdue 7 p.m.
• Oct. 22 vs. UCLA 7 p.m.
• Oct. 24 vs. USC 7 p.m.
• Oct. 30 at Michigan 7 p.m.
• Oct. 31 at Michigan State 7 p.m.
• Nov. 7 at Oregon 7 p.m.
• Nov. 8 at Washington 7 p.m.
• Nov. 12 vs. Illinois 7 p.m.
• Nov. 14 vs. Iowa 7 p.m.
• Nov. 17 vs. Minnesota 7 p.m.
• Nov. 20-25 Big Ten Tournament in Fishers, Indiana

All times central. Home matches in bold.