Nebraska's Seniors Take Center Stage in Sweep Over Iowa

LINCOLN — Laney Choboy started crying thinking about Senior Night three days ago.

The Nebraska senior said her emotions ran high in the days before Saturday’s match against Iowa at John Cook Arena. She said the more she thought about it, the more she cried.

She cried more on Friday when her grandmother, Joanne Choboy, and cousin, Addison Papai, flew in from New York to surprise her.

The 5-foot-3 defensive specialist kept getting emotional during the Huskers’ 25-12, 25-15, 25-17 sweep over Iowa. She started to let them out during the post-match ceremony to honor the seniors and the press conference that followed.

“I would catch myself just looking up in the crowd and taking it all in,” Choboy said. “Knowing that, obviously, this is not our last home game, but just really soaking it in, how many people that we play in front of, and how many supporters we have. I was thinking about the whole game.”

Choboy got her first start of the season and kicked off the match from the service line as the Hawkeyes overpassed her serve, leading to an easy kill from fellow senior Harper Murray. She said she changed the toss on her serve because she started “glitching last game.”

“I changed something in my brain, and it looked pretty good tonight,” Choboy said. “I guess we’ll see where that takes me.”

Laney Choboy reacts after a point against Iowa on Saturday night. The senior defensive specialist finished with a match-high 10 digs and talked about the emotion of the night after the match. | Nebraska Athletics

With all four seniors on the court, Nebraska (24-0, 13-0) went up 4-2 before an underclassman touched the ball as junior Skyler Pierce recorded a kill on the seventh rally of the match. During the seniors’ early dominance, Murray recorded two kills and Andi Jackson added two more as Bergen Reilly assisted on three of those points and Choboy notched a pair of digs.

The first four NU servers were all seniors, as Murray, Jackson and Reilly followed Choboy to take their turn at the end line.

They also finished the night leading the Huskers in the stat book. Jackson and Murray tied for the team high with nine kills, as Reilly put up 35 assists. Choboy recorded a match-high 10 digs.

“It’s just so special to be out on the court with the three of them all the time, and it’s not something that I take lightly,” Murray said. “There hasn’t been a class like ours come through college volleyball in a long time, and I think we really take pride in that and how much that we’ve been able to grow the game and grow volleyball. So it’s just really special to do it with the three of them every single day.”

No mercy on the Bic 😮‍💨#GBR x @harpermurray4 pic.twitter.com/AqTGqBXdLp
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 15, 2026

They had help from their teammates as 15 of the 16 Huskers got on the court. (Teraya Sigler was the only one who got the night off.) Eleven different NU players recorded a kill as the Huskers finished with a .457 hitting percentage, the sixth time in the last seven matches that they’ve posted a mark above .400.

Nebraska also flexed its defensive strength as it limited Iowa (13-17, 2-14) to a season-low .026 hitting percentage. Pierce and Manaia Ogbechie had four blocks each.

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said their depth comes from practice, where they mix up their lineups so it’s not always starters versus second string. So when they sub in players, it is not their first time on the court with them.

“Everybody was aggressive too when they got in,” she said. “ A lot of times, when players go in that have been on the bench, they’ll tip or roll shot. I thought everybody came in there with a really aggressive mindset.”

😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/M64uT7KWdj
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 15, 2026

After the match, video messages from each of the four seniors played on the video board above the court. The seniors thanked their teammates, coaching staff and fans for everything over the last four seasons. Each came out with family members, received hugs from their teammates and coaches before receiving a framed jersey and taking more pictures.

Looming over the evening was the decision that awaits all four seniors. They have the option to play for a fifth year (at Nebraska or elsewhere) or move on to the professional ranks. Busboom Kelly said she has an idea of what each of them might decide, but nothing is official until the paperwork is signed.

However, that did nothing to impact the emotion of the night as the Huskers celebrated the senior class together. On Thursday, they won the Big Ten regular-season crown for the third time in four years to go with the one they shared with Penn State in 2024.

Busboom Kelly said she was proud of everything the seniors contributed to the program and built while they were at Nebraska.

“I truly do not believe the sport would be where it is without those four. I think a lot of people across the country would agree with me,” she said. “The impact they’ve made — and it started at the stadium match — but then they did their jobs of being great ambassadors for Nebraska and for volleyball, giving so many players more opportunities and showing the world that this sport is special, and there’s very special people that are playing.”

Seniors Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly slap hands before a point against Iowa. They were two of the four seniors Nebraska honored after the match. | Nebraska Athletics

During the press conference, Choboy continued to fight through the emotions that came with Senior Night. She said she was grateful to have extended family in the stands, and she’d never played in front of her grandmother or cousin before. She had hoped her grandfather would have been able to attend, but health issues kept him from traveling.

Murray said Choboy is one of her hardest-working, most loyal friends. Even though she often played only three rotations during matches, she had an outsized impact on the court. Former coach John Cook said just having Choboy on the court was worth two or three extra points.

She also talked about her struggles during college. She’s dealt with physical pain, adjusting to new roles and heart-wrenching losses to end the season.

“Once I figured out that I was bigger than just what I do on the court, that helped me get through it a lot,” Choboy said. “My teammates have always had my back, especially this one (Murray), and anytime I was struggling with that, they were always there to pick me back up, along with my family.”

Murray also expressed more gratitude for the support she received from teammates past and present during her career, especially her classmates.

“I’m so grateful for Andi, Laney, and Bergen. They’re my people,” she said. “There are so many moments that I felt alone, and they never made me feel that way. I’m just so grateful. Wherever life takes us these next few years, I’m always going to think about the three of them because they got me through it. I’m just sad, but I’m also really happy that I got to experience it with them.”

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