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Reilly, Jackson, Murray Selected as National Player of the Year Semifinalists

For the second straight year, three Huskers are part of the 14 players recognized for AVCA's top award.
Lincoln Arneal|
From left, Andi Jackson, Bergen Reilly and Harper Murray talk to the media after Dani Busboom Kelly was introduced as the Huskers' new coach. The Nebraska seniors were named AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalists.
From left, Andi Jackson, Bergen Reilly and Harper Murray talk to the media after Dani Busboom Kelly was introduced as the Huskers' new coach. The Nebraska seniors were named AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalists. | Amarillo Mullen

For the second straight year, a trio of Nebraska players was recognized as among the best players in college volleyball. 

Setter Bergen Reilly, middle blocker Andi Jackson and outside hitter Harper Murray were among the second group of seven semifinalists for the AVCA National Player of the Year award on Friday. They were all semifinalists last year and have earned a combined eight All-American awards so far. 

The three semifinalists for the top-ranked Huskers (26-0) were the most of any school among the 14 players recognized.

The other seven semifinalists revealed include Iowa State libero Rachel Van Gorp, Louisville setter Nayelis Cabello, Louisville outside hitter Chloe Chicoine and Texas A&M outside hitter Kyndal Stowers. 

They join the rest of the semifinalists who were announced on Thursday: Baylor outside hitter Ksenia Rakhmanchik, Kentucky outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye, Kentucky libero Molly Tuozzo, Penn State opposite Kennedy Martin, Pittsburgh opposite Olivia Babcock, Pitt setter Izzy Starck and SMU middle blocker Favor Anyanwu.

The four finalists for the award will be named Dec. 14, with the winner announced at the AVCA Awards Banquet in San Antonio on Friday, Dec. 18. 

Babcock has won the award for the past two years and is posting similar numbers to those award-winning seasons. She is the only NCAA player who is averaging more than six points per set, as she is putting up 5.03 kills and 1.13 blocks per set and has 31 aces this season.  The Panthers are 24-1 this season.

Reilly was a POTY finalist last year and the inaugural AVCA Setter of the Year, guiding the Huskers to a 33-1 record and an appearance in the regional finals. This year, Reilly is averaging a career-best 11.67 assists per set, second in the nation, as Nebraska leads the nation with a .351 hitting percentage. The 6-foot-1 senior is recording 2.61 digs, 0.72 kills and 0.63 blocks per set. She’s been named the MVP of the Players Era Showcase, the Big Ten Setter of the Week four times and is the three-time Big Ten Setter of the Year.

Jackson is third in the NCAA with a .471 hitting percentage as she is averaging a career-best 2.84 kills and 1.27 blocks per set with 19 aces. She was named Big Ten Player of the Week on back-to-back weeks to start league play and was the National Player of the Week on Sept. 29. She’s a two-time All-American and won the AVCA Middle Blocker of the Year last season. 

Murray is a three-time All-American and is putting up a career-best 3.59 kills per set this season. The 6-foot-2 senior also has a team-high 25 aces and is averaging 1.46 digs and 0.70 blocks per set. She was named the Big Ten Player of the Week after putting up 20 kills at a .471 clip in a sweep over No. 7 Wisconsin. 

Van Gorp is averaging 4.73 digs per set for the Cyclones and is passing a 2.47 out of 3 with a 68.4 good passing percentage. She was named the AVCA Libero of the Year last season. 

Nayelis Cabello has the Cardinals hitting .305 this season as she averages 10.34 assists per set. The 6-foot junior is also putting up 3.07 digs and 0.86 blocks per set. Chioine was an All-American in 2023 at Purdue and is averaging 3.82 kills and 2.49 digs per set. 

Stowers was the MVP of last year’s Final Four for the defending national champions. After missing the first few matches of the season with an injury, the 5-foot-11 senior posted six matches of at least 20 kills, including a season high of 29 in five sets against Indiana. Stowers is averaging 4.34 kills and 2.52 digs per set.

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Lincoln Arneal
LINCOLN ARNEAL

Lincoln Arneal covers Nebraska volleyball for HuskerMax and posts on social media about the Big Ten and national volleyball stories. He previously covered the program for Huskers Illustrated and the Omaha World-Herald and is a frequent guest on local and national sports talk shows and podcasts. Lincoln hosts the Volleyball State Podcast with Jeff Sheldon.

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