Sheldon: 3 Quick Sideouts from Nebraska's 3-1 win over No. 22 Utah

Nebraska isn’t invincible

The Huskers are 7-0 to start the season with four wins over teams ranked in the top 25. They’ve lost just four sets on the year.

However, the Game 1 clunker against No. 22 Utah was a reminder that the Huskers still have plenty of areas to improve.

Nebraska’s serve receive was a mess in the opener, giving up three Utah aces as the Utes won it 25-21. The Huskers hit just .133 with 10 kills and six hitting errors on 30 attacks.

Nebraska opposite hitter Allie Sczech takes a swing against Utah. | Nebraska Athletics

Virginia Adriano started the match at opposite hitter, but put away just one of her six swings in the first set. She was replaced by Baylor transfer Allie Sczech for the rest of the match.

Nebraska gave up a 5-1 run to trail 13-9 and never got closer than three points the rest of the set.

It was pretty ugly.

Huskers turned up the service pressure

Nebraska got a boost from the service line from perhaps a couple of unlikely sources as they turned the match around.

The Huskers usually have freshman Teraya Sigler serve in Rotation 2, but after Sigler committed a service error on her first attempt of the match, NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly left Taylor Landfair in to serve the rest of the way.

Taylor Landfair sends a serve. — Taylor Landfair served a team-high 27 times Friday vs. Utah | Amarillo Mullen

Landfair served a team-high 27 times, nearly twice as many as any other Husker, which means Nebraska ran strings of points off her serve.

The sixth-year senior fired two aces, and while she committed four of Nebraska’s season-high 11 service errors, she routinely got Utah out of system from the service line. She also added eight kills against just one hitting error.

Nebraska also showed its faith in middle blocker Andi Jackson continuing to serve in Rotation 6. She served 14 times, second-most on the team on Friday. Busboom Kelly showed so much confidence in the middle blocker’s serve that she started Nebraska in Rotation 6 in Game 4.

Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson fires a serve during the first set of the AVCA First Serve vs. Pittsburgh. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

It’s a leap of faith to let a middle serve because they also have to play defense in the back row in those rallies, which isn’t usually their strength. Utah targeted Jackson defensively by hitting balls to her left-back spot, recording a couple of points, but Nebraska must believe the reward is worth the risk.

Rebekah Allick is having an All-American start to the year

The senior captain from Waverly continued her hot start to the 2025 season by tying her career high with 13 kills on 18 swings vs. Utah.

Nebraska opposite hitter Virginia Adriano, middle blocker Rebekah Allick, and setter Bergen Reilly. — Senior middle Rebekah Allick (No. 5, center) | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Allick came into the year with a .337 career hitting mark. After hitting .667 Friday, she raised her attack percentage for the season to .471. She had seven blocks against Utah and leads the team with 32 blocks on the year.

One of the biggest differences with Allick this season is her effectiveness in getting kills on routes behind the setter. She still may not run the slide as well as Jackson, but it’s no longer a weakness.

Allick can get kills both in front of and behind the setter, expanding her repertoire and making her a dangerous attacker every rotation she’s on the court. It’s no coincidence that the three rotations Allick is in the front row, Rotations 1, 2, and 6, are the Huskers’ three strongest offensive rotations so far this year.

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 Nebraska 3, Wright State 0
Sept. 7 Nebraska 3, California 0
Sept. 12 Nebraska 3, Utah 1
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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