Sheldon: 3 Quick Sideouts from Nebraska's Sweep of No. 6 Stanford

Husker block is for real, Sczech's coming out party, Allick's development on display.

Nebraska's Rebekah Allick fights to get the ball over the net with a Stanford defender. | Amarillo Mullen

Huskers’ block is for real

Nebraska has long prided itself on being one of the best blocking teams in the country, but it was the team led by their new head coach that led the nation in blocks last season.

In the opening weekend, the Huskers showed their focus on changing matches at the net was just as strong under Dani Busboom Kelly, just like it was for her Louisville club in 2024. 

Nebraska stuffed Stanford nine times in Sunday’s 3-0 after outblocking Pitt 15-8 on Friday night.

In spite of a couple of fewer stuffs on Sunday, aided by the speedy three-set sweep, Busboom Kelly praised the Huskers for raising their focus from Friday’s opener.

“Mentally, every play they were locked in for the whole match. That was really impressive,” she said. “I thought against Pitt, we kind of went in and out and weren’t mentally crisp. That was a big change from Friday night.”

Nebraska's Rebekah Allick had five of NU's nine blocks against Stanford. | Amarillo Mullen

Senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick led the block party with five stuffs, leading an effort that held Stanford, which hit .314 a year ago, the No. 3 mark in the nation, to .094, including an .000 mark in Game 3.

It was the Huskers’ third straight win over the Cardinal. NU has dropped just one set over those three matches. And no Stanford player may be happier to see the back of Nebraska than its star senior outside hitter Elia Rubin.

In four career matches versus the Huskers, Rubin has hit .070. Sunday, she had a team-high eight kills and was held to .167 hitting after torching Florida for 14 kills and a .343 attacking mark in Friday’s opener.

The face of a coach who knows she has a very good team. | Ryan Kuttler

“Today wasn’t an anomaly. That is us,” Busboom Kelly said. “Now, we’re not going to play that great every single night, but now we’ve kind of set the bar of what we’re capable of.”

Welcome to the Big Red Circus Allie Sczech

When she decided to transfer from Baylor at the end of last season, these were the kinds of matches Allie Sczech was hoping to play in.

Sczech got fully plugged into the Husker Hype Machine Sunday with a team-high 12 kills on .400 hitting. This after seeing action just briefly in Game 2 on Friday as freshman Virginia Adriano got the start.

Nebraska opposite hitter Allie Sczech scores the winning point of the first set with this kill, one of her 12 against Stanford. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Busboom Kelly said she’d planned to give Adriano and Sczech each a start at the AVCA First Serve. The competition in practices has been tight, and the coach thought each newcomer deserved the chance to play in front of a sold-out Pinnacle Bank Arena crowd.

“I’ve been preaching to these guys that they’ve got to make each other better, and we’re going to use everybody on this roster when we need them,” Busboom Kelly said.

Sczech announced her presence with seven kills in the second set on a variety of shots - full-swing blasts, off-speed roll shots, and even a couple of tips - which kept Stanford off balance.

“I think at the end of the day, against these good teams, it just talks about mixing up your shots,” Sczech said. “You can’t be predictable, and that’s what I think I did well in that second set.”

Allie Sczech (3) celebrates a kill in the first set with Nebraska setter Bergen Reilly (right). | Amarillo Mullen

Sczech also credited Husker setter Bergen Reilly, who played one of her finest matches at Nebraska on Sunday, for putting her in favorable match-ups against a Stanford block that only turned the Huskers back twice.

“She got me 1-on-1 quite a few times, so she made my job pretty easy. Thanks, Bergen,” Sczech said. “All around, she just connects really well. I would say she’s one of the quickest setters, and her IQ is way up there.”

Nebraska’s .385 hitting percentage on Sunday was its highest mark against a top-25 team since hitting .437 in the 2016 regional final against Washington.

Rebekah Allick’s development is impressive

Over the last three seasons, no Husker may have shown more growth than Allick, who was named the match’s MVP on Sunday.

The senior from Lincoln put up 11 kills, hit .600 and added a team-best five blocks. But how she put herself into position for those kills is noteworthy.

Nebraska middle blocker Rebekah Allick fires a kill through the Stanford defense during the first set of the AVCA First Serve vs. Stanford. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

One of the biggest areas of on-court improvement from Allick - named one of NU’s three captains for the season - has been transitioning from offense to defense. After going up for a block in her earlier years, she might not always have been quick to dart away from the net in order to come forward with momentum in an attacking position.

It takes awareness, quick feet, and athleticism, all of which Allick has improved in the course of her NU career.

Sunday, Allick put ball after ball away in transition, either in front of Reilly or behind her, running a slide attack out to the pin.

“I love running my offense through the middles, and we’re going to continue to do that,” Busboom Kelly said. “You saw today how much it opened up the pins and led to some ‘wow’ plays.”

Rebekah Allick receives the award for MVP of the match from AVCA CEO Dr. Jaime Gordon. | Amarillo Mullen

With 20 kills and 12 blocks in NU’s two matches at the AVCA First Serve, it was a fitting closure to Allick’s experiences in Pinnacle Bank Arena. In high school, her teams at Lincoln North Star and Waverly ended seasons with state tournament losses at PBA. 

She’d also witnessed her brother Josiah score some big wins in the building as a member of the Husker basketball team.

"I think high school me would be pretty proud."

Rebekah Allick

Her junior counterpart, Andi Jackson, was efficient with limited attacks Sunday, putting away five kills on eight swings.

It was Jackson who earned the MVP nod in Friday’s win over Pitt with 10 kills and eight blocks. On the weekend, the Husker middles combined to hit .397 with 24 blocks between them.

This is not what you want to see coming at you. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“We’re a couple of dawgs, man. We’ve been saying this for years,” Allick said. “Me and Andi, and even (freshmen middle blockers) Manaia (Ogbechie) and Kenna (Cogill), and the others we’ve had in the past, we’re constantly pushing ourselves. I think we speak for most middles (on) every team, everywhere, we want to be set. 

“But, when you are set that ball, you have to deliver, and I think that’s exactly what me and Andi do. It feels good to be fed some more.”

The Husker middles certainly ate well this weekend.

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 at Lipscomb 6 p.m. ESPN+
• Aug. 31 vs. Kentucky (Broadway Block Party in Nashville) 11 a.m. ABC
• Sept. 5 vs. Wright State 7 p.m.
• Sept. 7 vs. California 1 p.m. BTN
• Sept. 12 vs. Utah 6 p.m. FS1
• 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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