Sheldon: 3 Quick Sideouts from Nebraska's Sweep of Arizona

Serve receive a step forward, Virginia Adriano needs to get high, and the Huskers are ready for the Big Ten gauntlet.

Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray (far left) had a team-high 14 kills vs. Arizona on Saturday. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraska’s serve receive is improving 

We won’t know for sure until sometime Sunday afternoon or evening when serve receive metrics become available, but just via the eye test, Nebraska’s passing took a step forward against Arizona.

Olivia Mauch earned another start at libero with Laney Choboy serving as defensive specialist, and the Huskers were aced just once, tying a season low.

Harper Murray passed 15 serves, while Choboy was targeted 14 times, and freshman Teraya Sigler handled 13 serves without an error.

Nebraska was in system more often than not, and if not for a couple of late errors, would have hit better than .400 for the second time this season. Nebraska finished at .392, only behind the .419 they put up vs. Cal.

Excellent passing is also necessary for a setter to attack, and junior Bergen Reilly’s aggression was on display with a season-high five kills on seven attempts.

Bergen Reilly had a season-high five kills on seven attacks, showing she can provide a little offense herself. | Amarillo Mullen

Nebraska’s middles, Rebekah Allick and Andi Jackson, combined for 16 kills and a .452 mark. Another indicator of a good passing night.

Have the Huskers figured out how to set Virginia Adriano?

The Italian freshman opposite hitter has only been on campus since May, and the talk around her game in the early part of the season has been about her adjusting to life in a new country and adjusting to the college game.

Not every player benefits from a quick-tempo offense, and the 6-foot-5 Adriano may be one of those. International volleyball, like the A2 and A1 Italian professional leagues Adriano played in before coming to Lincoln, tends to feature higher sets to the outsides, giving pin hitters time and space to survey - and if they can, hit over - opposing blocks.

When you can reach this high, anything that makes you shorter just makes you weaker. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

New Husker coach Dani Busboom Kelly appears to have sped up NU's tempo, with Reilly getting the ball out to her pin hitters on a quicker, flatter trajectory. But, against Creighton and Arizona this week, Reilly appeared to be setting Adriano higher, sacrificing speed to let the opposite hitter use her height and leaping ability to create a geometric quandary for Nebraska’s opponents.

Namely, how do you dig a ball being hit straight down.?

Not everything needs to be fancy or fast. Adriano might be someone who can deliver off of moonballs (really high sets). She did on Saturday, putting away five kills in Game 1 before finishing with nine kills and a .438 hitting percentage.

For the week, Adriano hit .366. If she’s finding her footing going into Big Ten play, it’s bad news for anyone in an opposing jersey.

The real season starts now

Nebraska did everything asked of it in non-conference play and will take the national No. 1 ranking into Wednesday’s Big Ten opener at John Cook Arena against Michigan. The Huskers are unbeaten at 10-0 and have knocked off top-10 teams Pitt, Stanford, and Kentucky.

Virginia Adriano, Rebekah Allick, and Bergen Reilly are set for Nebraska's Big Ten opener on Wednesday vs. Michigan. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

But conference play is a 10-week grind that exposes weaknesses, tests depth and stamina, and leaves the winner with a prize that Cook liked to quip was harder to win than a national title.

Nebraska seems to have the depth, regularly playing 14 different players. However, the core group of starters has now emerged, with a talented cadre of newcomers ready to spell someone when need be.

The Huskers still have room to grow, and while the Big Ten schedule is long, Nebraska plays on back-to-back dates just three times. That should give the team a cadence to address areas in practice between matches. 

Serve receive - and on the flip side - creating service pressure, out-of-system attacking, and a suddenly leaky block that stuffed just 10 balls in eight sets this week, are all areas to shore up. 

Including this picture just because it's fun to see Manaia Ogbechie get hyped. | Nebraska Athletics

They’ll be tested right away by a Michigan team that’s 9-1 (with a match vs Notre Dame coming on Sunday) and a potent 6-2 attack led in part by Omaha Skutt product Morgan Burke at setter.

The Huskers also won’t have to wait long to play what in football would be called a “helmet game.” Nebraska travels to Penn State on Friday, Oct. 3.

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 Nebraska 3, Grand Canyon 0
• Sept. 16 Nebraska 3, Creighton 2
• Sept. 20 Nebraska 3, Arizona 0
• 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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