Two Observations from Nebraska's 3-0 Win Over No. 25 Illinois

Following their successful weekend road trip, Nebraska had already clinched a share of the Big Ten championship. They only needed one more win out of their remaining three to win it outright and secure their place as the number one seed in the inaugural Big Ten Tournament in Fishers, Indiana, later in November.

The Huskers were able to overcome a motivated Illinois and a sluggish start for their 26th win and 20th sweep of the 2026 season. They inch ever closer to another perfect regular and conference season with the win and only two games ahead of them.

Read on for some instant takeaways from the 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-12) win.

Pacific Northwest Hangover

On the broadcast, former head coach John Cook warned that Nebraska may experience a bit of a letdown in this game coming off the emotional road weekend against No. 12 Oregon and No. 18 Washington. It's the danger that Nebraska has danced with a few times as they open their matches and has bit them relatively recently.

Illinois came strong early, starting the set with an ace and only giving up the lead once at 10-9. Prior to the Nebraska 7-0 run, the Illini had made only one hitting error and were pulling Nebraska out of system with their serving and hitting decisions.

True to Cook's warning, Nebraska looked flat and out of sync with one another for a majority of the first set. There were uncharacteristic serve receive errors from the consistent littles and five service errors to zero service aces. Nebraska's offense was effective; they hit .552. And by the end of the set, the defense stood up and was able to bring Illinois' hitting percentage from the .500s to .242.

As they've been prone to do all season, once Nebraska got rolling, they were almost impossible to stop. The second set saw a close back-and-forth early, but after the media timeout, the Huskers were able to roll in all three facets, dominating and suffocating their opponents. And it came from the team.

turn us up AJ!!!! 🗣️

massive swing to give us S1! #GBR | @aandijackson pic.twitter.com/OSc0fVqgsW
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 13, 2026

What should be reassuring to fans, beyond their ability to overcome slow starts, is the way the team is able to find solutions on their own. "We have to figure this out. As much as Dani [Busboom Kelly] and Jaylen [Reyes] wanted to tell us what to do and try to help us, I think we had to just figure it out ourselves on the court and we did that," Harper Murray said after the game.

Bergen Reilly Is Making Her Case for Player of the Year

It's been nearly five years since a setter won AVCA Player of the Year (Madison Lilley from Kentucky in the 2021 spring season). Five setters, in total, have won AVCA Player of the Year, including Nebraska's Greichaly Cepero in 2000. Bergen Reilly made a strong push for it last year and was an early favorite this year.

The first group of AVCA POTY semifinalists was released Thursday afternoon and the second group will be released Friday afternoon. It's expected that Reilly (a four-time Big Ten Setter of the Week winner in 2026) will be in that second group. Coming into the game, four Huskers were hitting .400 or above. Another four were hitting .300 or above. And another five were hitting .250 or above. The team, as a whole, is hitting .346, 10 points higher than the next best offensive team.

When asked in her pre-game interview about the impact Reilly has had on the team and, specifically, how the team's offense would change with a different setter, head coach Dani Busboom Kelly said she thought the team's hitting percentage would drop at least 50 points, meaning the team would be hitting .296. Still top 5 in the country, but a significant drop-off.

Nebraska hit a blazing .567 in the first set with one error and four players hitting .500 or above. Yes, credit belongs to the hitters for making the shots. But behind them, finding the hot arms and bettering every ball was Reilly, including one connection to Teraya Sigler that Cook said gave him goosebumps and was a "Player of the Year set."

Back-to-back beauties from TT to force an Illini timeout! 😤@ttsigler1 x #GBR pic.twitter.com/96Q15ebmXA
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 13, 2026

She continued this throughout the match. In the second set, the team hit right around their season average at .345 with only three hitting errors. In the third, they again hit over .500 (.536) to bring their team hitting % up to .483. For the match, four different Huskers took at least 12 swings, got at least nine kills and hit a .391 or greater hitting percentage.

Reilly was also behind the service line for the 7-0 run late in the first that got Nebraska back into the game after a flat beginning. And sealed the win with an ace. Her steadiness and leadership may not be as flashy as an Andi Jackson slide or a Murray bic, but it's hard to imagine Nebraska being nearly as dominant as they have been without her.

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