Huskers Sweep Kansas in Spring Exhibition, Showcasing Depth and New Strategies Under Coach Busboom Kelly
LINCOLN, Neb. — The nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball team delivered a dominant performance Saturday in their spring exhibition match against the Kansas Jayhawks,sweeping the four-set contest at the Devaney Sports Center. In the first action of the Dani Busboom Kelly era, the huskers prevailed 25-20, 25-18, 25-21 and 25-22.
Before the match, the teams prearranged to play at least four sets. Preliminary statistics showed Nebraska hitting .285 as a team, while limiting Kansas to a .214 hitting percentage. The huskers added eight blocks and six aces.
While exhibition matches typically involve extensive player rotations and experimental lineups, several key takeaways emerged from the match, offering a glimpse into the team’s potential for the upcoming season.
Murray’s Growth Continues
Sophomore outside hitter harper Murray continued to build on her stellar freshman campaign.The two-time All-American candidate showcased her growth by adding a jump serve to her arsenal in the match.”Maybe it’s a little early to start the campaign, but Murray continues to make major offseason improvements,” the team said in a statement. “This time she added a jump serve. That new weapon resulted in an ace as she consistently kept the Jayhawk serve receive off balance.”
Murray finished the match with five kills and five digs.
Middles Dominate
Veteran leadership in the middle-blocking positions proved to be a notable strength for the Huskers. Andi Jackson and Rebekah allick each recorded 11 kills and four blocks, hitting .556 and .524, respectively.
Jackson punctuated her performance with a powerful back-row attack,a play that originated during a practice drill.
“We’re like, ‘we should probably do that in a game’,” Busboom Kelly said. “So we just started having her play right back when she serves and gave Bergen (Reilly) the green like to set her. that was really fun to see it work and it really worked.It wasn’t just kind of worked.”
Freshmen Make an Impression
A total of 13 Huskers saw playing time, including all five freshmen: Teraya Sigler, Keri Leimbach, Ryan Hunter, Campbell Flynn, and Skyler Pierce. Sigler had six kills over two sets,hitting .556. Hunter tallied 11 kills and hit .563.
“Super aggressive for a freshman to come out there and swing away, and some of those out of system swings were pretty insane,” busboom Kelly said of Hunter. “I told her… ‘your job is to block ball and kill balls and let’s not worry about anything else’ and she did that tonight.”
Setting Situation Solid
While setter Bergen Reilly’s role as the primary setter appears secure, freshman Campbell Flynn demonstrated her capabilities by running the offense, which was the best (.395) hitting percentage set for the Big Red. Flynn had 23 assist and three digs. Reilly orchestrated the offense for the first two sets. She finished with 19 assists, one kill, one service ace, and eight digs.
The Huskers will continue their spring exhibition schedule in preparation for the upcoming fall season.
