The Huskers face off against a Penn State that is not 'remotely close' to the team they swept twice last year
For the first time in nearly a month, Nebraska will go on the road for a match. And the Huskers will walk straight into the lions’ den.
No. 1 Nebraska will play a match away from Lincoln for the first time since the suspended match at Wrigley Field. That match capped a stretch in which the Huskers played five road matches (and two truncated exhibitions) to start the season.
This stretch of road games won’t last as long, but NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly is looking forward to more team time together as they set out from Lincoln.
“It’s exciting to go back on the road,” Busboom Kelly said. “Sometimes the same routine at home can get a little bit boring. We’re ready to hit the road again and prove ourselves.”
The Huskers will visit No. 16 Penn State on Thursday at 6 p.m. with the match shown on BTN. (NU will also face Maryland on Saturday and No. 15 Indiana next week)
This isn’t the first time Nebraska and Penn State have crossed paths this season. The Nittany Lions (9-3) also took part in the Spikes Under the Lights exhibitions in Arlington, Texas, and completed their Wrigley Field match against Kentucky before the court condensation got too bad. A
Nebraska's Bergen Reilly tips the ball during against Penn State at Rec Hall in 2024. The Huskers lost that match in four sets, but have won 16 of their last 19 matches against the Nittany Lions. However, NU didn’t gain much insight or scouting reports from those matches since the conditions were abnormal. The matches confirmed that opposite Kennedi Martin is one of the best players in the country, outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein can hit the ball hard and setter Alexis Stucky is tall and athletic.
Senior setter Bergen Reilly said the 6-foot-6 Martin has a big arm, a high volleyball IQ and a variety of shots, making her tough to defend. While Martin is a known commodity, Penn State has used several different players on the left pin trying to find the right combination.
Freshman Haley Burgdorf has started all 12 matches, and former Husker (and Texas Longhorn) Whitney Lauenstein has started 11. In addition, junior Emmi Sellman, freshman Finley Krystkowiak, senior Caroline Jurevicius and sophomore Alexis Ewing have all seen playing time at outside hitter. Combined, they have a .181 hitting percentage.
“They have a lot of hitters that you can’t really put one tendency on, so you have to be ready to defend anything,” Reilly said. “It’ll be a good challenge for us.”
Nebraska is expecting a bigger challenge than the last time they visited Happy Valley, which resulted in the most lopsided result in series history and one of the worst home losses for the Nittany Lions. PSU, which was also rated No. 16 at the time, managed just six points in the first set and 34 for the match. Martin finished with 11 of the Nittany Lions’ 16 kills (only three players recorded a kill) as they hit .011 with 24 hitting errors.
However, Penn State is an improved team, adding Lauenstein and Stucky via the transfer portal. (They also added middle blocker Ryla Jones from Pitt, but she suffered an injury on Sunday against Michigan State and her status is unknown.) In addition, the Nittany Lions signed four freshmen (Burgdorf, Krystkowiak, middle blocker Kendall Northern and setter Danielle Whitmire) to PrepVolleyball’s No. 6 overall recruiting class.
Busboom Kelly said Penn State is much improved with the addition of the transfers and freshmen. The Nittany Lions own a sweep against then-No. 4 Stanford this season.
“It’s not even remotely close to the same team as last year,” she said.
Libero Olivia Mauch said the environment at Penn State will also present a good challenge. The Huskers have played in only one true road environment this season — a sold-out crowd of 5,113 at South Dakota State.
NU is expecting an energetic crowd at the venerated Rec Hall in State College, Penn. The 6,000-plus fans create an intimidating atmosphere, and the student section close to the court has often come up with creative cheers to rattle opponents.
In addition to making Thursday’s match more difficult, Busboom Kelly said the hostile environment will better prepare them for the rest of the season.
“It prepares us for when it’s all on the line in December, and you have to overcome some adversity and have to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” she said. “It’s not going to be comfortable playing there. It never is. So we have to figure out how to be great, even when we might not be feeling the best or feeling the crowd in a way that’s helping us.”
