After Turning to its Reserves, Nebraska Finishes Off Florida Gulf Coast in Four

Would Nebraska like to have earned a sweep against Florida Gulf Coast? Absolutely. 

However, the top-ranked Huskers didn’t mind the extra work it took to earn a victory Sunday afternoon. NU (10-0) committed too many errors, didn’t play with enough urgency in the third set, and needed an extra frame to finish the match. 

No. 1 Nebraska eventually got the result it wanted with a 25-10, 25-17, 25-27, 25-14 win over FGCU at John Cook Arena. 

After dominating the first set, NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly turned to her bench with the second unit playing most of the final three sets. After committing 10 hitting errors in the third set, the Huskers cleaned up their attack and recorded 13 kills on 24 attacks in the fourth. 

“We are ticked to drop a set, but at the end of the day, I could care less how many sets we lose this year, as long as we’re winning matches and getting better,” Busboom Kelly said. “I thought some of the second-string players had awesome games.”

Senior All-Americans Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson only appeared in the first set as the Huskers went on a 12-0 run to pull away from FGCU. Choboy was behind the end line during the run and recorded an ace serve on a rotation error. Teraya Sigler was the other star of the scoring burst with four kills and two blocks as the Huskers hit .440 in the set.

With Campbell Flynn running the offense in the second set and Keoni Williams in for Jackson, NU carried the momentum and jumped out to a 9-3 lead. Midway through the set, the Huskers swapped out both outside hitters as freshmen Gabby DiVita and Jayden Robinson replaced Sigler and Harper Murray. 

Nebraska appeared on its way to a sweep with a 10-5 advantage, but the Eagles rallied behind three Huskers hitting errors and an ace to go up 13-12 for the first time. After three more lead changes, FGCU scored four in a row to earn set point at 24-20. With Sigler back in the match, NU fought off the first four set points and had one of their own at 25-24, but the Eagles scored the final three points on two NU hitting errors and an ace serve. 

“That set probably wasn’t the best I could have done,” Sigler said. “I obviously had some errors, but I think Andi (Jackson) put it the best way possible — being put in tough positions that way, being able to just go for it. I’d rather us, any of us, lose swinging for it than lose being timid and being scared.”

After hitting .054 in the third set, the Huskers cleaned up the attack and didn’t commit any errors in the fourth. Murray reentered the match and recorded five kills on eight attacks in the final set. She finished with 11 kills on a season-best .556 hitting percentage. 

Sigler led the NU attack with 13 kills on 21 attacks while NU finished with a .333 hitting percentage. Flynn tallied 27 assists and four kills on six swings.

“We don’t want to lose a set, but…the bench players got to play a little bit more, so it was great,” Flynn said. “I loved it, and I love getting reps on the court. Sometimes it’s a little different than practice because there’s so many fans.”

After getting pulled on Friday against North Carolina, Virginia Adriano finished the second set with a pair of kills, recording four kills on seven swings with a .429 hitting percentage. Ryan Hunter took over for her in the third set. Even though she struggled initially and hit negative in the third set, the sophomore opposite finished with seven kills and three blocks. 

Libero Olivia Mauch and middle blocker Manaia Ogbechie, who missed Wednesday’s match with an illness, were the only Huskers to appear in all four sets.

Mauch finished with her first career double-double with 17 digs and 10 assists. She was also perfect in 13 serve receptions. 

“She’s so consistent in every game, and she brings the same level of consistency every time,” Flynn said. “It’s so nice to have that as a team, especially as a libero. I’m just so proud of her, and she’s just awesome.”

Meanwhile, Ogbechie entered the match with just four serves on the season. Against FGCU, she attempted 12 serves, missing just one, and recorded four aces. She also posted five kills and eight blocks. 

Katie Gielas and Maju Hildbrand led the Eagles with eight kills apiece. FGCU (3-7) finished with a .068 hitting percentage with 29 hitting errors. NU played a large part in the Eagles’ struggles with 16 blocks. 

Jackson recorded three blocks in her only set, while Williams finished with five. Busboom Kelly said they made good adjustments as the match progressed by taking away line shots and limiting FGCU’s middle blockers.  

“We had 16 blocks, which is fantastic, but I thought we left a lot out there,” she said. 

Even though they struggled during the third set, Busboom Kelly said she was glad the second unit got an extended run in a match. 

“You can do everything you can in practice to simulate a game, and it never is going to be quite like a match,” she said. “To have them be down and come back, and then to have them really dominate game four, I think that’s super valuable for the future. They’ve been here, and they know what that feels like.”