Nebraska Drops Another Opening Set but Middle Blockers, Hunter Fuel a Victory

Nebraska dropped sets in back-to-back matches for the first time in the Dani Busboom Kelly era, but according to Harper Murray, the Huskers got better as a result of the slow start. 

The top-ranked Huskers came out sluggish and let No. 25 Michigan State win the first set. NU regrouped and eventually overpowered the Spartans, earning a 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-12 victory Saturday afternoon in front of 8,108 fans at the Breslin Center. 

Murray said whenever they lose a set, it is good for the Huskers. 

“We want to be challenged, and we know that we’re going to get every team’s best shot,” she said during an interview on B1G+. “We don’t look at losing a set as a bad thing. We use it as an opportunity to get better and make adjustments.”

The last time Nebraska lost back-to-back opening sets came in the final two matches of the 2024 regular season against Penn State and Maryland. The Huskers lost in four sets to the Nittany Lions, but topped Maryland in four. 

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly wasn’t as kind in her assessment of the Huskers’ early play against the Spartans. She didn’t think the Huskers were ready to play from first serve. NU hit .259 in the first set and gave up four aces. 

“It’s like our heads were somewhere else, and we were thinking about the flight home already,” she said on her post-game radio interview. I was just disappointed that this was a top 25 matchup, a full packed house, and we came out and almost looked disinterested in the match.”

Nebraska (23-0, 12-0) actually led early as Bergen Reilly recorded a pair of aces for an 8-6 advantage. After trading sideouts, the Spartans ran off four straight points, including three NU hitting errors.

The Huskers bounced back and went up 12-11, but MSU responded with three straight points to retake the lead. Again, Nebraska responded and tied the set at 17-all, but the Spartans scored the next four points to take the lead for good. MSU (17-5, 7-5) also won two replay reviews late to keep the Huskers at bay. 

In addition to giving up aces, NU’s passers struggled to keep the offense in system. 

While Andi Jackson and Manaia Ogbechie combined for nine kills on 14 attacks, the pin hitters struggled with just three kills and four errors on 13 swings. 

“The passing was not good. Our serving really struggled, and I thought we struggled early to get our pins going,” Busboom Kelly said. “Our game plan was to set the middle, and obviously that worked great, but we just couldn’t get those pins going when we needed them.”

The Huskers took a 9-3 lead in the second set after Michigan State’s offense committed five hitting errors on its first eight swings without a kill. However, NU gave up a 4-0 run that included three more hitting errors. 

After back-to-back aces gave MSU a 16-15 lead, the Huskers went heavy to their middle blockers. Ogbechie and Jackson combined four kills and a block as they closed the set on a 9-2 run, including the final five points. 

For the match, Jackson tied for the team lead with 12 kills on a .360 hitting percentage. Ogbechie terminated 11 of her 14 attacks. They also added six and eight blocks, respectively. 

Ryan Hunter checked early in the third set after a Reilly ace put NU up 6-5. She provided a spark with four kills in the set and finished the match with a perfect 7-for-7 attacking. 

“I told her we might not even set you that much because the middle is working, but we need you to get a great block touch and bring a ton of energy,” Busboom Kelly said. “She just focused on what she needed to do to help this team win. Then when the ball came to her, she executed. She was worrying about the team and not herself.”

The Spartans got within 10-9 before NU won five of the next six rallies. After MSU rallied to cut its deficit to 17-15, the Huskers finished strong on an 8-2 run. 

In the fourth, Nebraska used a 5-0 run to take a 14-6 lead and never let the Spartans back in the set. Skyler Pierce came on late in the set, recorded kills on all three of her swings, and ended the match with an ace. 

Murray finished with 12 kills, but hit .147. Teraya Sigler also struggled, finishing with five kills and four errors on 14 attacks. Even though they were a big high-error, Busboom Kelly said they kept the Huskers in the match with their defense. 

“Harper and Teraya didn’t have great numbers offensively, but they really hung in there and battled, and were passing well,” she said. “You could tell after game one, they were just working hard to do anything.”

Virginia Adriano also struggled as she didn’t record a kill on five attacks and was blocked twice before she gave way to Hunter in the third set.

Alanna Bankston, a Millard West grad, led Michigan State with 12 kills. After posting a .375 hitting percentage in the first set, the Spartans hit negative in the second and fourth sets. Malayah Long, a Lincoln Southwest product, finished with 26 assists and 10 digs. 

Nebraska also struggled serving, finishing with five aces and 12 errors. Before this weekend, the Huskers had only finished with double-digit service errors once (South Dakota State, 13) but missed 22 in the past two matches. 

The Huskers will have a few days off to work on their shortcomings, but were happy to leave the weekend with two wins and remain undefeated. 

“We survived the state of Michigan,” Busboom Kelly said. “Michigan played amazing last night, and we survived that. Then we really struggled tonight and found a way to win.”