If organizers plan to play more outdoor volleyball matches, count Nebraska out. 

During her weekly radio show, NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said she’s not a fan of playing indoor volleyball out in the elements. Sunday night’s match at Wrigley Field in Chicago, which was suspended, will likely be the last outdoor match for the Huskers while Busboom Kelly is the coach. 

While she did backtrack a bit and gave the caveat that you can “never say never,” the elements of an outdoor match would need to be perfect.

“If people want to try it, good for them,” she said. “Me as the head coach at Nebraska, I’m not going to probably do another outdoor game.”

Busboom Kelly also praised the Big Ten Conference for putting on a “first-class” event at the home of the Chicago Cubs, but moving the game outdoors invites too many variables into the equation. 

Prior to the condensation issues, Nebraska already planned to eliminate slide attacks from its attack because of the wind. Setter Bergen Reilly decided not to jump set to play it safe. Busboom Kelly said she was also planning to switch from a one-setter offense to a 6-2 after the first few rotations to keep three attackers in the front row and allow the setters to make easier sets.  

Even before the condensation issues on Sunday night, NU ran into weather issues as their practice time was delayed because of court issues. The Huskers went through warm-ups before the match, but didn’t have many issues because they weren’t making the same fast moves as they do during game action.

While officials had a plan in place if rain was imminent and they had to reschedule or move locations, they did not plan if conditions got worse as the night went on. Despite all the issues, they still wanted to participate in the match because if everything lined up it was going to be an epic event. 

“This is going to be really cool as long as it feels fairly safe, which is even generous,” Busboom Kelly said. “It should always be 100% safe. Am I right? But you’re thinking, ‘Okay, we can do this, and we’re not going to make excuses’. So we were excited to play.”

However, issues arose after the first point. Busboom Kelly said she looked at Missouri coach Dawn Sullivan and they could tell that conditions were rapidly deteriorating. The teams played one more point just in case the first one was an anomaly. It was not and then it became clear that the floor had to be cleaned. 

While she was disappointed the match couldn’t happen, Busboom Kelly credited the Big Ten for even trying to put on such a massive event. She thought they created a great atmosphere with 43,067 people in the stands, and they had good intentions to recreate the magic from Volleyball Day in Nebraska. Even though the volleyball action on the court ended prematurely, people made the best of the situation with a pepper game happening among fans in the outfield, 

“From the second we stepped on Wrigley, it was just unbelievable,” she said. “It is on its way to being an incredibly epic event.”

Busboom Kelly said she is unsure if the match with Missouri will be made up, but she’s going to “make our best efforts to play this match.”

Bergen Reilly has established herself as one of Nebraska’s toughest servers. The senior setter leads the Huskers with a 62.2-point scoring percentage when she’s behind the end line. The only one higher than her is backup setter Campbell Flynn with a 69.2-point scoring percentage on 14 serves. 

It is the best of the six rotations for point scoring for the Huskers, but it’s not their best first-ball side-out because the pin hitters are flipped from their natural position. 

The other serving decision Busboom Kelly makes each match is whether to use Virginia Adriano or Laney Choboy during Rotation 4. Adriano has a slightly higher ace percentage (9.1 to 6.3), but also has a higher error percentage (27.3 to 12.5).

Busboom Kelly said picking between the two is usually a feeling. If Adriano has a good run through the front row, she’ll get a shot from the end line. Or if NU wants to try a short serve, Choboy is the choice. 

“We really would love to have both of them in the serving lineup, but they’re in the same position, so you can’t have them both serve,” Busboom Kelly said. “They’ve both proven they can run some points.”

Nebraska uses the Catapult system to monitor the players’ effort during practice. It can measure physical workload, movement and jumps, among other data. 

Rather than telling someone to ease up, Busboom Kelly said they alter their training plans if they notice certain players are nearing their threshold.  

“You definitely don’t want to tell them, ‘Hey, don’t work as hard here,’” she said. “You just design practice to maybe lessen the load.”