Impact of Nebraska volleyball’s stadium match felt on road. Plus new court design coming

Nebraska volleyball is one of the most popular women’s sports teams in the country may actually be better understood when the Huskers hit the road to play instead of during the home matches.
That was the case last week for the Huskers’ East Coast road trip to play Penn State and Rutgers. When Nebraska played at Penn State last Friday, there were fans who waited outside the arena just to catch a glimpse of the Nebraska players and coaches walking to the locker room.
And then the fans waited outside after the match, too. Then the next night, there were hundreds more Nebraska fans at the Huskers’ match against Rutgers in Piscataway, New Jersey.
There were a school-record 8,000 spectators, after they had averaged just 468 fans over its first five home matches. It was the largest crowd to ever watch a volleyball match in the state of New Jersey.
And while Nebraska fans from Lincoln travel in large numbers during the NCAA Tournament, many of the Husker fans at regular-season road matches reside outside of Nebraska, and the road matches are their best opportunity to see the Huskers in person.
Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly thinks many people began to follow Nebraska after watching the record-setting outdoor match in 2023 with 92,003 spectators, and have continued to follow the program and players from that year’s team on TV and their personal social media accounts.
“A lot of it, honestly, is the stadium match from what I can gather (from) just a couple of fans that I’ve talked to in these scenarios,” Busboom Kelly said on Tuesday during the Nebraska volleyball radio show on the Huskers Radio Network.
That players at Nebraska have a following like that is something Busboom Kelly will remind high school players of during the recruiting process.
“It just adds to the list of what sets Nebraska apart,” she said.
Fast start fueled lopsided win
Not only did Nebraska get a dominating sweep against No. 16 Penn State, but the Huskers’ .437 hitting percentage was its highest of the season.
“(Setter Bergen Reilly) was setting a great game and getting everybody involved,” Busboom Kelly said. “I just think it was very hard to defend us, especially when we’re playing so smooth and everybody is having a great night.”
Busboom Kelly had a really good feeling about how Nebraska would play in the match when freshman Terya Sigler terminated on a back-row attack early in the first set.
”I felt like that set the tone,” Busboom Kelly said. “Like, everybody is an option here; we are not holding back, and we are not scared. We’re going to be setting everybody, so get ready.”
New court design coming
Nebraska will likely unveil a new court at the Devaney Sports Center at some point this season.
The design elements on the court include an outline of the state, similar to what the Nebraska basketball program’s court looked like when Busboom Kelly was growing up in the state.
“We needed a new (court) and I got to help pick out the design,” she said. “I’m a big fan of the state outline, so that’s one thing that you’ll see. And then you’ll see there’s some red on red design, and that’s supposed to look like corn rows.”
Preparation on display
Nebraska has played some of its best matches of the season against top competition, including a four-set win against Pittsburgh in the first match and last week’s win against Penn State.
Busboom Kelly felt like those matches showed how well the players and coaches prepared for those opponents. With no midweek match last week, the Huskers spent several days preparing to play Penn State.
“I can tell already when we spend more time on a team and when we do a good job as a staff and our players are way more confident,” she said. “I saw that early with Pitt. Luckily, I had played Pitt a million times in the last eight years (at Louisville) so I had a pretty good idea of them and we started prepping for them weeks in advance. And we played great defense.”
Reach the writer at 402-473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSSportsWagner.
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