Nebraska volleyball is back and gearing up for the 2026 season. The Huskers will head into year two under Dani Busboom Kelly ranked No.1 in the AVCA and looking to put on a show every time they take the court.
To get you ready for the season, Hail Varsity is going through the deep and talented roster position by position, highlighting the returning stars and up-and-comers alike that will make an impact this season.
We’ve covered the setters, middle blockers and defensive specialists, leaving only the pin hitters remaining. Busboom Kelly said she’s grouped the outside and opposite hitters together, having them all get reps at both pins.
Outside Hitters
No. 27 Harper Murray
6-foot-2 Senior; Ann Arbor, Mich. (Skyline)
The Huskers return one of the best all-around outside hitters in the country after a busy offseason that saw Murray traveling the country to continue putting a spotlight on her sport and her program.
Harper Murray makes a pass against the Michigan State Spartans on Oct. 25, 2025. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Murray has continued to level up her game each season, with 2025 by far the best of her decorated career. The All-Big Ten first teamer, AVCA All-Region Team member and first-team AVCA All-American averaged 3.54 kills per set on .295 hitting (both career highs) and 2.16 digs per set with a team-high 34 aces as a junior.
Murray recorded three double-doubles including 23 kills and a season-high 15 digs in a five-set win over Kentucky. She also tallied a career-high 25 kills in Nebraska’s season-ending five-set loss to eventual national champion Texas A&M in the Regional Finals.
She enters her senior season ranked in the top 10 of Nebraska’s rally scoring charts for career kills and aces.
“Harper is such a great player and great person on and off the floor, and I feel like just being able to be around her, especially the last three years, just seeing what she’s really great at and trying to pull tools or ask her questions or kind of pick her brain about things that she’s really great at and known for,” junior Skyler Pierce said. “And it’s been awesome just to see her grow and see the person she’s becoming.”
Alongside teammates Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson, Murray was a unanimous preseason All-Big selection and appeared on the AVCA Player of the Year Preseason Watch List after making the semifinalists list for the national award a season ago.
No. 21 Skyler Pierce
6-foot-2 Junior; Lenexa, Kan. (Olathe Northwest)
Heading into year three in the program, the outside hitter from the Kansas City area is looking to ride a strong spring into an increased role.
Pierce redshirted as a freshman in 2024 then made her debut last season, appearing in 15 matches and 24 sets primarily as a front-row sub. She totaled 32 kills on .221 hitting, nine digs, three blocks and an ace.
Skyler Pierce (21) spikes the ball against the California Golden Bears on Sept. 7, 2025. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Pierce tallied a season-high six kills in her Husker debut, hitting .322 with two digs against Lipscomb. She later matched that with six kills on .417 hitting against Rutgers. Pierce said her focus over the offseason has been as much on her mental game as her technical skills.
“A big thing that me and the coaches have been talking about is just hitting the ball harder, getting my passing, just getting rhythm with that kind of stuff, and just making sure my presence is on the court,” Pierce said. “Kind of finding where I’m most comfortable at and being confident in myself.”
She certainly looked confident during the spring, finishing second among all Huskers in kills during the spring, totaling 19 (3.17 per set) on .447 hitting. She added 11 digs and two aces in six sets while leading the team in serve reception opportunities as Busboom Kelly gave her pins a chance to play all the way around.
“It’s definitely helped my confidence,” Pierce said. “I think going to the spring I had a really good spring, and I kind of got to figure out some things I was really working on the last couple years. But it’s definitely made me more confident going into the season. I’m excited to see what opportunities I get and kind of what our team does this season.”
No. 11 Teraya Sigler
6-foot-3 Sophomore; Scottsdale, Ariz. (Horizon)
The biggest star from Nebraska’s spring exhibition season was the sophomore from Scottsdale who looks ready for a much bigger role in 2026.
The outside hitter arrived in Lincoln as PrepDig.com’s top-rated prospect in the 2026 class and she earned a role from day one, but it wasn’t the one she was used to. Sigler essentially played defensive specialist in 2025, starting 32 matches but only playing in the front row sparingly while totaling 76 kills on .226 hitting while splitting time with Taylor Landfair. Sigler was third on the team in receptions and sported a .942 reception rate while averaging 1.5 digs per set and serving 17 aces.
She only took double-digit swings in eight of her 34 matches. Her season high came in the nonconference against Grand Canyon when she totaled 14 kills on 30 attacks, hitting .267 and recording 11 digs for her first career double-double.
While Sigler was happy to contribute to the team in whatever way she could, the role did carry its own mental challenges.
“I would say obviously I was a six-ro outside my entire life, but then playing DS last year, I think for a while it was like, ‘OK, is this going to be a permanent role for me? Am I going to be able to play six ros?’” Sigler said. “And it’s those kinds of questions — those doubts can’t be on the forefront of your mind anymore. I have had to really work on that with a lot of our psych specialists, of just I’m going to go for it, and if I fail, I’m going to keep going for it until something works. I think my confidence has definitely gotten better.”
Teraya Sigler digs the ball against the Kansas State Wildcats during the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Dec. 6, 2025. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Sigler certainly looked like a more confident player in the spring. She led the Huskers with 29 kills (3.63 per set) on .521 hitting, adding 12 digs and a block in eight sets. The sophomore said her success has only made her hungrier for more.
“It definitely made me feel better that all the little things that I’ve been doing have been really showing and have been prevalent,” Sigler said. “I’m grateful that I’ve had that spring, but how can I also improve by it? And so I think a lot of it just showed that I have a lot to give to this team. I have a lot that I can contribute, but also a lot to get better at, and so I’m hopeful. I’m very hopeful, and it also kind of gives you a little bit of a jumpstart. Like, ‘OK, now, I can see the glimpse of it; how can I contribute to my team more?’”
At the start of the spring, Busboom Kelly said the key for Sigler to secure a six-rotation role was proving she could terminate out of system. She tied for the team lead with 11 kills in the Red-White Scrimmage, but that came with 10 errors on a day when most of the Husker pins struggled against their teammates’ stout defense.
Health has played a huge part in her rise as she was dealing with a back injury that limited her in some ways as a freshman. Sigler said she’s learned the importance of “taking care of the little things” and taking full advantage of the resources available at Nebraska so that she can be her best self over the course of the long college season. Between the improved health, increased confidence and sharpened technique, Sigler has earned praise from teammates who highlighted her as a player they’re most looking forward to seeing this season.
“It makes my heart happy that my teammates see that kind of hard work that I’ve been putting in, and that they support me in that,” Sigler said. “I’m super grateful, but not satisfied. I have all these newfound abilities, these skill sets that I’m able to have; how can I improve them every day? How can I get 1% better every day?
“And obviously, when you get to this level, improvement is a lot smaller than when you’re in high school, when you’re in club, and so learning to take failure as a way to learn. Dani’s been harping on us that, ‘You’re going to fail if you’re going for it, and that’s the point.’ And how can we learn from it? How can we get better from it so in big moments where we do go for it, we’ll be more successful?”
Murray is locked in as a six-rotation outside hitter, and Sigler certainly has the potential to become that as well with all the work she’s put in over the offseason.
No. 23 Gabby DiVita
6-foot-1 Freshman; Gross Pointe Farms, Mich. (Gross Pointe South)
Gabby DiVita spikes the ball against the Northern Colorado Bears on April 25, 2026, Neb. Photo by John S. Peterson.
DiVita joined the Huskers after a prolific prep career that saw her surpass 2,000 career kills and 1,100 career digs, setting records at Gross Pointe South in both categories. As a senior, she averaged 5.8 kills per set on .420 hitting and 3.9 digs per set with 49 aces. PrepDig.com ranked her 19th in the 2026 class, while PrepVolleyball.com had her 20th.
DiVita’s defense and passing appear to be her strength at this stage in her career. She only terminated five times in six sets during the spring exhibition season but passed 22 serves without an error. Her lone kill during the Red-White Scrimmage was a beauty out of the back row, and she added two digs, two assists and an ace to her stat line.
No. 20 Jayden Robinson
6-foot-3 Freshman; Missouri City, Texas (Ridge Point)
Nebraska’s other freshman pin provides Busboom Kelly with some versatility as she’s played on both pins during her high school career and the Huskers’ spring exhibition season. Nebraska has listed her at outside hitter on the roster, though with all of the pins repping at both spots, a position shift seemingly would be easy if the need arose.
Jayden Robinson (20) spikes the ball against the Northern Colorado Bears on April 25, 2026, in Chadron, Neb. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Robinson was the 10th-ranked prospect in 2026 for PrepVolleyball and 12th for PrepDig. She averaged 5.0 kills per set on .381 hitting and 2.9 digs per set with 49 aces as a senior for Ridge Point. She also has international experience after playing for the USA Volleyball U19 team at the 2024 NORCECA Continental Championship and the 2025 FIVB U21 World Championships.
Robinson’s spring was up and down as she totaled 10 kills, six digs, one block and one ace alongside six attack errors and three service errors in seven sets while splitting time between the left and right pins. She played well in the Red-White Scrimmage, finishing with seven kills on .222 hitting, five digs, five blocks and an ace. Busboom Kelly highlighted her blocking ability heading into the Red-White, and she backed up her coach’s praise with her performance.
Robinson said she’s learned a lot from Sigler, who was in her shoes a year ago as a freshman trying to earn a role in the program.
“She has definitely helped me through practices and just the mental block of things, because we’re pretty similar,” Robinson said. “Just getting to know her a little bit better has been really nice.”
Opposite Hitters
No. 3 Virginia Adriano
6-foot-5 Sophomore; Turin, Italy (Liceo Artistico Statale di Brera)
Adriano’s introduction to American volleyball was full of new experiences and moments of struggle, but the Italian import found her stride over the second half of the season and is poised for a big 2026.
Virginia Adriano celebrates a point against the Texas A&M Aggies in the during the NCAA Volleyball Regional Finals on Dec. 14, 2025. Photo by John S. Peterson.
She started 31 matches and played in 33 as a freshman, averaging 2.16 kills per set on .287 hitting. The 6-foot-5 pin also led all non-middles in blocks at 0.67 per set and finished fourth in aces with 15, although she tied for second in service errors as well with 34. Her overall performance earned her a place on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and an AVCA All-Region honorable mention.
However, over her last 17 matches, Adriano averaged 2.24 kills per set on .355 hitting and 071 blocks per set with 10 aces and 16 errors (compared to 2.07 kills per set on .220 hitting and 0.62 blocks per set with five aces and 18 errors in her first 16).
Adriano picked up in the spring where she left off in the winter, totaling 12 kills and just one error on 21 swings (.523 hitting) in five sets during Nebraska’s exhibitions. On a day where defense stole the show, Adriano was also Nebraska’s most effective pin in the Red-White Scrimmage, finishing with a match-high 11 kills on .231 hitting.
Although Adriano was eligible for freshman awards and will be listed as a sophomore, she will only have one more season of eligibility following the 2026 campaign. The new age-based eligibility model does not change her status.
No. 18 Ryan Hunter
6-foot-2 Sophomore; Charlotte, N.C. (Cox Mill)
A torn ACL robbed Hunter of her senior season in high school and disrupted her development, but after a redshirt year in 2025, the dynamic right-side hitter is more than two years removed from her injury and ready to join the mix in 2026.
Ryan Hunter (18) spikes the ball against the Northern Colorado Bears on April 25, 2026, in Chadron, Neb. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Hunter was healthy enough to play in 2025, but with Allie Sczech and Virginia Adriano joining the program, Busboom Kelly opted to save a year of eligibility and give Hunter another year to continue strengthening her body, regaining her confidence and rounding out her game. Now she’s one of just two natural opposites on the team heading into 2025.
Hunter made a great first impression in Nebraska’s exhibition against Kansas last season, showing off terrific athleticism and a heavy arm with 11 kills on .563 hitting and two blocks. She’s been a bit quieter in Nebraska’s exhibitions since, struggling a bit with errors, but she did total nine kills in Nebraska’s Red-White Scrimmage at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
While Adriano looks like the clear starter again this season, Busboom Kelly’s willingness to turn to her bench could create opportunities for Hunter to contribute as well. Sczech played in 19 matches with three starts last season as the second opposite hitter.
Final Word
“We’re kind of training everybody to do everything right now,” Busboom Kelly said of her pins. “Skyler made huge jumps, Teraya made huge jumps, Virginia has one full year in the United States, so she’s changed, Ryan is healthier than ever, and then you have the two freshmen, Gabby and Jayden, who are holding their own. For freshmen, they’re very, very good and polished, and Gabby’s a great passer, defensive player. Jayden’s arguably our best pin blocker, so that’s pretty good for two freshmen to be so talented in specific skills.”
“It’s been fun, and T has made so much progress, and it’s really cool to see how much she’s improved,” Murray added. “I’m really excited for her to go out there and show you guys what she’s worked on, because she’s put a lot of work in, and even in the weight room too, she’s such a beast, so it’s really fun to see her grow. And then with Skyler and Gabby and Jay, I think it’s good for Skyler to get that experience with us. I know she redshirted one year, so she’s had that extra year to work on things, and she’s taken advantage of it.
“And then Gabby and Jayden, them coming in as freshmen isn’t easy, especially as outsides. You have to do everything, and I know that they’ve been working a lot with Jaylen (Reyes) — he’s our position coach — so I know they’ve been working a lot. But I think it’s also good for them to watch me, Skyler, and T and see how they can relate it to their game and how they can learn off of us. And obviously, they’ve put in a lot of work, but it’s hard to come in as a freshman, especially to a team like Nebraska. So it’s been exciting, but I think they’ve put in the work and they’ve done really well.”
