Coach Dani Busboom Kelly went deep into her bench as No. 1 Nebraska volleyball closed out the Ameritas Players Challenge with a 3-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast at the Devaney Center on Sunday.
Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson only played in the first set and all but one of the Huskers saw the court as Busboom Kelly used the match to get her reserves significant playing time. Nebraska (10-0) dropped the third set as a result but bounced back to win 25-10, 25-17, 25-27, 25-14. The Eagles drop to 3-7 on the season but have taken at least one set from every team they’ve played, including six from the high-major ranks.
“Overall, I thought some really good takeaways from them,” Busboom Kelly said of her second group. “Competitively, yeah, we are ticked to drop a set, but at the end of the day, I couldn’t care less how many sets we lose this year as long as we’re winning matches and getting better. I thought some of the second-string players had awesome games. It was great to see [Keoni Williams] play; she hasn’t played much this year. Campbell [Flynn] did a great job, and they really worked their way into just playing really well.
“I was pretty proud of them, and that comeback in game three was also awesome. That was tough to do against anybody, so that was good to see. It’s a bummer we couldn’t finish that off, but it’s also great to get a whole other set of playing.”
Nebraska hit .333 with 27 assists, seven digs, four kills (on six errorless attacks) and three blocks from Flynn. Reilly added 11 assists and four digs in her lone set of work.
“I definitely feel like I got into a flow, especially in the third and fourth set,” said Flynn, who had appeared in seven sets on the season prior to Sunday. “I felt a little bit more confident to set everyone. I think, especially when everyone gets in, the bench and the game changers, it definitely takes a second. But I think we did really good towards the end and finished it.”
Teraya Sigler led the way with 13 kills on .333 hitting while Harper Murray added 11 kills on just 18 swings, hitting .556 to cap a strong weekend following a three-match slump hitting-wise.
Manaia Ogbechie (14) and setter Campbell Flynn (4) throw up a block against FGCU outside hitter Julija Grubisic Cabo (3). Photo by John S. Peterson.
“I think she’s just working really hard,” Sigler said of Murray. “I think even with the slower start that she had, she’s still working hard to just provide for our team and to work hard for our team. Obviously, with going for it, with taking riskier swings, opponents scouting, you’re bound to have a stretch of bad matches, and that’s just how sports work. I think the way that she’s bouncing back right now, coming in again in the fourth set, being a game-changer, proves how she is and what she is, and I think that just proves for our program that that’s what we do. I think she’s doing great. I think her mindset is great, of just keep getting better.”
Manaia Ogbechie was the lone middle to play all three sets, and she finished with five kills on .400 hitting and a match-high eight blocks. Busboom Kelly also gave her a chance to serve for the first time this season and she responded with four aces and just one error on 12 serves. Ogbechie served three times total as a freshman, all errors.
“It was amazing,” Flynn said of the middle’s serving. “I was so happy for her. We work on serving every day, noodle serve. Just making sure that everyone can hit a really good serve is crucial for our team.”
Ogbechie keyed Nebraska’s 8-4 edge in aces and was in on half of Nebraska’s season-high 16 blocks, though Busboom Kelly saw an opportunity to have an even bigger day at the net against the Eagles.
“The blocking was good,” she said. “It’s funny; we had 16 blocks, which is fantastic, but I thought we left a lot out there. Overall, it was good, and we made some adjustments, which was great to see. They beat us down the line a couple times, and we started taking that away. We got great touches on the middle, so overall a good blocking match.”
The block and a 47-35 edge in digs for Nebraska resulted in a .068 hitting percentage for FGCU, the sixth time this season Nebraska has held its opponent under .100. Olivia Mauch recorded her first career double-double with 17 digs and 10 assists, both career highs.
“She’s amazing,” Flynn said of the Huskers’ libero. “She’s so consistent in every game, and she brings the same level of consistency every time. It’s so nice to have that for a team, especially as a libero. I’m just so proud of her, and she’s just awesome.”
First Set
FGCU managed to hang with the Huskers early… until Laney Choboy stepped up to the service line with a 10-7 lead. With the senior defensive specialist setting the tone, Sigler and Nebraska’s block took over and the Huskers scored 12 straight points, the longest run of the season thus far.
Teraya Sigler (11) spikes the ball against the FGCU Eagles. one of her seven first-set kills. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Sigler had four kills and two blocks during the run, and the last four points came via Eagle errors (one rotation for a Choboy ace and three wide attacks).
“I think we were just playing us,” Sigler said. “I think something that we’ve been really hounding on is to stop listening to the outside noises from people and what Nebraska volleyball should look like to other people, and understand that Nebraska volleyball and the culture comes from us and comes from how we play, and to just have that tunnel vision of each other, of we’re going to go out and play for each other, work hard for each other, even struggle with each other.
“I think that was just us being in a flow of we’re just going to work as hard as we possibly can.”
The run gave Nebraska a 22-8 lead before an errant attack ended it, and the Huskers traded sideouts the rest of the way until Murray and Ogbechie teamed up for a block on Nebraska’s first set-point opportunity.
The Eagles handed Nebraska nine points via errors (eight attack, one service), matching Sigler’s output with seven kills on nine swings and two block assists. Nebraska hit .440 and held FGCU to minus-.097, in part thanks to a 5-0 edge in blocks.
Second Set
Busboom Kelly turned to her bench in set two, with Flynn and Williams starting in place of Reilly and Jackson, and the Huskers didn’t miss a beat.
Nebraska led 18-12 when Busboom went even deeper, subbing in freshman outside hitters Gabby DiVita and Jayden Robinson for Sigler and Murray after the starters had totaled 16 kills on their first 27 attacks.
The Huskers continued to roll through the set to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Flynn tallied nine assists, four digs, a kill and a block while setting Nebraska to a .429 hitting percentage. The Huskers held the Eagles to .152 hitting.
The lineup changes resulted in Ogbechie’s serving opportunity, and she responded with an ace on her first attempt before missing her second.
Third Set
Busboom Kelly nearly emptied her bench in the third set, with Mauch and Ogbechie the only starters still in the lineup. Flynn, Williams and DiVita remained in while Skyler Pierce and Ryan Hunter started at outside and opposite, respectively.
Campbell Flynn (4) sets the ball against the FGCU Eagles. Photo by John S. Peterson.
With the new group, Nebraska’s offense finally hit a snag. The Huskers led 6-3 early after another Ogbechie ace and 10-5 after three straight Eagle errors, two on Nebraska blocks. However, FGCU responded with an 8-2 run to take the lead at 13-12. The Eagles pushed that lead to 15-13 at the media timeout.
FGCU missed the serve out of the break, then Ogbechie served three straight points including another ace to put Nebraska back in front 17-15. FGCU put together a 5-1 run, Nebraska tied it at 24-all then the Eagles scored four straight to earn set point as the back-and-forth play continued.
Sigler checked back in for Sigler midway through the run, missing on her first swing, but two points later Hunter found a touch to spark a 4-0 Nebraska run, including two kills from Sigler. A solo block from Ogbechie gave Nebraska match point, but Sigler misfired on the next two points then Maju Hildebrand caught the end line for an ace to extend the match to a fourth set.
Game three saw 18 attack errors, including 10 for Nebraska, who had just six in the first two sets combined. The Huskers hit .054 to FGCU’s .125.
“I think that we just were struggling to keep the ball in the court,” Flynn said. “My sets were probably a little too tight. I just am glad that we did have 10 errors, but then we bounced back straight in the fourth set and really got confident and just put the game away.”
Fourth Set
The only change Busboom Kelly made to start the fourth set was Murray taking DiVita’s place in the lineup. Sigler went back to the bench as Pierce remained as the other outside hitter.
The Huskers cleaned up their attack, using a 3-0 run to build a 9-3 lead early. The Eagles fired back soon after with a 4-0 run to trim the gap to two at 11-9, but Nebraska won eight of the next 10 rallies to pull away and cruised the rest of the way. Hunter delivered the match-point kill, her fourth of the frame to finish with seven in the match.
After the error-filled third set, Nebraska hit .542 in the fourth with 13 kills and zero miscues. Busboom Kelly said she was proud of the emotional response from her team.
“Honestly, we started ball handling much better, and Campbell is one of the best setters in the country, especially when she gets the ball on top of her head and she can make things happen,” Busboom Kelly said. “So once we started getting it high and letting her do her thing, I thought the offense felt easy.”
Murray led the way with five kills on eight swings after returning to the lineup.
“I really gave her some kudos about sitting out for a game and a half, coming back and playing fantastic,” Busboom Kelly said. “She came in and passed great and made great decisions. We just needed that stabilizing player out there. It’s tough to do, and again, a big deal that she was able to do that and play so well.”
The Eagles hit .083 as Nebraska’s block accounted for four of their seven errors.
Up Next
Nebraska will close out nonconference played with the rescheduled match against Missouri on Wednesday at the Devaney Center.
The Huskers and Tigers (7-4) will start from scratch rather than resuming from where they left off at Wrigley Field. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network, with the match added to the package for season ticketholders.
