Calm, Cool and Collected: Inside Bergen Reilly’s Rise with Nebraska Volleyball

Level-headed. Stoic. Calm. Steady. Chill.

All words Bergen Reilly’s teammates have used to describe the 6-foot-1 setter from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She’s been a quiet rock for the Nebraska volleyball team over the past couple years, but heading into her junior season and a new era of Huskers volleyball, she’s finding her voice.

Many little girls grew up wanting to be a Nebraska volleyball player. That wasn’t Reilly; she thought she was going to be a basketball player. Living in Sioux Falls, she didn’t know much about the Huskers.

It wasn’t until her older sister, Raegen, started to go through the early recruiting process that Bergen learned what Nebraska volleyball is all about. In fifth or sixth grade, Bergen tagged along on a visit with Raegen, attending a Huskers match at the Devaney Center. That day changed her life.

“From then on, it kind of changed my perspective on just what I kind of thought I wanted to do with my life, because I think still, at that point, I was leaning towards basketball,” Bergen said. “And then obviously seeing that, it’s like something that you’ve never seen before, and especially for women’s sports, being at a sold-out arena is super cool.”

Raegen said Bergen was naturally athletic and good at everything she tried when she was a kid, especially basketball. That visit to Lincoln shifted her priorities.

“I think once she started devoting her time more to being a great volleyball player, you could kind of see her developing these different qualities that were needed from a setter’s perspective, especially,” Raegen said. “She became a much more vocal leader, and you could see the passion in what she was doing. I think that when she was kind of trying to do all the sports growing up, she was good at all of them, but you could really start to see this passion for volleyball developing.”

Raegen, an accomplished setter in her own right who went on to play in college, realized her sister had a chance to be special when she was in the eighth grade. In South Dakota, middle schoolers are eligible to play high school sports, so Bergen tried out at O’Gorman High School. Raegen was a sophomore at the time, and the two rode to school for their preseason meetings together.

Raegen figured her sister would make the JV team or might suit up but not play much for the varsity squad. Bergen met with the coaches first, then it was Raegen’s turn — for a surprise.

“It was just so unheard of for an eighth grader to play that I had no idea what it even meant,” Raegen said. “And then my coach was like, ‘Yep, OK, we’re going to run a 6-2 with you and Bergen,’ and I was like, ‘We’re what?’ That was kind of where it really hit me. I always knew she was good, but I never really knew the caliber of it, I guess, until other people started seeing it and noticing it.”

The two sisters split setting duties for two seasons, then Bergen moved to the pin during Raegen’s senior season, averaging nearly five kills per set on over .300 hitting. The Knights went 26-0 and won a state championship.

Volleyball has always brought the Reillys together, for which Raegen said she’s appreciative. Bergen said her sister has played a big part in her success; she went through everything Bergen had to go through first, and little sister knew she could go to big sister for advice any time she needed it.

“She was just a person that I always looked up to growing up, and it sounds cheesy, but when people ask me who my idol is, it’s always been Raegen,” Bergen said. “She was the person that was there for me through it all. We got to train together and play together and hang out just 24/7, and a big time for us was during COVID my freshman year, just when there wasn’t much else to do. I think we were really the only thing that kept each other sane was getting to play volleyball together in the driveway and just get reps when no one else really could at that time because all the gyms were closed.

“She’s shaped who I am, and I’ve mimicked everything I do after her. So I can’t really give her enough credit.”

The following summer, Bergen attended her first Nebraska volleyball camp, a setter camp in early June before coaches could directly contact recruits in her class. She got to be around the coaches and some of the players for the first time, giving her an up-close look at what Nebraska has to offer.

“I think from then on, I kind of I knew deep down that Nebraska was going to be my place,” Bergen said. “But then June 15 came and I wanted to keep my options open, and I talked to a lot of different schools. Then I came back to Nebraska, like a month later for Dream Team [Camp], and that really just sealed the deal for me, just to really get the experience that what a Nebraska volleyball player does, and getting to work super closely with the coaches, and again, with more of the players.

“I thought I was going to go on five officials and not commit for a couple more months and all that stuff, and I committed two days later. The camps really made my decision for me.”

Bergen led O’Gorman volleyball to another state championship as a junior before moving back to outside hitter as a senior, again averaging nearly five kills per set on over .300 hitting. She developed into the top-ranked setter and a top-five player in the 2023 class according to PrepVolleyball.com.

Like many Nebraska recruits, Bergen competed with USA Volleyball youth teams prior to arriving on campus. However, she received an opportunity few players of her age get — an invitation to join the senior national team as a high-schooler. In need of setter depth and with many of the college-aged players in the pipeline already competing for their college teams in September of 2022, USA Volleyball turned to Reilly, who made two starts during the Pan Am Final Six as the U.S. captured the silver medal.

“It just gave me a glimpse of what the long-term reality is like,” Reilly said. “I was only with the national team for two weeks, and USA stuff was always never more than a couple weeks. But it really gives you a good idea of what you’re working towards … Representing your country, going to the Olympics and just the feeling of wearing USA on your chest and winning a gold medal is something that you can’t really replicate. So getting to feel that experience and going through that a couple times before getting to college really just pushed me and made me want to grow that much more, just so I can get to that point after I’m done at Nebraska.”

Reilly enrolled early at Nebraska, participating in the spring beach and indoor training sessions so she could hit the ground running in the summer and compete for the starting setter job.

“I’d say my first impression of Bergen was very chill,” senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick said. “Just very chill. just does her job, clock in, clock out. She’ll crack a couple jokes here and there. Just a calm individual.”

Reilly joined a program that featured a legendary head coach in John Cook and two stellar leaders in three-year captains Lexi Rodriguez and Merritt Beason (a sophomore captain at Florida before transferring to Nebraska for her final two seasons). Reilly beat out Kennedi Orr in camp and went on to lead Nebraska to the national championship match, earning Big Ten Setter of the Year and second-team AVCA All-America honors as a freshman.

While the recruiting process gave Reilly a glimpse of what it was like to be a Nebraska volleyball player, the reality was more intense than she expected. She learned to lean on her teammates to deal with the pressure.

“I got lucky with a really big class, and we’ve all been really close since we got here, and even before that, because we had all played together,” Reilly said. “But it’s tough, and it’s not as shiny as it may seem sometimes, but that’s exactly what your teammates are for, and just also creating great relationships with the coaches and knowing that whether you’re at your highest point or your lowest point, your teammates and your coaches are there for you, and they really want you to be successful.

“So I think I had to kind of learn that a little bit. I’m never a person that loves asking for help, but getting to college, you kind of have to use those resources to help you through. It’s made my college experience a lot better once I kind of came to that realization.”

That first season in Lincoln featured a pair of pivotal moments that Reilly will never forget. The first was the world record-setting match against Omaha at Memorial Stadium that saw 92,003 fans pack the stands to watch volleyball.

“What that did for women’s sports and volleyball specifically, I don’t think we really even know the impact it had yet,” Reilly said. “Just getting to run out of that tunnel and see a bunch of little girls standing there cheering for you, getting to give them that opportunity to hopefully dream that they could be part of something like that someday was so special.”

The other was the clash of unbeatens between Nebraska and Wisconsin in Lincoln that saw the second-ranked Huskers snap a 10-match losing streak to the No. 1 Badgers in a five-set thriller.

“All the hype that was around that game, two undefeated teams, one versus two in Lincoln, and then it just lived up to all the expectations, going to five, going to almost extra points, winning on a challenge,” Reilly said. “That just really is something that I’ll never forget, and I’ll never forget just how Devaney sounded that night and how the crowd was, but you could say that about every other game too at home. It’s always loud, it’s always packed, people are always super invested, and that’s really what makes it what it is.”

Reilly repeated as Big Ten Setter of the Year in 2024, becoming the first player to win the award as both a freshman and a sophomore. She didn’t set any new world records, but she did reunite with her sister.

Raegen spent her freshman year at North Dakota State then transferred closer to home at South Dakota State, where she played for two seasons. Last year, she transferred to Illinois to play in the Big Ten — the same conference as her sister.

The Huskers and Illini played each other twice during the 2024 season, both 3-0 Nebraska wins. Raegen said the meetings were bittersweet as she never wanted to play or root against Bergen and her teammates, but sharing the court once again was a cool experience, even if they were on opposite sides of the net. Prior to the match in Lincoln on Oct. 25, the two shared a moment. During starting lineups, Bergen ran across the court and handed her mini volleyball to her sister.

“I had no idea she was going to do that, and so it made me want to tear up, but I knew that we had a game to play, so I couldn’t do it,” Raegen said. “It was just unbelievable, and my teammates all saw it, and the whole crowd saw it. It was just something that it was so, so special to me. I’m very appreciative of her doing that, and I just really appreciate what she does and that she recognizes how much I care for her. You can see how much she cares for me too, which is really cool.”

After the season, the Huskers lost their captains — and their coach. Cook’s retirement triggered an offseason of transition as Dani Busboom Kelly took charge of her alma mater. Player leadership during periods of limited coach contact is important in a normal year, but that value is multiplied during a coaching change. With Beason and Rodriguez gone, Busboom Kelly held a team vote to select captain(s) for the offseason. The result was a single captain: Reilly.

“It means a lot, and just getting to hear the reasons that they did vote for me, it made me feel good,” Reilly said. “It’s obviously such an honor to be looked at in that way, and I’ve worked on my leadership. Kelly [Natter] and I have talked about that a lot since being here and just having more of a voice, even though I was young at the time. I love that I can be that person for my teammates, because I know that Merritt and Lexi my first two years had such a big impact on me, and getting to know that I can hopefully leave that impact on other people too is just a really cool feeling.”

Senior outside hitter Taylor Landfair shared some of those reasons she and her teammates voted for Reilly to lead them through the offseason.

“I think on the court she’s very calm, very steady,” Landfair said. “We always know what we’re going to expect when it comes to Bergen, but also she’s just a phenomenal athlete. No matter what she’s doing, we always know that she’s going to be at 10 all the time. But then also off the court, I can go to her for anything. I can ask her any type of question. She’s always there to remind us about specific things, even if it’s big or small, no matter what. And I just know that she’s always just there to lean on. She’s an amazing captain, and she’s also a really good leader, both on and off the court.”

Reilly observed Rodriguez and Beason in the way they made everyone on the team feel empowered to speak up and share their opinion in team matters, and she and wants to foster a similar dynamic moving forward. The setter position is a leadership role by nature, and Reilly is no stranger to taking the lead. She hasn’t felt the need to change who she is or how she operates to fill the role, though with experience comes comfort, and she’s starting to assert herself a bit more.

“She’s definitely spiced up, I will say,” Allick said. “I think she’s kind of used to just being the nice, cool, quiet girl, and it’s nice to see her step into her own and, even, chirping in games and stuff. It’s been really cool to see her character evolve.”

During her time in Lincoln, she’s had the opportunity to learn directly from three legendary figures in Nebraska volleyball history in Cook, Natter and now Busboom Kelly.

From Cook, she learned about the strategy of the game and how to properly prepare for opponents to be one step ahead in every match.

From Natter, formerly Kelly Hunter and one of the best setters in program history, she learned about leadership and the importance of using her voice.

From Busboom Kelly, who originally played setter at Nebraska before switching to libero and who works directly with the setters in practice, she’s learning how to find her flow and the importance of doing her strategic work beforehand so she can play freely once the matches begin.

“She’s an awesome leader and I think she’s one of our most consistent players,” Busboom Kelly said. “She is super competitive, but she also is very empathetic in my opinion, and she really works really hard to understand her teammates, which I think makes her a really good leader.”

The girl who was content to let her older sister do all the talking any time they went out together as kids is now leading one of the most storied programs in collegiate sports. The level-headedness and calm demeanor required at the setter position have always been part of who Bergen is, but Raegen praised the work she’s put in over the years to develop her leadership to complement her natural athletic talent and skill.

“I’m just so proud of her,” Raegen said. “I will tell anybody that wants to listen how proud I am of her, and it’s just it’s been so, so special … to see her flourish and to see her rise to the occasion and just enjoy herself while playing at the highest level. It’s really special, especially just the way that we grew up so close and playing volleyball together. It’s really cool to see her make an impact.”

Bergen is already a two-time AVCA All-American and was one of five unanimous preseason All-Big Ten picks determined by the league’s coaches heading into the 2025 season. She’s on pace to shatter the program record for career assists currently held by Nicklin Hames. However, she’s still chasing the ultimate prize that separates the greats from the legends in a program like Nebraska: a national championship.

“The last two years, it obviously ended not how we wanted it to, but I think it’ll really drive us this year especially to get it done,” Reilly said. “Beyond that, I just I want to leave a legacy. I know that volleyball and women’s sports are growing so much right now, and I have a new opportunity to be part of that, so I want to leave just a really cool legacy that people want to play volleyball and they want to play women’s sports, they want to watch women’s sports, just be part of it, and if I can help it to grow just a little bit more then I’d say I was successful in college.”

Calm, cool and collected — that’s who Bergen Reilly is. Now an upperclassman, the setter from Sioux Falls is finding her voice and is ready to lead Nebraska volleyball into the future.