No. 1 Nebraska volleyball is hitting the road this week, though it will be a homecoming for three members of the team as the Huskers visit Michigan on Friday and Michigan State on Saturday.
Harper Murray is heading home to Ann Arbor for what will likely be the last time as a Husker — regardless of her decision regarding a fifth year — while sophomore Campbell Flynn (Oakland) and freshman Gabby DiVita (Grosse Point Farms) are also visiting their home state.
The tour will start at the Murray household on Thursday, though with the quick turnaround Nebraska won’t have much time to spend in Ann Arbor.
“I do love when we get to go to players’ houses,” Coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “I think that always has a unique vibe, especially right when we get there. I think it’s going to be even more fun because it’s the first thing we’re going to do. But I do think this trip is challenging from a competitive standpoint. I’m pretty fired up to play two teams that are playing really well, and then a little adversity playing at 6 and then 4:30 the next day, driving in between. That’ll be something we haven’t done in a very long time, and I’m fired up for a challenge.”
When Nebraska visited Michigan last season, Sarah Murray hosted her daughter’s team for dinner, and the Huskers are planning to make another visit on Thursday. Harper said she’s excited to share her home with her teammates.
“I just I feel like they probably get so annoyed with me because I talk about how much I love Ann Arbor so much, but it’s truly such a special place,” Murray said. “I don’t really know how to explain it, but I love the people there, I love the area — I’m just I’m so grateful I grew up there. I compare it to every other city I’m always in. I’m just really excited to go back because all my friends are from there. My family’s there. It’s going to be a fun day.”
The Nebraska-Michigan match will take place in a sold-out Crisler Center that holds nearly 13,000 for volleyball, while the Huskers will take on Michigan State at the Breslin Center, which holds nearly 15,000.
“I think volleyball has grown so much in the state of Michigan, and I’m so glad that a lot of people can come to those games,” Murray said. “We’re playing in two big arenas, lots of fans can come, and I have a lot of family that’s going to come. I probably won’t be able to see them — I’m not sure if we’ll have time — but just the fact that they can make it to the game, and it’s hard to get here sometimes, so I’m grateful that they can make it to that game because they’re a little bit closer. I’m also just excited to see my friends and know that my friends can support me.”
Murray is one of the faces of college volleyball and is playing at a high level. The All-American recently added another Big Ten Player of the Week honor to her resume and is averaging 3.50 kills per set on .276 hitting this season after somewhat of a slow start to the year. However, to some back home, she’s just Harper.
“I think it’s the funniest thing ever: some of my friends from home don’t care about volleyball whatsoever,” Murray said. “I remember hanging out with my friend after season last year, and she was like, ‘So did you guys win?’ I was like, ‘What?’ I think it’s a good reminder for me when I go home that there’s so much more than just the volleyball. I have the friendships, I have my family, I have so many memories back there, so it’s really nostalgic for me to go back.”
Adding to the nostalgia is the fact that Friday will also be the seventh annual Legacy Night at Crisler Center. Murray, Flynn and DiVita all played for Legacy Volleyball Club in high school, as did Michigan freshman libero Meredith Martin, and current members of the club will fill the stands to watch their alumnae play.
“We all have that connection, but we all also had the same coaches, Jen and Ricky Cottrill, and they’re some of our favorite people ever, and I know that they’re kind of leading all the girls to go to the game,” Murray said. “I’m really excited to see everyone … I’m just really glad that the whole club is coming and that they’re excited to watch, because I don’t think a lot of them have probably been to a game. Now they get to because we’re going back there, so I’m excited for them.”
While Legacy is excited to recognize all four of its alumnae, Murray is by far the most accomplished of the group, and she’s someone the others grew up idolizing within the program.
Harper Murray (right) prepares to toss her mini volleyball during starting lineup announcements against Creighton, with Gabby Divita (middle) and Skyler Pierce (left) alongside her. Photo by John S. Peterson.
“She’s meant a lot,” DiVita said of her teammate. “I know when she first got here, I looked up to her a lot, and I still do, I guess. I know a lot of girls there look up to her, and she’s done a lot of big things here. Legacy loves her, and I think that’s a family there, and it will always be. I just think a lot of girls look up to her and are excited to see her play …
“I think it’s really exciting for all of them, especially seeing not just Harper here now, but me and Campbell too. I just think it kind of inspires them to keep dreaming big and stuff like that, and I think that’s something that Legacy kind of wants to instill in them. I’m excited. I’m excited to see a lot of people, and I think it’s going to be really cool for me.”
The Nebraska senior has had a big impact on many of the girls who are coming up through the Legacy program, just like the Cottrills, who Murray called some of the best coaches she’s ever played for. Jen was a highly successful high school coach in Michigan, with Ricky serving as her assistant, before stepping down to focus on their family. They now run the Legacy Volleyball Center while also coaching club teams.
“I love them to death,” Murray said. “I had them since I was, I think, a freshman or sophomore in high school, and I really don’t think that I would be the player I was today without them … Ricky would get on me a lot, and I think that probably helped my mental toughness coming into college, but they’re some great coaches, and they’re exactly what I think all of us needed in club. They’re great people, they’re great coaches.
“They’ve built such an amazing environment for so many girls to go and get better at volleyball and learn volleyball. I’m just so grateful that Legacy is still doing so well. I know a lot of their younger teams are really successful right now, so I hope that continues. I’m just grateful that that was the club that I played for because I couldn’t imagine it any differently.”
Murray has taken what she’s learned from the Cottrills and paid it forward in her own way, holding the inaugural Harper Murray Volleyball Camp at Legacy in January. Demand was so great that she held a second camp in May to accommodate additional campers.
“Legacy is a great environment, and I wouldn’t be here without Legacy, so the fact that I can go back to the club and bring a bunch of girls together to learn volleyball, and maybe some of them haven’t even played volleyball before, and they still came to the camp,” Murray said. “I’m just grateful that they trusted me, and the parents trusted me to be with their kids and teach them a little bit because it’s volleyball is growing so much and it’s so new to a lot of people and so many people are getting into the sport that why not run a camp and let a bunch of people come in and learn a little bit?
Michigan setter Morgan Burke (7), a Skutt Catholuc amluna, sets the ball against Nebraska Cornhuskers on September 24, 2025, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Photo by John S. Peterson.
“They might not get any better, but they’re going to learn something. I think that was my goal, and Jen gives me free rein to kind of figure out how I want to run it, and she honestly helps a lot too. I kind of panicked my first camp, so Jen was kind of helping me run it, but it’s super fun, and I probably will do it again sometime in the future.”
Perhaps some of her campers will be in attendance on Friday when the No. 1 Huskers (21-0, 10-0 Big Ten) take on the Wolverines (13-8, 4-6).
Michigan is 0-5 against ranked teams this season but has taken a set off all five. The Wolverines run a 6-2 offense with Skutt Catholic alumna Morgan Burke starting and averaging 6.49 assists and 0.38 aces per set.
Martin is second in the Big Ten in digs at 4.03 per set while 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter Ella Demetrician is third in the Big Ten in kills, averaging 4.14 per set on .252 hitting to go with 2.40 digs per set defensively. Junior Cymarah Gordon is a strong complement for Demetrician on the opposite pin, averaging 3.30 kills per set on .310 hitting.
First serve on Friday is set for 5:30 p.m. CT before a quick turnaround on Saturday against Michigan State with a 3:30 p.m. start. Both matches will be available on Big Ten Plus.
