After spending all season at No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, Nebraska volleyball has earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Huskers will open their 2025 tournament run against the Long Island Sharks on Friday at the Devaney Center. It will be Nebraska’s 44th tournament appearance and its 40th hosting opportunity.
The Huskers went 30-0 in the regular season including 20-0 in Big Ten play, securing the third undefeated regular season in program history and first since John Cook led the Huskers to a perfect 24-0 record and a national title in 2000, his first season as head coach. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly is looking to repeat her mentor’s feat after becoming the first head coach to win a Big Ten title in his or her first season at the helm, and she said she’s “super proud” of what the team has accomplished thus far.
“I think we came into this season knowing we were going to be really good,” she said. “The question was always how good can we be? What’s everybody’s reaction going to be to each other? There was still a lot of work that had to be done, and think it kind of gets taken for granted that this was a great team, but we still had to work together to accomplish what we did. I’m just really proud of our staff and the players of being able to be so consistent for four months. That’s no easy task, and like I said last night, we handled the highs super well, when we were in our lows, we were out of them quick, and it’s just been a really fun season to be a part of.”
Long Island went 20-8 and earned the Northeastern Conference’s auto-bid by defeating Saint Francis 3-1 in the NEC Tournament title match. The Sharks visited Lincoln for the first round in 2023 as well, a Husker sweep.
San Diego, the 8-seed in the region, and Kansas State will also visit Lincoln for the first round. Friday’s winners will advance to the second round at the Devaney Center to face off on Saturday with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
The other top seeds in the Nebraska Quadrant are Busboom Kelly’s former team in No. 2 Louisville, former Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts’ current school in No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Kansas, who Nebraska beat in an exhibition match at the Devaney Center back in April.
“I’m not shocked by that,” Busboom Kelly said of seeing the Cardinals in their regional. “Just based on where how their season ended up going, and then I feel like they always love a good story, if they can justify it.”
With Busboom Kelly’s former right-hand man Dan Meske leading the program, the Cardinals went 24-6 and finished fourth in the ACC with a 16-4 record. Louisville finished the regular season ninth in the RPI and seventh in the Coaches Poll. Busboom Kelly said she went through a lot of emotions this season watching her former team from afar.
“I spent eight years there, still love everybody associated with that program, and to watch them have some awesome wins was really great, and then to see some players that hadn’t played a lot have to step up and deliver, I think, was really, really satisfying,” Busboom Kelly said. “Of course, I still want them to be great. That’s the bummer about having them in our bracket is we both can’t be in Kansas City.
“They’re a really great team, and I think there’s no doubt that they were going to have a great season. They should be very proud. I’m just proud of them, so I hope, they can make a deep run — sort of deep.”
The other No. 1 seeds, in order, are Kentucky, Texas and Pittsburgh. If seedings hold, the Huskers would face the Panthers in the Final Four after beating them 3-1 in the in their season opener at the AVCA First Serve. Nebraska would meet Louisville in the regional final.
Nine of the 18 Big Ten teams made the field, with eight of them earning seeds. In addition to Nebraska, Purdue and Wisconsin are three seeds; Indiana, Minnesota and USC are four seeds; Penn State and UCLA are eight seeds; and Michigan was unseeded.
In total, 17 of Nebraska’s 30 wins were over NCAA Tournament teams, with 12 of them against seeded squads. In addition to Pitt, Nebraska’s nonconference conquests included victories over 1-seed Kentucky, 2-seed Stanford, 3-seed Creighton and unseeded Arizona, Utah and Wright State.
Now the Huskers will turn their attention to the postseason, with a group of seasoned veterans leading the way.
“It’s a whole new season for everyone, and I feel like even we kind of feel new and refreshed,” Harper Murray said “The Big Ten season is behind us now, and now we can focus on our next few games. But I think just coming in with experience is a lot; we know the deal of practice, we know how the tournament works, we know how the Final Four works, and we know we want to get there.
“So I think for the upperclassmen, it’s good for us, because we’ve been here before, and we can help explain that and just guide the underclassmen, because it can be a lot your first year. So it’s exciting, but I know we’re excited to get started tomorrow and get started for the next few weeks.”
The Huskers saw their season end in the championship match two years ago and in the national semifinals last year. Murray said going through that experience has helped the upperclassmen mature, something that will serve the team well as they look to get over the hump this year.
“I feel like going into this season, we know what we’re capable of, and I think there’s always going to be doubt and there’s always going to be worry, but I think we’re all just better at handling that now and handling our emotions and figuring out ways to be better teammates and to stay more connected and focused in on the court,” Murray said. “I don’t know if I’ve changed anything specifically. I think it’s just been a little bit more of maturity and growing as a player and as a person, because that’s kind of what our team needs with upperclassmen.”
San Diego and Kansas State will open the action at the Devaney Center on Friday with first serve set for 4:30 p.m. Nebraska and Long Island will follow 30 minutes after the first match’s conclusion, or 7 p.m. at the earliest.
The second-round match at John Cook Arena is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday. ESPN+ will stream all three matches.
