Harper Murray said her favorite part of Nebraska volleyball’s closed scrimmage against Omaha back on April 12 was seeing the freshmen suit up for the first time. On Saturday, they’ll get that opportunity again, only this time in front of fans.
Four of Nebraska’s six incoming freshmen enrolled early, and Saturday night’s exhibition against Kansas will provide the fans with their first look at setter Campbell Flynn, outside hitter Teraya Sigler, opposite hitter Ryan Hunter and defensive specialist Keri Leimbach.
Coach Dani Busboom Kelly said she didn’t see any breakdowns in communication or drop off in play when she changed lineups against Omaha, a testament to the work the freshmen have put in since arriving in Lincoln.
“I think the coolest part was seeing the freshmen get to play in a real match,” Murray said. “Obviously, we play six-on-six every day, but for them, I know it’s kind of a special moment to put that jersey on, whether it’s televised scrimmage, whether it counts for our record or not, but I think it was just really special for them to put that jersey on and actually know what a real game day might look like, and just see all the work that we put in in the past three, four weeks at practice pay off against a team.”
The freshmen already have already navigated a turbulent and emotionally-challenging time, losing the coach they signed to play for before ever suiting up for him when John Cook announced his retirement in late January. However, Bergen Reilly said they’ve handled the last few months as well as one could expect.
“They were going through a lot,” Reilly said. “They were just getting to college, they finally got settled in, and then everything kind of flipped on its head. But they’ve been great. We’ve talked a lot about versatility and just kind of go with the flow, go with whatever comes at you, and they’ve done a really good job of that, and I think it’s almost been good for them, because the first day of practice, we didn’t know what was coming either. So I think that almost made it a little easier on them; we’re all starting at square one right here.
“So they’ve done really good job of just coming in every single day, working really hard, and you can’t tell that they’re freshmen out there.”
Flynn, a Michigan native, has a terrific mentor to learn from in Reilly, a day-one starter for the Huskers at setter. The 2024 Gatorade National Player of the Year has impressed the junior-to-be with how quickly she’s picked things up.
“She’s great,” Reilly said. “She is a really great setter, and there’s not really been a huge difference from her high school game to her college game. I think that she’s made a really smooth transition, so I’m really excited for everyone to see what she has to show.”
PrepDig.com ranked Flynn as the top setter in the 2025 class. Sigler, an Arizona native, is the top overall player in PrepDig’s 2025 rankings and someone Busboom Kelly was familiar with from the recruiting circuit.
“I always thought she was a really high-IQ volleyball player,” Busboom-Kelly said. “She’s super competitive and just a great six-rotation player. But I didn’t really watch her for the last year and a half of her prep season; she had already committed here, so I wasn’t super familiar with how she progressed. But she’s been fantastic. She’s just a great player, great energy, and somebody who has the ability and the emotional capacity to go hard every single day, every single point.”
The other pin hitter in the class, Hunter, missed her senior season with a torn right ACL. The North Carolina native got cleared in mid-December, and the knee hasn’t caused her to miss any time so far this spring.
“She’s been good,” Busboom Kelly said. “She’s been healthy and she hasn’t missed a practice, hasn’t even missed a rep in a practice for her knee. So that’s a great sign for her, that she’s healthy and able to make it through a whole practice and again, hasn’t even missed a rep because of her knee. So that’s a pretty big deal and a great accomplishment for her.”
Hunter is the only natural opposite hitter on the roster and packs a big punch with her swing.
“She hits hard, and she’s really physical,” Busboom-Kelly said. “If she has an open net, she’s going to get a kill. So she’s a great athlete, and she’s going to be fun to watch develop.”
The final member of the class is the one who is most familiar with the Devaney Center. Leimbach won four state championships at the Bob as the starting libero for Lincoln Lutheran. Now she’s competing among a talented group of defensive specialists looking to fill the massive shoes left by Lexi Rodriguez’s departure.
Nebraska fans will get two chances to see the freshmen alongside the returners this spring with Saturday’s exhibition against Kansas at the Devaney Center and next Saturday’s trip to Ord to face South Dakota State in the program’s traditional traveling spring exhibition. Busboom Kelly said her plan is to get everyone reps.
“We’re definitely going to be giving everybody a chance and everybody probably pretty much equal playing time across the board,” Busboom Kelly said. “So it’ll be good to see everybody competing with different players around them.”
