The Nebraska volleyball team released its full 2025 schedule on Wednesday, complete with two preseason scrimmages, a challenging nonconference and a late season meeting with the reigning national champions.
The Huskers will likely enter the season with a top-five ranking under new head coach Dani Busboom Kelly and will get plenty of chances early to prove themselves.
The season will begin with the annual Red-White Scrimmage on Aug. 9 at the Devaney Center. Nebraska will also hold an alumni match a week later, on Aug. 16.
As previously announced, Nebraska will open the season by hosting the AVCA First Serve Showcase at Pinnacle Bank Arena, taking on Pittsburgh on Aug. 22 and Stanford on Aug. 24. They’ll then travel to Nashville, Tennessee, to play at Lipscomb on Aug. 29 and to face Kentucky in the Broadway Block Party.
Nebraska will return to Lincoln to host the Ameritas Players Challenge (Sept. 5-7) and Husker Invitational (Sept. 12-13) before closing out the nonconference by taking on Creighton — under its own new head coach in Brian Rosen — at CHI health Center Omaha on Sept. 16 and Arizona at the Devaney Center on Sept. 20.
In total, Nebraska will face five teams in the nonconference who made the NCAA Tournament last season, all five of which earned top-four seeds.
The Big Ten previously released conference pairings, with the Huskers drawing Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State as double-plays. Nebraska will open Big Ten play at home against Michigan on Sept. 24 and Maryland on Sept. 27 before heading to Penn State for its road conference opener on Oct. 3. The rematch with the Nittany Lions will take place in the final week of the regular season as the Huskers host Penn State on Nov. 28 and Ohio State on Nov. 29 to close out the season.
Nebraska will play at Wisconsin on Oct. 31 and will make the West Coast road trip to UCLA on Nov. 14 and USC Nov. 15 after hosting the California schools in Lincoln during their first season in the Big Ten. The Huskers will face a stretch with five out of six games on the road in October but will play three of their last four at home.
In total, Nebraska will play 30 regular season matches — 10 nonconference and 20 Big Ten. Fifteen of those matches will take place at the newly-dubbed John Cook Arena inside the Devaney Center. Eight matches feature opponents that finished inside the top 10 of the final 2024 AVCA Coaches Poll.
The Cornhuskers finished 33-3 last year during John Cook’s final season at the helm, earning a share of the Big Ten title and reaching the Final Four. The legendary coach announced his retirement and the Huskers introduced Dani Busboom Kelly as his successor on Jan. 29.
The 2025 Nebraska Volleyball Schedule 🗓️💁♀️ https://t.co/0tRofvAFm2 pic.twitter.com/Oiwi5YQiEs
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) May 28, 2025
