Nebraska volleyball is the unanimous preseason Big Ten favorite and three Huskers made the preseason All-Big Ten Team according to a vote of the league’s 18 coaches.
Seniors Andi Jackson, Harper Murray and Bergen Reilly were all unanimous All-Big Ten selections. The only other unanimous pick on the 19-player team was Penn State opposite hitter Kennedy Martin. Purdue was the only other Big Ten team with three players on the team.
The Huskers have captured at least a share of the Big Ten title the last three years, winning outright in 2023 and 2025 and splitting the title with Penn State in 2024. The Huskers swept through the Big Ten and went 33-1 overall in Dani Busboom Kelly’s first season at the helm. For the second straight offseason under Busboom Kelly, the Huskers did not lose any players to the transfer portal, returning everyone but those who had exhausted their eligibility and adding another top recruiting class.
Wisconsin (17-3, 28-5 overall in 2025), Penn State (12-8, 19-13), Purdue (15-5, 27-7) and Minnesota (12-8, 24-10) round out the top five.
Jackson is a three-time All-Big Ten selection (second team in 2023, first team in 2024 and 2025) who averaged 2.74 kills per set on .467 hitting and 1.12 blocks per set as a junior. The 6-foot-3 middle from Brighton, Colo., led the country in hitting percentage and earned AVCA Middle Blocker of the Year as well as here second AVCA first-team All-America nod. She hit .559 in Big Ten play alone, shattering the previous conference record of .541 by Penn State’s Arielle Wilson in 2008.
Nebraska Cornhusker outside hitter Harper Murray spikes the ball against Kansas State outside hitter Aniya Clinton (5) during the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Murray is also a three-time All-American (third team in 2023, second team in 2024 and first team in 2025) and three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter from Ann Arbor, Mich., averaged a team-best 3.54 kills per set on .295 hitting — both career highs — and 2.16 digs per set while serving a team-high 34 aces as a junior.
Reilly is also a three-time AVCA All-American (second team in 2023 and 2024, first team in 2025) and three-time All-Big Ten first teamer. The 6-foot-1 setter from Sioux Falls, S.D., averaged 10.47 assists and 2.70 digs per set while setting Nebraska to a program record .251 hitting percentage as a junior, shattering the previous record of .331 set in 1986. She earned AVCA Setter of the Year, AVCA West Region Player of the Year, Big Ten Setter of the Year (becoming the second player to win the award three times) and Big Ten Player of the Year (the first setter to win the award since Minnesota’s Samantha Seliger-Swenson, the first Husker to win Big Ten Player of the Year since Kelsey Robinson in 2013 and second ever, and the first Nebraska setter to win a conference player of the year award since Greichaly Cepero in 2002).
All three Huskers were named to the AVCA Player of the Year semifinalists list, with Reilly advancing to the final four. All three were named to the preseason watch list for the 2026 award on Wednesday as well.
Nebraska opened preseason practice on Thursday, returning to the Devaney Center after practicing off site in the spring during arena renovations. Jackson and Reilly will accompany Busboom Kelly to Chicago for Big Ten Media Day on Monday.
While renovations at the Devaney Center wrap up, the Huskers will take their Red-White Scrimmage to Pinnacle Bank Arena on Aug. 16. Nebraska will make its season debut in the Spikes Under the Lights exhibition tournament on Aug. 27 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before heading to Las Vegas for the Players Era Showcase, officially opening the 2026 campaign against UNLV on Aug. 29.
