No. 1 Nebraska volleyball celebrated the grand reopening of the renovated John Cook Arena with a quick sweep over New Mexico in the Husker Invitational Thursday night.
The Huskers (5-0) swept the Lobos (25-12, 25-13, 25-15) in front a crowd of 10,497, a new Devaney Center volleyball record aided by the added seats. The renovations included a new sounds system, premium seating and a consolidated student section behind one of the benches.
“So cool,” Virginia Adriano said of the Huskers’ return home after two weeks on the road. “Obviously, everything is new, so we still have to get used to all the energy. The atmosphere was super cool — the lights, the smoke at the beginning, and the fans. Obviously, we have more fans now, so it’s even better than last year and the years before. The away games were intense, and it was a long time, but it was still super cool. Everything we got to do — Wrigley, Dallas, Vegas — and now we’re very happy to be home and relax a little bit, but still be on the games and everything.”
Nebraska put together another balanced offense with five attackers notching seven or more kills and each of them hitting .300 or better. Bergen Reilly (22 assists, seven digs, one ace) and Campbell Flynn (10 assists, five digs, one kill) split the setting duties as Nebraska hit .357.
Virginia Adriano (3) spikes the ball against the New Mexico Lobos. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Manaia Ogbechie finished with a season-high nine kills on .538 hitting and five blocks. Teraya Sigler matched her with nine kills on .412 hitting, six digs and three blocks — her fifth straight match over .300 hitting to start the season. Harper Murray added eight kills on .300 hitting and six digs. Andi Jackson totaled seven kills on .357 and Adriano put together her best outing of the young season with a 2026-high seven kills on .400 hitting in just two sets.
“I would say this is probably her best game of the year,” Coach Dani Busboom Kelly said of the second-year opposite hitter from Italy. “We’ll see; we’ve got a long ways to go. I think she’s certainly improved physically. I think she’s more comfortable here. I don’t know if that’s translating to the court yet, but she’s well on her way and games like tonight will just speed that process up. She can start stacking great games next to each other; I think that’s the next step for her.”
Defensively, Nebraska held the Lobos to .046 to improve on their nation-leading opponent hitting percentage. The Huskers out-dug New Mexico 43 to 28 with Olivia Mauch recording 11 digs while adding a season-high five assists and an ace.
“Liv played great; she looked really good,” Busboom Kelly said. “Her passing was so smooth, and she was just in the right spot a lot of times. When she wasn’t, she got to the ball really quick, so she had a really, really great night.”
The Nebraska Cornhuskers react to the officials’ call from a challenge against the New Mexico Lobos. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Some of the team’s biggest celebrations of the night followed pancake saves, with Mauch recording two of them — including one that held up after review on a New Mexico challenge.
“It’s expected, but also it’s so cool to celebrate those points that we work so hard to be able to get those big digs,” Sigler said. “And Liv, Laney [Choboy], Keri [Leimbach], they’ve been putting in so much work to make each other better, and so it’s just so cool to see all of them go in and just make an impact, whether it’s serve receive, defense, setting. I think that it’s awesome to see them all be so confident, and for Liv to go in there and make those big plays.
“I think it also gives everyone else confidence that they can make those plays, that even though they’re the smallest players on the court, they still have such a big impact on the game … They’re sacrificing so much just to get the point up that the least I can do is work as hard as I possibly can to end those points and make them better as well.”
Celebrating victories big and small continues to be an emphasis from the coaching staff as Busboom Kelly said she didn’t think last year’s team did a very good job of it. So far this season, she’s pleased in that area.
“This year, this team seems to be taking that a little more to heart, and it started with the exhibitions and just celebrating that,” Busboom Kelly said. “I think most people expected us to win that that little tournament or whatever you want to call it, and when they dogpiled, I thought it was awesome. We talked about celebrating little things and being excited and not taking anything for granted, and that was the first step.
“I think they’re starting to realize that that matters, and when you have a long season, if you can celebrate little things along the way, it just makes it way more fun and worthwhile, and usually, you feel fresher in December.”
First Set
Bergen Reilly (2) serving during a 10-0 run to open the match against the New Mexico Lobos. Photo by John S. Peterson.
The Huskers looked plenty happy to be back at home, and perhaps the Lobos looked a little rattled out of the gates as Reilly opened the match with a 10-0 serving run. New Mexico misfired on five of its first eight swings before notching its first kill.
“It’s pretty fire,” Sigler said of Reilly’s second double-digit serving run of the season. “I think that just goes back to the reps we get with serving and just emphasis of putting so much pressure back there. Kudos to Bergen.”
The Huskers led 12-2 before Jackson, the 2025 AVCA Middle Blocker of the Year, even played a point as Ogbechie carried the load early. Nebraska used a 5-0 run — again featuring Reilly at the service line — to extend the lead to 20-6 before cruising to the finish.
Ogbechie went 4-for-4 on her swings while Adriano matched her with four kills on seven errorless attacks. Sigler added three kills — including set point — on six attempts without a miscue. The Huskers hit .429 while holding the Lobos to minus-.030 with nine attack errors.
Second Set
New Mexico settled in for set two, pulling even three times before a 3-0 Nebraska run ending with a Jackson ace. She misfired on her next serve, but the Huskers bounced back with a 4-0 run featuring Reilly at the service line to build an 11-5 lead.
The Huskers continued to pull away from there, with serving playing a big part as Mauch and Choboy both served aces to help build a double-digit advantage. Nebraska closed out the set with kills from Sigler and Adriano.
The Cornhuskers out-hit New Mexico .294 to .037, adding three aces to their 14 kills.
Third Set
Busboom Kelly changed her lineup heading into set three with Flynn replacing Reilly at setter and Skyler Pierce subbing in for Adriano at opposite.
New Mexico scored first in set three to take its lone lead of the night, and four ties followed before Nebraska surged ahead for good with a 3-0 run consisting of back-to-back kills from Jackson and Choboy’s second ace.
A handful of rallies later, Nebraska blew the game open with a 7-0 run featuring Sigler at the service line that pushed the lead to 19-9. After a New Mexico sideout, freshman Gabby DiVita subbed in for Sigler to finish the match.
Gabby DiVita (23) spikes the ball for match point against the New Mexico Lobos. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Nebraska maintained a healthy lead the rest of the way until DiVita closed it out with her first career kill on her first official swing inside John Cook Arena.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so proud of her,” Sigler said. “I think Gabby’s been putting in so much work, and just seeing her get to display that — behind the scenes, she’s one of our hardest workers. She’s also the hardest on herself, and so getting to see her take a big rip and just be confident in it, I think that that’s the biggest thing for me is to know that she is more than a volleyball player.
“Obviously, as a freshman, we’ve all been there. We’re in a big arena, Nebraska, that’s a pretty big deal, and it’s hard to not put pressure on yourself. I’m so beyond proud of her for just taking a big rip, and look where it got her. I love Gabby.”
Murray led another balanced set for the Huskers with four kills as Nebraska hit .357 while New Mexico managed .148.
Up Next
Nebraska will continue Husker Invitational play against No. 20 Baylor on Friday night. The Bears swept Georgia Tech in the first match of the tournament on Friday, 25-22, 25-18, 25-16.
Ksenia Rakhmanchik led the Bears (5-1) with 19 kills on .333 hitting and two aces. Nadiya Johnson added 10 kills on .391 hitting and three blocks. Baylor hit .308 and held the Yellow Jackets to .116 to hand them their first loss of the season.
First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
