More than 15,500 fans packed Pinnacle Bank Arena to celebrate Dani Busboom Kelly’s first win as the head coach of Nebraska volleyball on Friday night.
With John Cook sitting court side, the No. 1 Huskers took down No. 3 Pittsburgh 3-1 at the AVCA First Serve to open the 2025 season.
“It was pretty magical,” Busboom Kelly said. “I said earlier this week, the fact that I got to do one thing that hasn’t been done before was cool — playing in Pinnacle Bank Arena — and then coming away with the win against an old rival of mine, I guess it couldn’t have lined up so perfectly.”
The Huskers took down the Panthers 25-22, 25-11, 20-25, 25-23 to open the Busboom Kelly era in victorious fashion. After a handful of dress rehearsals — as Busboom Kelly called them — the Huskers were happy to deliver here a win that counts.
“Dani’s an awesome coach, and we’ve had so much fun with her, especially in this offseason,” Andi Jackson said. “It’s been just really fun getting to know her as a person and as a coach, and we’ve done a lot of really, really cool things, lots of fun things and activities that we’re not really used to. So it’s just been super fun getting to do things as a team, and it’s really special to see Dani get this win. We all really wanted it for her super bad, especially because it was against Pitt, her old rival.”
Pitt junior opposite hitter Olivia Babcock, the 2024 AVCA National Player of the Year, tallied a match-high 21 kills, but the Huskers forced her into 14 attack errors and held her to .121 hitting.
Nebraska recorded 15 blocks as a team, seven of which came on Babcock swings. Jackson and Taylor Landfair led the way with eight blocks apiece while Rebekah Allick added seven. The Huskers held the Panthers to .111 hitting for the match.
Laney Choboy earned the start at libero and totaled a match-high 16 digs. Olivia Mauch played defensive specialist in the back row for Landfair and added eight digs plus an ace.
“They were both fantastic,” Busboom Kelly said of the littles’ play. “Laney did a great job in serve receive; I thought Pitt targeted her a little bit — which, her first game in a libero Jersey — and she handled that really well. Then Olivia made great adjustments throughout the match, and you just saw her get more and more comfortable as match went on, taking balls that maybe an off blocker would typically take. So they both were excellent.”
Match MVP Andi Jackson spikes the ball against Marina Pezelj (10) and Dalia Vîrlan (11). Photo by John S. Peterson.
Harper Murray led the Huskers with 15 kills on .278 hitting, six digs and an ace. The AVCA recognized Jackson as MVP of the match as she added 10 kills on .348 to her eight blocks, which tied her career high.
Bergen Reilly finished with 40 assists, 10 digs, three blocks, a kill and an ace while setting Nebraska to a .224 hitting percentage.
Virginia Adriano earned the start at opposite hitter. Fellow freshman Teraya Sigler also started the match, playing in the back row for Landfair. Nebraska went 11-deep, but all 17 players got to experience a Final Four-type environment with a red carpet walk upon arrival at the arena and a special light show before introductions.
“What an amazing event for the AVCA,” Busboom Kelly said. “That intro was pretty unbelievable just to start off college volleyball, and for them to set the stage and set the tone that this sport is big time was awesome. And then to have that in Lincoln, where the stands are full and the people are into it, it was just an amazing way to start off the season.
“I thought it was a great match, and one that we learned a lot. I feel like Pitt’s a team that you can never count out, and they make great adjustments. I’m just happy we got challenged and we saw different people step up in big moments. So great win for our team, and a good fight by Pittsburgh.”
The Huskers scored as many points for the Panthers as they did for themselves at the start of the match. It took until the 20th rally for Pitt to record its first kill, but a Babcock spike tied it at 10-all.
“It felt like we were a little amped and forcing a few things that we maybe didn’t need to,” Busboom Kelly said of the rocky start. “But on the flip side, that’s what we’re encouraging the team to do. It’s early; we want to take risks and continue to learn what we can do, and the only way you’re going to learn is if you do it. So it wasn’t anything I was disappointed in, it was like we needed to settle down and just minimize the errors.”
Nebraska’s miscues continued and Pitt took advantage, using a 4-0 run to take its first lead. However, the Huskers collected themselves just in time to make a run, winning seven of the final eight rallies. Landfair was a force down the stretch, teaming up with Jackson to stuff Babcock twice and adding a kill. Murray closed out the set with a missile from the back row.
Nebraska only hit .162 but held Pitt to .029. Landfair led the Huskers with four kills and the two blocks.
“She created a ton of momentum for our team, and I know we were so proud of her,” Jackson said of the veteran pin. “She really stepped up, especially as a senior. It was really cool to see her use that opportunity that she was given, and so we’re all really proud of her. It was a huge momentum creator for our team, and I think after she got those few kills, few blocks, we were ready to go from there; there was no stopping us.”
There strong finish appeared to settle the Huskers down heading into set two. Nebraska raced out to a 5-1 lead and forced Pitt’s only timeout early, which did nothing to slow the onslaught. Murray (five kills on seven swings) and Allick (four-for-four) took over as Nebraska cruised to a 14-point win.
With the Huskers up 23-9 late, Busboom Kelly sent freshman Campbell Flynn in to set and senior Allie Sczech in at opposite hitter, and the Baylor transfer scored the final two points with a block and a kill.
The Huskers hit .429 and held Pitt to minus-.062.
Pitt showed its mettle in the third set, using a 4-0 run early to create separation and maintaining its lead the rest of the way. Nebraska pulled within one at 13-12, but the Panthers stretched it back out and kept the Huskers at a distance the rest of the way.
Dagmar Mourits came alive with six kills in the set and Babcock added five as the Panthers hit .262. Their defense didn’t leave many holes for the Huskers, who only hit .079 with nine kills.
Taylor Landfair, Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly block Olivia Babcock on match point. Photo by John S. Peterson.
The fourth set was tight throughout with seven ties and three lead changes. The teams were within a point or two of each other most of the way outside of Nebraska building a 20-16 lead late. The Panthers rallied to tie it at 23-all after back-to-back aces from Babcock, but Murray terminated off the block to give Nebraska match point and the Huskers finished it off with a triple block as Jackson, Landfair and Reilly teamed up to stop Babcock.
“It was great,” Jackson said. “We train blocking a lot, so it was really nice to see it all come into fruition and then end the game with it.”
The Panthers blanked Murray for the first half of the set, but an overpass smash midway through reignited the junior as she notched five kills in the last 25 rallies.
“I feel like the end of games is where I play my best,” Murray said. “I think in the fourth set I kind of went down a little bit, and that’s something that I need to work on, but I think at the end of games is where I can be there for my team the most. I feel like that’s kind of been a trend for me the past few years, so that’s just something I want to continue to do for my team and continue to show out when they need me most.”
Nebraska out-hit Pittsburgh .318 to .185 to secure victory.
The Huskers will return to Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday to take on No. 6 Stanford, with first serve set for 3:30 p.m. CT, or 30 minutes after the completion of Pittsburgh versus Florida. The Cardinal defeated No. 16 Florida 3-1 in the second half of Friday’s double-header behind 14 kills on .343 hitting and 17 digs from senior outside hitter Elia Rubin.
