Dani Busboom Kelly’s goal for this week was to get her reserves extended run. She did just that on Wednesday night, going 14 deep as No. 1 Nebraska volleyball swept South Dakota State in Brookings.
The Huskers (3-0) beat the Jackrabbits 25-18, 25-20, 25-15 in front a record crowd of 5,113 at the newly renovated Union Bank & Trust Arena. The Huskers are used to playing in front of home crowds outside of Lincoln, but that wasn’t the case on Wednesday with a predominantly blue-clad crowd.
“I thought the crowd was awesome and they were into it, and it was hostile,” Busboom Kelly said. “I thought there would be more red, so I think that was actually cool to see it be South Dakota State fans and them having a lot of pride. It was good for us, and we’re trying to get our players different experiences in the nonconference and going on the road against a team that’s really hungry and then fans that are into it is always a good test.”
Wednesday’s venue holds a lot of memories for South Dakota native Bergen Reilly, who played in her home state for the second time in five months after the Huskers played one of their spring matches in her hometown of Sioux Falls back in April. Reilly totaled 32 assists, five digs, three kills on five swings, two blocks and an ace against the Jackrabbits.
South Dakota native Bergen Reilly sets the ball for No. 1 Nebraska volleyball against South Dakota State in Brookings. Photo by John S. Peterson.
“It’s awesome,” Reilly said. “There are so many people that have wanted to come see me play and haven’t really been able to get tickets in Lincoln, so it’s cool just coming to some of these different places where they can try and get some tickets, and just having more of my friends and family see me play.”
Reilly’s older sister Raegen, who played for the Jackrabbits in 2022 and 2023, was among those family members in the crowd.
“She got to be here tonight too, so that was cool; got out of some law school homework,” Bergen said. “I’ve been to a lot of games here. I’ve watched a lot of games, whether it’s volleyball or basketball. We kind of grew up coming to SDSU and USD games, so getting to come back and have kind of a full circle moment was awesome.”
Reilly set Nebraska to a .267 hitting percentage while the Huskers held South Dakota State to .011. Teraya Sigler led the way with 10 kills on .320 hitting — her third straight match over .300 to open the season — while adding four digs and three blocks.
Busboom Kelly said her plan heading into the match was to get Skyler Pierce and Kenna Cogill playing time as they both aren’t far off the starters in terms of their level of play on the practice court, and Pierce made the most of her opportunity to play three rotations for the last two sets as she finished with a career-high seven kills on .429 hitting.
Defensive specialist Laney Choboy led the team with seven digs while libero Olivia Mauch added six. Nebraska finished with five aces from five different players, but they came with 13 errors — too many for Busboom Kelly’s liking. The head coach said on the Huskers Radio Network that she felt a lack of focus overall from her team.
“I thought we played OK, certainly not our best volleyball, but it was nice to see some players that haven’t played,” Busboom Kelly said in her post-match press conference. “It’s only third game in, but we got some other players in and they did a great job. We want to get that experience for everybody so we can use it throughout the year.”
First Set
Both teams struggled to sustain offense in an error-filled start to the match, but Nebraska managed to create some separation midway through thanks to a 5-0 run feature Reilly at the service line. She notched an ace during the surge that gave Nebraska a 20-13 edge.
South Dakota State responded with two straight points, but Nebraska traded sideouts until set point, when Harper Murray broke the pattern with an ace to seal it.
The Huskers hit .214 and hold South Dakota State to .000. Murray totaled three kills on 10 swings (.200 hitting) plus three digs then spent the rest of the night on the bench as Busboom Kelly went into the match planning to rest her.
Second Set
Gabby DiVita and Pierce tag-teamed the rest of the match at outside hitter, with the freshman playing in the back row and the junior in the front.
Teraya Sigler spikes the ball against South Dakota State. Photo by John S. Peterson.
The second set proved to be the most competitive and back-and-forth set of the young season by far for Nebraska with 12 ties and five lead changes. The Huskers’ first seven sets included 12 ties and four lead changes combined.
Nebraska used an 8-2 run — including a 4-0 run with Jackson serving — to take a 9-4 lead, but the Jackrabbits fired back with their own 8-2 run to regain the lead at 12-11. A back-and-forth struggle resulted in an 18-17 South Dakota State lead late when Virginia Adriano terminated to spark an 8-2 finish to the set. Olivia Mauch served a 5-0 run including an ace during the final stretch.
“We just got grittier as the match went on, and we’ve been talking about that,” Busboom Kelly said. “We don’t ever have to play perfect, but we’ve got to continue to keep learning and get better throughout each game. So we want to finish better than we started, and I thought we definitely did that tonight, and with all the changes we made, so that was good to see.”
After a quiet first set, Sigler came alive in the second with four kills on eight errorless swings as Nebraska out-hit South Dakota State .323 to .135 thanks to five additional errors for the Jackrabbits.
Third Set
Busboom Kelly again changed her lineup to start the third set with Cogill replacing Manaia Ogbechie. The second-year middle opened the frame with a kill on her second career swing, then after a Jackrabbit point, Choboy served a 5-0 run to give the Huskers an early lead.
Skyler Pierce records one of her career-high seven kills against South Dakota State. Photo by John S. Peterson.
South Dakota State briefly cut the deficit to two at 9-7, but the Huskers responded with a 5-1 run including DiVita’s first career ace and it was all Nebraska the rest of the way. Sigler terminated to give Nebraska match point then teamed up with Keoni Williams for a block to end it.
Williams was on the court for the second half of the set because Jackson rolled her ankle. She finished the point and even went up for a block but subbed herself out after Nebraska won the rally.
“I think she’s fine,” Busboom Kelly said of Jackson on the Huskers Radio Network. “I think she just rolled her ankle a little bit. It does not appear to be very serious.”
Freshman Jayden Robinson also made her debut in the set, replacing Adriano at opposite hitter after South Dakota State’s run to cut it to two. Sher terminated her only attack and added a block assist.
Sigler (five kills) and Pierce (four) led the way as Nebraska hit .258. The Huskers totaled more blocks (five) than the Jackrabbits did kills (three) as South Dakota State hit minus-.167. After back-to-back Summit League Player of the Year Sylvie Zgonc totaled 11 kills in the first two sets, Nebraska held her to one kill (and two errors) in the third.
Up Next
The Huskers will continue on to Chicago to face DePaul at WinTrust Arena on Friday. The Blue Demons are 4-0 after opening the season with wins over Milwaukee (3-0), Drake (3-0), South Dakota (3-1) and Portland State (3-1).
DePaul runs a 5-1 with outside hitter Kendall Timme (3.86 kills per set on .253 hitting) and opposite Isabela Tavares Salomon (.371 on .293) leading the attacking. Middle blocker Jade Dudley-Epps is averaging 1.50 blocks per set while libero Nora Mannion has tallied 5.07 digs per set and has allowed just one ace on 83 serves sent her way (a .988 reception percentage).
DePaul could test Nebraska in the serve and pass game as the Blue Demons have totaled 27 aces (to 29 errors) while allowing only 13 aces (with 33 errors) to their opponents.
DePaul is the second of four straight unranked opponents for the Huskers, but only the fourth will be at home as Nebraska continues its two-week road trip to open the season.
“We couldn’t get maybe these top teams, but it’s like, ‘We’ll go on the road, we’ll challenge ourselves in different ways and it’s going to be a challenge with this turnaround,” Busboom Kelly said. “DePaul had a good start to their season … and they’re very, very fired up for this match at WinTrust.”
First serve on Friday is set for 5 p.m. CT on FS1.
