A moment that Missouri coach Dawn Sullivan called “magical” lasted just a few minutes before reality set in and put a pause on Nebraska volleyball’s match against the Tigers at Wrigley Field Sunday night.
Roughly 75 minutes — and just 18 rallies — after the match began, officials suspended play for the match with a message from the Big Ten. While the event avoided storms, the humidity proved to be too great an obstacle to overcome.
Due to weather conditions affecting the court surface, Sunday’s volleyball match between Nebraska and Missouri has been suspended.
Despite best efforts and in collaboration with all parties, rescheduling at Wrigley Field is not possible.
A decision on match continuation at the point of suspension will be announced at a later date.
Coach Dani Busboom Kelly said she and Sullivan will discuss resuming the match at some point down the road to see if it will work for both sides, but they won’t do so in the next week.
“This obviously did not go as anybody wanted it to or planned, but up until the minute it was called, it was an incredibly first-class event,” Busboom Kelly said. “The Big Ten and the Cubs organization just made this super special from the first moment we walked into Wrigley Field, and then obviously I thought our fans, volleyball fans in general, you had the some of the biggest names in the sport of volleyball here tonight to witness this, so it was on its way to being a very, very epic moment for our sport, and unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate.
“But I’m just really thankful for everybody who went out on a limb and invested a lot of money and time and manpower to do something pretty special for our sport.”
The unsafe conditions spoiled a history-making event as 43,067 fans packed into Wrigley Field to watch the two matches, which shattered the record for volleyball attendance in the state of Illinois that Nebraska and DePaul set at Wintrust Arena on Friday.
“I saw a tweet go out that it was the second-largest crowd ever at Wrigley, for a volleyball game, so that’s unbelievable for our sport,” Busboom Kelly said. “Just walking out there, it was a really cool moment … It’s just amazing the amount of people that show up for volleyball and show up for Nebraska, and I feel bad for our fans. I know there are people that can’t get tickets to Devaney that were here to watch us play and only got to see 15 points, but that’s the way it goes with outdoor sports, right? Sometimes there’s weather that causes cancellations.”
Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly and Missouri Coach Dawn Sullivan discuss the conditions during a stoppage in play at the Big Ten/SEC Challenge in Wrigley Field. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Nebraska’s match was the second of a Big Ten/SEC Challenge double-header at the home of the Chicago Cubs. No. 3 Kentucky and No. 13 Penn State made it through their match with the Wildcats winning in four, though the longer the match went on, the more difficult game play became as players were slipping around on the court.
After a break to treat the court and give the teams time to warm up, the Huskers and Tigers took the court for their match — and played three points before officials stopped the match out of caution with the court looking more like an ice rink than a Teraflex surface.
With both sides wanting to continue, the crew began wiping down the court with a special Teraflex-specific solution designed to absorb moisture and dry the surface. Members of both teams got down on their hands and knees to join in the work while people tore up the mid-court logos that were especially slick and dried off the court with fans and leaf blowers. When they weren’t wiping the floor, players began singing and dancing to keep themselves — and the fans — entertained.
After a 17-minute delay, the teams resumed play, though their movements remained cautious. Nebraska settled in, using a strong stretch at the service line from Virginia Adriano to build a 9-3 lead. The Tigers began chipping away at the lead, trimming it to 11-7, when officials again stopped the match.
“You don’t want to see any injury and put any athlete at a risk for injury,” Busboom Kelly said. “So I think we just kept looking at each other every time somebody would slip, and it’s like this probably is not going to work. And we tried, like you saw us cleaning the court, tried to go again, and it just felt like it was going to keep building up, that humidity.”
This delay proved to last much longer than 17 minutes as the coaches conferred with Big Ten and event officials to discuss alternative options. Eventually, both teams returned to the locker rooms as treatment on the court continued.
The players eventually returned to the field, but after nearly 40 minutes, the suspension announcement went out over the public address system. At that point, the Husker seniors took turns with the microphones to address the fans.
“We were just getting emotional in the locker room about how much this sucks that we can’t play here for you guys, but we’re so lucky that we get to experience something like this and we’re so sorry from the bottom of our hearts,” Harper Murray said. “Thank you guys for being the best fans in the country, and go Big Red. We love you.”
Nebraska seniors Andi Jackson (15) and Harper Murray (27) walking out for player introductions during the Big Ten/SEC Challenge at Wrigley Field on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, in Chicago, Ill. Photo by John S. Peterson.
“I just wanted to say that nothing that we do would be possible without all of you guys,” Laney Choboy added. “You show up every single game, all the time, no matter where we’re playing, and we could not be more thankful for a fan base that is willing to do anything for us. So go Big Red and thank you guys so much.”
“Hi everyone, it’s Andi Jackson,” said the senior middle blocker, who needed no introduction to the 43,000 fans in the ballpark. “On behalf of myself and the Huskers, we’ve already said it, but thank you so much for being here. I know it didn’t go the way we wanted, but this turnout is absolutely incredible. Thank you for supporting us, thank you for supporting Mizzou, and thank you for supporting women’s sports. Mizzou, you guys are incredible; we’re sorry this did not go as planned. Good luck this season; you guys are awesome. Husker fans, thank you so much; you guys are incredible.”
Finally, the team’s setter took the mic, and she had to fight back tears by the end of her message.
“Just to reiterate what they said, truly, none of this would be possible without you guys,” Bergen Reilly said. “We want to give you guys our all and we couldn’t do that tonight, so we’ll keep doing it the rest of the season for you guys. We love you all. Seriously, we would not be here without you guys. Go Big Red always and get home safe.”
After Reilly’s tear-muffled message, Jackson took the mic back and proceeded to start a karaoke session, inviting her teammates, their opponents and the fans to join in on a rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” that grew louder and louder with every line.
Sunday’s event featured more singing and dancing for the teams than it did volleyball as the players looked to stay loose and fill the downtime. That included an impromptu dance battle between Nebraska’s Ryan Hunter and Missouri’s Tia Phinezy. Fans also engaged on building a cup snake in the stands and running a conga line on the concourse.
“This was amazing,” Busboom Kelly said. “I applaud the effort, but there’s a reason why our sport is indoor, and there are a lot of amazing indoor arenas or football fields indoor or baseball fields that have domes, like you saw us play one this year in exhibition. So I think there are opportunities to do some incredible things for volleyball. I do not think outdoor is what we should be doing.”
The Devaney Center can be considered one of those arenas, and now the Huskers will shift their attention to their home opener inside the newly renovated John Cook Arena.
