The ride of a lifetime for the Boesiger family reaches its conclusion this weekend at the 2026 NSAA State Volleyball Championships.
Visit a Norris volleyball practice and there’s a good chance you’ll see a Boesiger anywhere you look. Christina Boesiger is the head coach. Her husband, Chris, is her assistant. Malorie Boesiger is the team’s senior setter, and this year older sister Maisie has joined the coaching staff as well.
“It’s funny,” senior outside hitter Alli Bornschlegl told NebPreps. “It’s like the whole Boesiger family is at practice, and I think that they have fun together, and it kind of makes it a little bit more like everything’s going to be OK. We like having Maisie.”
Maisie’s presence has made an already memorable experience with her parents even better for Malorie, who will follow in her big sister’s footsteps by joining Nebraska volleyball next season.
“It’s really cool,” Malorie said. “I think it’s special because no one really gets that opportunity. I think it’s really cool just having my mom, my dad and my sister as my coach.”
Maisie finished up her playing career with the Huskers last December and jumped into the professional world working for LOVB in a social media marketing role while also operating as the head of marketing for SheSports. Even so, she had some free time, and Christina had an idea.
Norris assistant coach Maisie Boesiger talks to her sister Malorie (7) during the Titans’ match against Waverly. Photo by Jackson D. Luethje.
“I don’t remember exactly when it was, but I remember my mom brought it up to me and she was like, ‘Hey, do you want to coach this year? You’re going to have some time,’” Maisie said. “At first, I was like, ‘Really? I don’t know.’ It was right when I got done playing, but then it wasn’t until I had been done playing for a while where I was like, ‘I really, really miss being in the gym,’ and so I was really excited to get back in the gym and excited to do it in a new way too.”
Maisie was a record-setting setter at Norris before walking on at Nebraska as a defensive specialist. Now she’s bringing the experienced she gained during her four years as a Husker — and her sunny disposition — to the Norris gym. She works closely with the teams defenders and passers, using everything she learned from arguably the best defensive program in college volleyball on a daily basis.
“Maisie is just such a light, so I know I can always go to her,” Malorie said. “Defensively, obviously that’s what she did at Nebraska, so she’s just helping me improve on my defensive side of the game as well.”
Maisie was on the fence at first — and she’s still not sure if coaching is in her long-term future — but saying yes for this season has proven to be the right move — especially with all the time she missed during Malorie’s first three years of high school.
“It’s so fun, especially that my mom’s the head coach, my dad’s an assistant, my sister plays, I have two cousins who play, so it’s just like the most fun experience,” Maisie said. “The girls are amazing, and so I just look forward to coming to the gym every day …
“I’m so happy to be here for it all, because I was so sad when I’d be on the road and I wouldn’t be able to see her, and I’d be trying to watch the games on live streams on away trips and whatnot. Now I’m not only at the games, I’m at every single practice too, so I feel like I’m making up for time that I lost.”
Norris head coach Christina Boesiger holds a volleyball on the sideline during a match against Waverly. Photo by Jackson D. Luethje.
Mom has enjoyed it as much as the two sisters, and the Titans have benefitted.
“It’s so fun,” Christina said. “I feel like it’s full circle. Maisie was born on a game day at Norris when I was coaching, and so just to have her back in the gym is just totally full circle. She is just a joyful person, and I love what she’s bringing, playing for some of the best coaches in the United States … I think it’s a way for her to give back to the program and the school that gave her so much as well. She had an amazing four years here at Norris, and to now be on the sidelines and for Malorie.
“I think over some of Malorie’s high school years, she’s missed a lot just because of a Husker volleyball. She came every time she could, but you miss state tournaments and miss things, and so to know that she’s going to be here for the whole year is awesome.”
Malorie has blossomed into one of the best setters in the country, and Huskers head coach Dani Busboom Kelly made her a priority in the 2027 class. She’s leading the state in assists at 12.1 per game as the Titans head into Friday’s Class B semifinals as the No. 1 seed with a 37-1 record.
“She’s grown a ton too, just as a leader and as a player,” Christina said. “She’s worked a ton on just ball location no matter where she’s at on the court, and that’s probably the biggest thing. Her thing is she does not want the hitters to have to guess where the ball is going to be. If she’s on her knees or 30 feet one way or the other, she wants that ball in the same spot, so that’s probably the biggest part of it that she’s just really, really consistent and can jack a ball anywhere …
“Then just as a leader, she loves to be a perfectionist, I would say, but is relaxing a little bit on that and has just developed into a really good leader as well and just a very calm presence for everyone out there.”
Malorie was a day-one starter for the Titans, leading them to a 33-4 record and runner-up finish at state as a freshman. However, she missed her sophomore season with an injury, cheering from the bench as the Titans won the Class B state title. She returned to the court as a junior for her own title run while leading the state in assists. This season, she’s been just as prolific and is orchestrating arguably the best offense in the state as Norris is hitting .391 on the season.
In Wednesday’s quarterfinal win over York, Malorie broke her sister’s program record for career assists. She also broke Maisie’s career aces record this season plus the program record for single-season aces, and she already owned the program record for single-season assists. She will likely collect a handful of other records as well once her career officially wraps up.
“She’s such a smart player and just literally such a fighter,” Maisie said. “She is obsessed with volleyball. She watches it 24/7, and it’s always honestly been inspiring to me because I love volleyball, but I wasn’t like ‘I need to watch volleyball 24/7.’ But that’s what Malorie is. She loves watching every team, every game, and she’s always learning and always trying to grow. She’s just so smart. She knows who to set when, what type of set they need, and she’s just so good at reading her own teammates, but also the other team. I love watching her play. It’s really, really cool to watch a player with that high of a volleyball IQ.”
Malorie Boesiger (7) celebrates with her teammates Kaylynn Lottman (3) and McKinley Ramsey (6). Photo by Braden Cochran.
While the women of the family operate in the spotlight, Chris is the key behind the program operating at such a high level. He does everything from coordinating their video, scouting opponents, running warmups and cool-downs, taping ankles, working with the middle blockers, hitting hundreds of balls in practice and even serving as the public address announcer for home matches. Christina called him the definition of a servant leader and the heartbeat behind so much of what makes their program run.
“We lovingly call him our ‘Yes Man,’ because his answer is almost always yes,” Christina said. “But what I appreciate most is that he teaches our girls what servant leadership truly looks like — not just through his words, but through the way he lives his life every single day. He gives so much of himself without ever asking for anything in return, and we honestly couldn’t do this without him. We are incredibly grateful for him and everything he does to keep us all going.”
While the run together is coming to an end, the memories from this season will last a lifetime, and Maisie’s advice for her sister throughout it all has been to enjoy every single day.
“I feel like that’s something I always try to do is just not take a single day for granted and just enjoy every single day that I had, because getting to play high school is truly a blessing, and she learned that with being out for a year with her injury too,” Maisie said. “Then every single day I got at Nebraska, I was so grateful to be there, and so I’m just trying to pass on to her is that the four years go so fast and it is the most amazing opportunity and she’s going to do the coolest things ever.
“I’m so excited to see all the opportunities that she’ll have, so just to soak it all in.”
