No. 3 Nebraska volleyball placed five players on the All-Big Ten First Team and earned two individual awards as the conference announced its postseason honors on Wednesday.
Senior Lexi Rodriguez is the inaugural Big Ten Libero of the Year winner while sophomore Bergen Reilly repeated as Big Ten Setter of the Year. Those two joined sophomore middle blocker Andi Jackson, senior opposite hitter Merritt Beason and sophomore outside hitter Harper Murray on the 25-player All-Big Ten First Team, with Rodriguez and Jackson among the seven unanimous choices.
The five selections for co-Big Ten champion Nebraska are the most of any team in the conference.
Senior middle blocker Leyla Blackwell is the Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree from Nebraska.
Wisconsin outside hitter Sarah Franklin repeated as Big Ten Player of the Year. Penn State’s Katie Schumacher-Cawley won Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading the Nittany Lions to a share of the Big Ten title. Penn State setter Izzy Starck also won Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
The Big Ten changed its Defensive Player of the Year Award to Libero of the Year this season. Rodriguez is a three-time All-American who has now earned All-Big Ten first-team honors in each of her four seasons. She previously won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 and 2023.
“Lexi is special,” Reilly told Big Ten Network. “She has taught me a lot just about being a teammate and being a leader. She’s one of the best to ever do it, and she also puts me in a lot of great positions. She makes my job really easy most of the time, so I’m really thankful for that. I don’t have to run a lot because of Lexi. She’s just taught me so much on the court and off the court, just being composed, being a leader, being there for your teammates. She’s the definition of a great teammate, and I’m so thankful that I got two years with her.”
Rodriguez won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week twice this season, giving her seven such honors in her career. She’s averaging 3.8 digs per set as a senior and is perennially one of the best passers in the country. Rodriguez led Nebraska to the lowest opponent hitting percentage in the Big Ten for the fourth straight year. She’s 71 digs shy of Justine Wong-Orantes’ program record for a career.
“I would say I’m pretty athletic, but I think most of it comes from that ability to read and to kind of get in the right spots,” Rodriguez said of her ability to mike highlight-reel plays on a consistent basis. “I want to give a huge shoutout to our blockers, because it’s a lot easier to read when our blockers are set up in great positions, so that makes my job so much more easier.
“I would say a big part of it is just trying to get in good positions and then just trying to react from there. You don’t have a lot of time, so I would say you have to be pretty fast with your reactions, but a lot of it is that reading aspect.”
Reilly repeated as Setter of the Year after winning the award as a freshman as well. She’s earned first-team All-Big Ten honors both seasons of her career as well and captured five Big Ten Setter of the Week awards as a sophomore. She’s the first Husker to win Big Ten Setter of the Year twice.
“It’s so special, and it’s such an honor,” Reilly said. “Just knowing all the amazing setters that came before me here and to be the first one to do it is really cool and really just a testament to everything that all the coaches and all my teammates have put into me, and I’m obviously working with one of the best that came through, Kelly Hunter, and then last year, Nicklin [Hames] was here too. So I’ve had a lot of people help me get here, and I’m just really thankful for all of them to kind of help me to get this award and get this really cool honor.”
Reilly led the Big Ten in assists per set for the second straight year at 11.1 while orchestrating the second-best offense in the Big Ten by hitting percentage (narrowly behind Wisconsin). She stepped up her defense (2.9 digs per set) and attacking (0.7 kills per set on .411 hitting) this season while also contributing 51 blocks and 20 aces. She recorded 15 double-doubles and posted career-highs in assists (60 in five sets against Purdue) and digs (20 in four sets against Minnesota).
Jackson built on her spectacular freshman season by improving both her attack volume and efficiency. She averaged 2.58 kills per set on a Big Ten-leading .442 hitting and 1.16 blocks per set. She recorded double-digit kills 10 times including a high of 15 in five sets against Creighton.
Murray, the 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year led the Huskers in kills and points as a sophomore, averaging 3.28 kills per set on .254 hitting and 2.27 digs per set, all improvements from her freshman year. She led the team with 30 aces and added 48 blocks. Murray recorded eight double-doubles while posting strong passing numbers for her position.
Beason averaged 2.99 kills per set on .246 hitting and 0.93 blocks per set while serving 25 aces. Her role changed from her junior year when she played all six rotations, but Beason closed out the season on a high note with her first double-double of the season, putting up 19 kills on .471 hitting and a career-high 10 blocks against Maryland.
Nebraska (29-2) will begin its quest for a sixth national championship on Friday as the No. 1 seed Huskers host Florida A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
