For a Nebraska volleyball team that has said over and over that it isn’t going to allow any kind of good start to distract it, the Huskers will be hard-pressed to ignore the utter domination they showed on Sunday afternoon against the Texas Longhorns.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the straight-set victory was that NU can lean on different aspects of its game on any given day to win. Against UNLV, it was a smothering defense that led Andi Jackson, Harper Murray and the rest to Saturday night’s win.
Andi Jackson hits .571 as Nebraska volleyball dominates Texas at the net
In the 25-19, 25-19, 25-16 victory over Texas, it was Nebraska’s serve that sliced up and diced up its longtime rival. The Huskers ended the match with 7 service aces. They also held a Longhorns team that has built a reputation for putting opponents on the defensive, without getting a single ace. The Longhorns also committed 6 service errors.
That’s not to say that NU’s defense wasn’t yet again very, very good. As a team, they posted 10 blocks while Texas managed just 4.
Manaia OgBechie, Murray and Teraya Sigler helped the Huskers put up a wall that their latest opponent couldn’t hit through. Meanwhile, Jackson dominated the net with 9 kills and just one error. Jackson also hit a match-best .571 over the three sets.
The victory continues a run for the Huskers that has them playing like they were shot out of a cannon. Before the regular season even started, they took down both No. 17 Florida and No. 11 SMU in the Spikes Under the Lights tournament that also got Dani Busboom Kelly’s squad nearly $500K in NIL money.
So far, UNLV is the only team Nebraska has played that didn’t start the season ranked.
Now that the weekend is over, the group’s focus will be tested as it begins a stretch against opponents it should be able to roll over. South Dakota State, DePaul, Missouri, and New Mexico are the Huskers’ next four opponents,, and none of them are currently ranked.
Big Red will then play two ranked teams in their next three matches against Baylor and Creighton. The Blue Jays will be a great test of how good this team is, as CU has already pulled off a couple of upsets against Top 15 squads.
It’s still a long season, and Nebraska will still be judged most by how they finish the year, but so far, Dani Busboom Kelly has the team looking like the juggernaut fans hoped they would be.
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