There’s a balance No. 1 Nebraska volleyball wants to strike this week.
With No. 16 Penn State (7-5) on the horizon, the Huskers (12-0) aren’t ignoring what happened last year.
Nebraska’s only loss in conference play? The final weekend of the regular season in a four-setter at Penn State. Nebraska’s season-ending loss? A defeat in reverse sweep fashion in the national semifinal at the hands of none other than the Nittany Lions.
How much are those losses on the Huskers’ minds this week?
“Quite a bit,” senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick said. “I feel like I’m not one to shy away from the elephant in the room. I think as long as we keep it light-hearted, it’ll be a really fun week.”
How do you keep losses like that light-hearted? Well, that’s where the balance comes in.
The Huskers don’t want to linger too long on the losses. They’ll acknowledge them, sure, but nothing they do right now will transport them back to 2024 to change last season’s outcome. However, the feelings surrounding the losses can be translated.
“That game was almost a year ago. There’s not much we can do about it now, right?” Allick said. “So, not to dwell on the loss, but appreciate the rivalry and use it as fuel.”
Coach Dani Busboom Kelly may not have been with Nebraska last season, but she can relate strongly to the Huskers’ experience. Her Louisville Cardinals lost to Penn State twice in 2024, too, including at Rec Hall and in the national championship match in Louisville, Kentucky.
“We’re, I’d say, pretty motivated,” Busboom Kelly said. “(It’s) kinda like ‘chip on our shoulder’ week. We know that we’re gonna have to play really well to go in there and beat them.”
The motivation is there.
The Huskers know what’s at stake: This match – and the one on Black Friday — could dictate who hoists the Big Ten champion trophy in November.
Junior setter Bergen Reilly added, “Games like this always have some sort of implications for postseason. We know what our goals are and that’s a Big Ten Championship and a national championship.”
That’s not overselling it. That’s what happened last year.
The reason why Nebraska and Penn State ended up sharing the co-Big Ten champions title last year came down to that one loss for Nebraska. Had Nebraska won, the Huskers would have been the sole Big Ten champions. But the loss tied Nebraska and Penn State at 19-1 in conference play, meaning the two shared the title.
One loss was the difference.
“Every game matters, truly,” Reilly said. “That’s the reality of it, is, yeah, we really want to beat Penn State, but we also have to go and beat Rutgers the next day, too.”
The attention is on Penn State for a reason.
Penn State is the reigning national champion. It’ll be a sold-out crowd. The rivalry between Nebraska and Penn State is a tense one — especially with two former Huskers excelling as Nittany Lions (Maggie Mendelson and Caroline Jurevicius) — and the crowd, for the first time all season, will not be in Nebraska’s favor.
“My message to the freshmen would be to embrace it,” Allick said. “Never make the moment bigger than it is, but also enjoy it. Don’t try and walk in and act like you’re too cool for school. Acknowledge that they are a good team, but enjoy the environment because not everywhere we go are we going to have fans that outnumber Husker fans. So it’ll be different, but it’s also going to be really fun.”
But just as Nebraska looks a little different from last season, so too does Penn State.
The Nittany Lions lost several players, like All-American outside hitter Jess Mruzik, who had 26 kills on 70 swings in the national semifinal against Nebraska, and outside hitter Camryn Hannah, who had 16 kills on 44 swings in the national semifinal. To replace some of that lost talent, All-American opposite hitter Kennedy Martin transferred in from Florida.
And, in the biggest college volleyball news of this season, Penn State’s reigning National Freshman of the Year in setter Izzy Starck stepped away in an effort to prioritize her mental health.
“You can’t really replace Izzy Starck, just her talent as a setter, her athleticism,” Busboom Kelly said. “Again, they have Kennedy Martin, who I think she could hit off anybody. She’s gonna be great. Their outside hitters, they have three of them that are really, really physical. Setter doesn’t affect the libero, so I think they’re still a very, very good team.”
On the court, there have been struggles for Penn State — like an early-season three-match losing skid to top teams in Arizona State, TCU and Kentucky. In total, the preseason No. 2 team has lost five matches thus far this season, including a four-setter to UCLA on Sunday.
But just because the Nittany Lions are 7-5, that doesn’t mean the Huskers are taking them lightly.
This is a rivalry game, after all.
“I still see them as the team from last year. I know they have some new firepower,” Allick said. “… But I’ve got a grudge, so I want to kick some butt.”
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Amie Just
Husker sports reporter/columnist
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