The Huskers took another road trip this past weekend, but instead it was to the west coast. They sold out two more arenas and got two more sweeps as they return home to play their last 3 regular season matches Thursday night, Saturday night, and Tuesday night.
Now that the end of the season is in sight, a lot of questions remain along with a lot more volleyball to be played. Will Nebraska be the standalone B1G Regular Season Champions? Will they win the inaugural B1G Tournament? Will they be the #1
seed in the NCAA Tournament? Is 2026 finally the year they win it all? One of the biggest questions Husker nation has is will the “Core 4” senior class return for a 5th year? If not everyone, will anyone return for their 5th year?
A lot of the tops teams like Pitt, Texas, and Kentucky have their top players coming back next season already. It’s already been announced and the post season hasn’t even started. Husker nation is still in the dark about their seniors. Although DBK says none of the seniors have made their decision yet, or have yet to tell her yet, they have to have some sort of an idea about it. Winning or losing the national championship shouldn’t be their defining moment they are waiting on.
Bergen Reilly has proven to be a top performer again this week as she was the lone Husker to win a B1G Weekly Award. She was named Setter of the Week after leading the Huskers to a nation leading .448% hitting percentage and 17 kills/set. She also recorded her 49th career double-double with 43 assists, 11 digs, and a block against Oregon.
Illinois Fighting Illini
2025 Record: 13-16
2025 Conference Record: 8-12 B1G
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2024 (Lost to Northern Iowa in 1st Round)
Illinois volleyball has had a tough couple of years compared to the level they are used to being at. They used to be a Final Four team, but have instead fallen out of the tournament in the 2025 season. 2024 wasn’t much better though as they were upset by Northern Iowa in the 1st Round.
The 2026 season hasn’t been all that bad at first glance. They are 17-8 overall, but they are only 9-5 in B1G play. They do have some signature wins that will help strengthen their bid for the tournament though. They started conference play off on a three match win streak against #15 Minnesota, #23 USC, and #22 Washington.
They also have good wins over #22 Michigan State and #21 Indiana as well that came later in mid October and early November. Nebraska will need to watch their backs as the Illini seem to like a good upset this season. If they play like they did in Michigan, the Huskers could definitely be looking at getting upset.
Illinois is currently hitting at a .273% clip, which is 5th in the B1G, while their opponents are hitting .209%, which is 8th in the B1G. They are consistently in the Top 10 in hitting, kills, assists, etc. in the conference, but have still remained inconsistent this year.
The Illini seem to have breakthrough moments where they beat these top teams, but then slowly slide, losing their matches after they lose that momentum. This could be why Illinois isn’t really in the conversations about being a top team in the B1G. Oregon, Penn State, and Wisconsin have consistently been the teams named for 2nd place while Illinois just seems to be flying under the radar.
Notable Players for Illinois
JR OPP Paityn Chapman – Chapman transferred to Illinois after 2 seasons at Tennessee. She has quickly become one of Illinois’ best players. She has 320 kills and averages 3.48 kills/set with a .235% hitting percentage. She is also 2nd on the team in digs, with 250, and 3rd in blocks with 61. Currently 9th in the B1G in points with 384.
SO OH Alyssa Aguayo – She was part of the B1G All-Freshman Team in 2025 and is making her case to be part of an All-B1G Team again this year with 268 kills and 2.91 kills/set. She has played in every match this season and hasn’t missed a set too.
JR MB Kristina Starostenko – This is Starostenko’s first season at Illinois as she was playing in the top division in France’s women’s volleyball league. She is a 6’0” middle blocker from Ukraine who has became the Illini’s top blocker with 87 blocks, 12 solo. She is also currently hitting .418%
SR Setter Kenna Phelan – Phelan is another transfer in her 2nd year at Illinois, spending her first two years at Florida State. She earned All-Big Ten Second Team Honors last season and is currently 9th in assists in the conference this year. She averages 10.40 assists/set while Nebraska’s Bergen Reilly averages 11.60.
SO DS/L Talita Goncalves – Goncalves transferred to Illinois this year after her freshman season at San Jose State. She is one of only a few liberos with a kill this season. She currently has the team high 360 digs and is averaging 3.91 digs/set.
SR OH/OPP Taylor de Boer – de Boer has national team experience in her back pocket as she trained with the Canadian Junior Team in 2021-2022. She has been at Illinois since 2023, but started playing in 2024. She has 167 kills so far and is hitting .256% on 442 attempts.
JR MB Ashlyn Philpot – Philpot is one of their starting middles who is currently second on the team in blocks with 63, 12 solo. She is averaging almost 1 block a set while also tallying 139 kills and a hitting percentage of .323%.
Thursday’s match will begin at 6:00pm CST at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. It be televised on the Nebraska Public Media channel (PBS) and will also be available to stream on B1G+.
#1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (25-0, 14-0 B1G)
#1 Keri Leimbach 5’4” SO DS/L
#2 Bergen Reilly 6’1” SR Setter
#3 Virginia Adriano 6’5” SO OPP
#4 Campbell Flynn 6’3” SO Setter
#6 Laney Choboy 5’3” SR DS/L
#8 Kenna Cogill 6’4” SO MB
#10 Olivia Mauch 5’6” JR DS/L
#11 Teraya Sigler 6’3” SO OH
#14 Manaia Ogbechie 6’3” SO MB
#15 Andi Jackson 6’3” SR MB
#17 Keoni Williams 6’4” FR MB
#18 Ryan Hunter 6’2” SO OPP
#20 Jayden Robinson 6’3” FR OH
#21 Skyler Pierce 6’2” JR OH
#23 Gabby DiVita 6’1” FR OH
#27 Harper Murray 6’2” SR OH
#25 Illinois Fighting Illini (17-8, 9-5 B1G)
#2 Taryn Kirsch 5’10” SO DS/L
#3 Devin Dzienny 5’8” SO DS/L
#4 Paityn Chapman 6’3” JR OPP
#5 Taylor de Boer 6’4” SR OH/OPP
#6 Gabriella Pitcel 6’1” SO MB
#7 Kenna Phelan 5’7” SR Setter
#8 Maya Harris 6’0” FR OH
#9 Madi Miles 6’1” FR OH
#10 Sophi Randall 6’0” SO Setter
#11 Kristina Starostenko 6’0” JR MB
#13 Kenzie Cogan 5’7” JR DS/L
#14 Lindsay Oldendorf 6’3” 5th Year MB
#15 Gabby Dean 6’4” SR MB
#16 Ashlyn Philpot 6’4” JR MB
#17 Vivian Campbell 5’10” SR DS/L
#18 Talita Goncalves 5’7” SO DS/l
#19 Alyssa Aguayo 6’0” SO OH
#22 Ava Wysocki 6’0” SO OPP
