After playing out east last weekend, the Huskers returned home for a few days to try and iron out their mistakes from that trip. Both Michigan and Michigan State both took the first set from the Huskers in last weekends matches. This is the first time this season the Huskers had to play from behind and win 3 straight sets after losing the first.
Now, the Husker girls will head out west to take on the PNW, Pacific Northwest, teams this weekend with stops in Oregon on Saturday night and Washington on Sunday
afternoon. Both teams are ranked in the top 25 with Oregon at #12 and Washington at #18.
After cleaning up the last few weeks in the B1G recognitions, only one Husker was recognized. Bergen Reilly was named Setter of the Week in the conference for the 3rd time this season. She led the B1G in assists per set with 12.88 and totaled a season-high 58 assists against Michigan.
Reilly also helped set the offense to hitting .380% during the two matches which led the B1G and was ranked 2nd nationally. Another impressive stat was that Reilly helped the offense, against Michigan, that included five players with double-digit kills for the 12th time in the rally-scoring era. This was the first time this has happened since 2021.
Oregon Ducks
2025 Record: 17-13
2025 Conference Record: 8-12 (B1G)
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2024 (Lost to Pittsburgh in 1st Round)
Oregon is in their 2nd season under head coach Trent Kersten after Matt Ulmer left the program in January 2025. After Ulmer departed, Oregon star player Mimi Coyler followed suit, but didn’t go to Kansas with him. This followed with more girls departing and leaving the program in sort of a rebuild year. This also led Kenna Cogill to flip her commitment from Oregon to Nebraska.
After a 24-8 finish, and a tournament appearance, in the 2024 season, 2025 brought quite a different look to the team. They had a roster that was made up of mostly freshman, one of them being Alanah Clemente. They went 17-13 and didn’t make an appearance in the tournament.
This wasn’t something the Ducks took as a bad sign though. They knew they had a young roster and had to build off of the year they had. The young roster meant they had 4 years together to gel and really get a good dynamic going. This has proven to pay off, so far, this season as they are currently 19-3 going into the final month of conference matches.
Their only losses this season have come against some pretty good teams that they probably wish they had another crack at. They lost to Arizona State in non-conference and the other 2 losses came against Wisconsin and Penn State, who they could have another shot at in the B1G Tournament.
The Ducks have gotten some big wins in conference play that will look like they will boost their resume going into post season play. They beat #15 Minnesota after coming off the Wisconsin loss then also beat #10 Purdue in 5 sets all in a row. They also got wins against #22 Michigan State and #18 Indiana. All rankings mentioned were at the time the match was played.
Notable Players for Oregon
SO OPP Alanah Clemente – Clemente is in her sophomore campaign in Eugene and has proven to be one of the Ducks top players these past 2 seasons. She is averaging 3.47 kills/set and is hitting .291%. Also second on the team in blocks with 63, 6 solo.
JR OH Sjakkie Donkers – Donkers is on her 3rd team in her junior season previously being at UT Arlington and Gonzaga. Donkers is on Clemente’s heels with 253 kills, to Clemente’s 257, but is averaging more kills a set with 3.67. Donkers also averages 2.16 digs/set.
SR OH Valentina Vaulet – Vaulet spent her freshman and sophomore years at Michigan before coming to Oregon last season. She was named to the All-Big Ten First Team in 2025. Vaulet, Clemente, and Donkers are the Ducks big 3 on offense with Vaulet averaging 2.89 kills/set and 217 kills this season.
JR MB Dalia Virlan – As a junior, Virlan is in her first season at Oregon after spending 2 years at Pittsburgh. She is already the teams top middle blocker totaling 82 kills, 11 solo. She is the only player averaging 1.0 blocks/set on the team. She is also averaging 1.71 kills/set and is hitting a crazy .331% this season so far.
JR MB Iva Sucurovic – Sucurovic is an experienced player from the Serbia who spent 2024 on the Serbian National Team and was named the best middle blocker. In her 2nd season at Oregon, she has 56 blocks and is averaging 1.61 kills/set.
5th Year Setter Marina Crownover – Crownover is another Oregon player that is on her 3rd team. She started her career at Texas, then went to Missouri, and is now at Oregon for her 5th year. She hasn’t missed a set this season and averages 10.46 assists/set. She also has 27 blocks and is hitting .245%.
Tonights match is a late one as it will begin at 9:00pm CST at Matthew-Knight Arena in Eugene. The match will be televised on B1G Network.
#1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (23-0, 12-0 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
#12 Oregon Ducks (19-3, 10-2 B1G)
#1 Maila Ribeiro 5’6” SO DS/L
#2 Reese Sheppard 5’9” SO DS/L
#3 Sjakkie Donkers 6’2” JR OH
#5 Kamden Mitchell 5’10” SO Setter
#6 Lizzy Robinson 5’8” FR DS/L
#7 Alanah Clemente 6’2” SO OPP
#8 Valentina Vaulet 6’1” SR OH
#9 Holley McFadden 6’4” SO MB
#10 Alaina Pollard 6’0” FR MB
#11 Marlee Arrington 6’0” JR OPP
#14 Iva Sucurovic 6’3” JR MB
#17 Dalia Virlan 6’4” JR MB
#21 Marlena Gracia 6’1” FR Setter
#22 Laura Eichert 6’0” FR OH
#44 Marina Crownover 5’11” 5th Year Setter
#46 Natalie Fukumoto 5’5” SO DS/L
