After the much anticipated match at Wrigley Field, the Huskers are finally playing their first matches of the season in Lincoln this weekend. Their match against the New Mexico Lobos, on Thursday night, will kick off a 3-match weekend where they also play #20 Baylor and Georgia Tech.
The Wrigley Field match was an experience of a lifetime for this team. Even though they only played 18 points, it seemed like the team really bonded with each other on the trip and it was very evident during the delay.
They say when things go wrong it brings people together, so this bonding moment will hopefully lead to good things.
Other than that, the event was kind of a shit show. Was it a good idea? In theory, yes. Was it executed great? No not at all. Maybe if they started the matches earlier in the day, it could’ve gone better. It seemed like the Penn State-Kentucky girls started to slip more the darker it got. I know they wanted that primetime TV slot, but it wasn’t a good decision.
I don’t know how someone didn’t think about how an outdoor match at the end of the summer, and next to a huge lake, would have no effects. Humidity is a bitch people and no one knows that better than the people of Nebraska. Especially after this past week of 110+ heat indexes.
New Mexico Lobos
2025 Record: 13-16
2025 Conference Record: Mountain West (5-13)
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2010 (Lost to USC in First Round)
The New Mexico Lobos compete in the Mountain West conference and they are a team who have always just been ok. They’ve had years where they’ve been good enough to make their conference tournament, but they have also had years, recently, where they haven’t. They haven’t been able to make it to the NCAA Tournament in 16 years though.
New Mexico is 2-3 this season with losses to Cal Baptist, Tulsa, and #23 Colorado. Their two wins came against Northern Colorado and New Mexico State. The Lobos are 2-6 against Nebraska, all-time, and their last win came in 1992 in a 5 set match. The last time the Lobos and Cornhuskers played was 2018 and Nebraska won that match 3-1.
This season seems like it’s bound to make it 17 years without a tournament appearance as they are slated to finish last in the conference this year while UTEP is supposed to finish 1st. They also don’t have anyone on the Preseason Team. They are 1 of 4 teams that didn’t place anyone on this list.
The Huskers have already played another team in the Mountain West, UNLV, and they put up a little bit of a fight. Every team does though. New Mexico may not have the firepower to keep up like UNLV did for a little bit of that match.
The Lobos do return their kills leader from last season. OPP Addison France is a sophomore this year and will most likely be one of the leaders going deeper into the season for the team. Last season, France had 282 kills and averaged 2.69 kills/set. She was also of the best blockers on the team with 63 blocks, 5 being solo.
France isn’t the top hitter right now, early in the season. Sophomore OH Mina Stanojevic is new to the New Mexico team this season after playing volleyball in Serbia. Stanojevic is leading the team with 68 kills and is averaging 3.24 kills/set. She is also their leader in digs/set with 3.71 and 78 digs in 21 sets played.
The Lobos lost a lot of their offensive fire power at the end of last season. Sophomore MB Zoe Leonard is a key to both their offense and defense though. She redshirted her freshman year in 2024 and finally got a chance on the court last season. She finished with 147 kills and a team leading 91 blocks. She hit .248% and averaged 1.43 kills.
The team does have an experienced setter and libero as opposed to their young lineup. Senior Madeleine Miller and 5th year Camila Canedo are the teams upperclassmen who know the team the best. Miller has been the teams primary setter since her sophomore year in 2024. She already has 188 assists and is averaging 8.95 a set this season.
Canedo started her career at Colby Community College then transferred to New Mexico in 2025 after 2 seasons at Colby CC. Canedo earned All-Mountain West Honorable Mention in her first season and was the teams libero in all of the matches since transferring in.
#1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-0)
#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
New Mexico Lobos (2-3)
#1 Reagan Miller 6’1” JR MB
#2 Ella Joesting 5’7” SO DS/L
#3 Angela Zhang 6’0” FR Setter
#4 Campbell Hollister 6’1” FR MB
#5 Amanda Tremeroli 6’0” JR OH
#7 Uliana Yastrub 6’0” JR OH
#8 Viena Moliis 5’10” FR OH
#9 Mina Stanojevic 6’0” SO OH
#12 Seenane Brewer 5’10” JR OH
#13 Zoe Leonard 6’2” JR MB
#14 Camila Canedo 5’9” 5th Year DS/L
#15 Addison France 6’3” SO OPP
#16 Madeleine Miller 6’1” SR Setter
#22 Liepa Lavickyte 6’2” 5th Year MB
#67 Adriana Kostadinovic 6’2” FR OPP
#96 Aylin Ravell 6’1” FR OH
