The Huskers are coming off of a match against Michigan just less than a day ago where they didn’t look their best at all. They lost the 1st set of the match which is the first time they have done this all season. While Michigan is sneaky good, they shouldn’t be taking sets from us.
This seems to be something that has become a regular thing for the undefeated Huskers as they have been looking a little slow out of the gates in matches recently. Their last match they seemed to play full out was UCLA
last Thursday.
Now, Nebraska is traveling over to East Lansing to finish off their Michigan trip against the Michigan State Spartans. MSU has been looking way better this season for the first time in years. They knocked off, at the time, #14 Penn State and look to do the same to Nebraska.
Michigan State Spartans
2025 Record: 18-12
2025 Conference Record: 8-12 (B1G)
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2017 (Lost to Penn State in Elite Eight)
Michigan State is one of those teams in the B1G that has been floating in the middle the last couple years. They’ve had moments where they looked like they were going to have a breakout year, but instead reverted back to floating.
2025 was a good example of one of these seasons. They started the year winning 10 straight matches before starting B1G play against, then ranked, #12 Minnesota and getting swept. They only got one ranked win that season against Indiana. They also ended the season on a 6 match losing streak too.
The Spartans still ended with a winning record of 18-12, but, remember, 10 of those wins came against teams not in a power conference. This means they ended conference play going 8-12. They started taking baby steps forward, but it wasn’t enough to send them to the tournament.
Michigan State has completely done a 180 this season. They are 17-3, 7-3 in conference, with less than one month left in B1G play. They should make the first ever B1G Tournament barring any big downward spiral where they start losing.
Their 2026 non-conference schedule was stronger than 2025’s, but still a little too easy. They added teams like Miami, LSU, South Carolina, and Cincinnati. Miami is really the only strong team on this list though as LSU and South Carolina are at the bottom of the SEC standings.
If we learned anything from last nights match against Michigan, it is that we can’t take any team lightly. Michigan is in 12th, out of 18 teams, in the conference right now and had Nebraska on their heels at times. Michigan State has the fire power to do the same thing to us if we start like we did Friday night.
Notable Players for Michigan State
SR OH Alanna Bankston: Bankston is from Omaha, NE and attended Millard West for high school. Started college career at Louisville before transferring to MSU for this season. Leads team in kills with 233 and is averaging 3.70 kills/set. Also has 88 digs and 35 blocks.
JR MB Carmen Waye: Waye comes from Nova Scotia, Canada and has played her whole career at Michigan State. Waye leads all middle blockers with 155 kills and is hitting a crazy .426% this season. She is also 2nd on the team in blocks with 83.
RS-SO Setter Malayah Long: Long is another player on this Spartans roster that comes from Nebraska. She played at Lincoln Southwest during her high school career. Long averages 10.34 assists/set and 1.74 digs/match.
SR MB Zora Hardison: Hardison is a senior transfer from Rutgers this year after leading the Scarlet Knights in blocks last season. At Michigan State, she is doing the same as she leads the team with 86 blocks. Only 3 more than Waye as of 10/25.
Hayley Ogden, Madi Andrew’s, and Karolina Staniszewska are also big offensive contributors for the Spartans each hitting above .200% this season so far.
Today’s match will be before the football game again starting at 3:30pm CST at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. It will only be available to stream on B1G+.
#1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (22-0, 11-0 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 Michigan State Spartans (17-4, 7-4 B1G)
#1 Lia Schneider 5’8” SR DS/L
#2 Karolina Staniszewska 6’0” SR OH
#3 Bianca Mumcular 6’3” SO OS/OPP
#4 Madi Andrews 6’1” FR OH
#5 Ky Clayton 5’6” SR DS/L
#7 Malayah Long 6’1” RS-SO Setter
#9 Zuzanna Kulig 6’4” SR MB
#10 Leela Ormsby 6’3” RS-FR MB
#13 Sarah Vellucci 6’0” RS-SO DS/L
#14 Taylah Holdem 6’2” SR OH
#15 Zora Hardison 6’2” SR MB
#16 Kalea Norton 5’10” RS-FR Setter
#18 Breccan Scheck 6’1” JR MB
#19 Hayley Ogden 6’1” JR OPP/MB
#22 Carmen Waye 6’2” JR MB
#23 Cam Berger 5’11” SR Setter
#26 Alana Whitfield 6’0” FR DS/L
#28 Alanna Bankston 6’1” SR OH
#30 Colbie McKenna 6’2” FR OH
