Husker Volleyball – AVCA First Serve Showcase Preview

Nebraska volleyball will open their season in the AVCA Showcase for the 2nd year in a row. This time it is in Lincoln at PBA though. They will also be running a gauntlet of a schedule this time around now that they are playing two matches instead of one. Last year they played Kentucky in the showcase that was hosted by the Louisville Cardinals at the KFC Yum Center. This year, they play #3 Pitt in the first game of the season, on Friday, then they end the weekend against #6 Stanford on Sunday.

Husker

fans are anxiously awaiting the beginning of the season, mostly because people want to see what Dani Busboom-Kelly (DBK) will do with the lineup. Here is my final lineup guess before we see who she goes with on Friday evening:

OH1: Harper Murray – This one is a no-brainer for most. The lineup just isn’t complete with Murray in it.
OH2: Taylor Landfair – I feel awful leaving Skyler Pierce out of the lineup and I just don’t know if Teraya Sigler can crack it in Week 1. This battle will continue throughout the season like it did last year with Krause. This is one of the positions that can’t be guessed.
OPP: Virginia Adriano – She showed how powerful she can be in the preseason matches and could be a force for any team this year. Allie Sczech has the possibility to take this position though as she had a good Alumni match. Ryan Hunter will hopefully redshirt as Adriano and Sczech seem to be the front runners.
MB1: Rebekah Allick – She was just named a Co-Captain and is set to have a big year.
MB2: Andi Jackson – She was named Co-Captain as well and is on the National Player of the Year watchlist
Setter: Bergen Reilly – While Campbell Flynn has looked good in the spring and preseason games, Reilly is the reigning B1G Setter of the Year and looks to go for a 3peat in this category.
Libero: Laney Choboy – She goes for every ball possible and throws herself into any situation to keep the ball up for the Huskers
Defensive Specialist: Olivia Mauch – Even though she won’t be Libero, she won’t be on the bench as she is just too good to leave there. She also has an amazing serve that not even John Cook can pass.

The full AVCA First Serve Showcase is below:

Friday (8/22)
#3 Pitt vs. #1 Nebraska – 6pm @ PBA in Lincoln, NE
#16 Florida vs. #6 Stanford – 8pm @ PBA in Lincoln, NE

Saturday (8/23)
#14 Kansas vs. Vanderbilt – 2pm @ PBA in Lincoln, NE
#12 Creighton vs. #2 Penn State – 4pm @ PBA in Lincoln, NE

Sunday (8/24)
#16 Florida vs. #3 Pitt – 12pm @ PBA in Lincoln, NE
#6 Stanford vs. #1 Nebraska – 2:30pm @ PBA in Lincoln, NE

Monday (8/25)
#14 Kansas vs. #2 Penn State – 5:30pm @ Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD
#11 Minnesota vs. #9 Texas A&M – 7:30pm @ Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD

Pittsburgh Panthers Matchup

End of 2024 Ranking: 3
2024 Record: 33-2, Lost to Louisville in the Final 4
2025 Preseason Ranking: 3

Pitt has become a powerhouse program in the past few years making the Final 4 for 4 years in a row now. They are starting the 2025 season right where they ended in 2024, ranked at #3 in the country. Nebraska did jump over them, in the preseason ranking, since they ended #4 last season. They are also returning the reigning National Player of the Year in Olivia Babcock.

While Babcock is returning, they lost a good amount of fire power on their roster. Valeria Vazquez-Gomez, Cat Flood, Torrey Stafford, and Rachel Fairbanks have all moved on from the team in the post season after 2024. All of them graduated with the exception of Stafford, who transferred to Texas. It seems like Texas has so many girls on their roster that they just don’t know what to do with themselves. Stafford is lucky though because she will most likely get a starting role on that Longhorn roster while former Husker Whitney Lauenstein could possibly be left on the bench again this season.

Even with those losses, Pitt still has a strong roster going into the season. The AVCA thinks so as they ranked them #3.

I mentioned Olivia Babcock is the reigning NPOY and her stats from 2024 clearly show why she is. She had 4.72 kills a set and hit .323% on the season last year. She was also a top blocker with 128 total blocks and 1.12 a set. She will definitely be on the short list, come December, for Player of the Year again. Containing Babcock will be hard, but Allick and Jackson have both improved a ton this offseason and have the tools to be able to do this. They can’t let her get hot though. That will be an issue for the Huskers.

Brooke Mosher transferred to Pitt in the offseason, from Illinois, and could possibly be getting the start against the Huskers. Mosher is a Redshirt Senior Setter this season and led the Illini, last season, with 982 assists and was second with 43 aces.

Two of Pitts top middle blockers are returning from last season and will look to keep their consistency. Bre Kelley and Ryla Jones, both who are on the Preseason All-ACC Team, will be a brick wall at the net. The Huskers will need to hit accurately to avoid their hands. Kelley was an AVCA All-American last season and is also on the Player of the Year Watchlist this year.

Last season, Kelley had 1.53 blocks per set and hit .506% in the regular season. In two matches last season she averaged 2.00 blocks per set and had 1.67 kills a set for a .450% hitting percentage. This earned her ACC Defensive Player of the Week in October 2024.

Ryla Jones was just a freshman last season for the Panthers and was named to the All-ACC Freshman team and the AVCA East Coast Region Team. She averaged 1.04 blocks per set and had 1.12 kills a set. This was good enough to hit .393% on the season.

This should be a match that goes 5 sets and will be a very competitive match for the Huskers to start the season. They will get a good look at how they will look against top teams this season.

#3 Pittsburgh Panthers

#3 Emery Dupes 5’6” RS-SR DS/L
#5 Olivia Babcock 6’4” JR OPP
#6 Sophia Gregoire 6’1” RS-SO OH
#7 Izzy Masten 5’8” FR DS/L
#8 Blaire Bayless 6’2” JR OH
#9 Ryla Jones 6’2” SO MB
#10 Marina Pezelj 6’1” FR OH
#11 Dalia Virlan 6’4” SO MB
#13 Mallorie Meyer 5’7” SO DS/L
#14 Kiana Dinn 5’9” RS-FR OPP/Setter
#17 Brooke Mosher 6’0” RS-SR Setter
#19 Dagmar Mourits 6’2” FR OH
#20 Abbey Emch 6’4” FR MB
#21 Bre Kelley 6’4” RS-SR MB
#25 Haiti Tautua’a 6’0” RS-SO Setter

Stanford Cardinal Matchup

End of 2024 Ranking: 5
2024 Record: 28-5, Lost to Louisville in the Regional Final
2025 Preseason Ranking: 6

Stanford and Nebraska have a long history with each other going back and forth for National Titles. Their last battle in the coveted game came in 2018 when Stanford beat Nebraska in a 5 set match to win the title. This was the first 5 set final since 2009. Stanford has always been competing for a title for as long as I can remember and they will once again be up there with the top teams in the nation.

Ella Rubin will return for the Cardinal this season after earning AVCA All-American honors last season. Rubin was also named on the All-ACC First Team last season as well. She was 3rd in the ACC with 4.54 points per set. She was also 4th in the conference with 3.93 kills per set. She hit .300% or better in 19 matches, with 10 of those matches being above .400%.

In 2025, Rubin has already been named to the AVCA National Player of the Year Watchlist and to the Preseason All-ACC Team. Just like Babcock, she will be the Cardinal’s main pin at the net and will be dangerous as she goes into her final year at Stanford.

Redshirt Sophomore Ipar Kurt is another amazing outside that is returning to the Cardinal roster from last season. Like Rubin, she is on the Preseason All-ACC Team as well. Kurt averaged 3.28 kills per set last season and hit .294%.

With star Setter Kami Miner graduating, Stanford will need to find their next star to assist their outsides. Contenders are sophomores Logan Tusher and Taylor Yu. While both rarely played, Yu did get into 82 sets last season while Tusher seems to have just played beach. Yu only had 50 assists and averaged 0.61 per set. This starting position seems to be anyone’s for the taking.

On defense, Stanford has a lot to make up for in Sami Francis’ absence. SO Lizzy Andrew is their top middle blocker returning from last season. She had 82 blocks and 0.73 per set last season. She will probably be met with more playing time this year so her numbers will need to improve as well for them. Offensively, she averaged 1.46 kills per set.

JR Jordyn Harvey is part of the Preseason team along with Rubin and Kurt. This is Harvey’s first preseason honor. She will most likely be the starting opposite for the Cardinals. She averaged 2.73 kills per set and hit .290% on the season in 2024. Harvey was part of the All-ACC Second Team in 2024 along with Kurt.

Nebraska will have their work cut out for them on Sunday, as well, against Stanford since they probably want to get back to their winning ways against the Huskers. Nebraska won’t let that happen though.

#6 Stanford Cardinal

#3 Anna Pringle 5’10” SR DS/L
#4 Reese Dunkle 6’3” FR MB
#5 Jordyn Harvey 6’1” JR OPP
#6 Koko Kirsch 5’9” RS-SO DS/L
#7 Julia Blyashov 6’3” RS-SO OH
#8 Sidney Duncan 6’4” SO MB
#9 Spencer Etzler 5’7” FR DS/L
#10 Kaci Demaria 6’3” FR OH
#11 Lizzy Andrew 6’5” SO MB
#12 Logan Tusher 5’10” SO Setter
#13 Ella Rubin 6’1” SR OH
#14 Malyssa Cawa 5’6” SO DS/L
#15 Ipar Kurt 6’2” RS-SO OH
#22 Erika Sayer 6’2” FR MB
#24 Logan Parks 6’0” FR OPP/Setter
#30 Taylor Yu 6’0” SO Setter
#33 Zaria Queen 6’1” FR OH

Nebraska’s two matches this weekend will be 2 of many that are getting national coverage this season. Friday’s match vs. Pitt will begin at 6:00pm CT and will be televised on Fox. Sunday’s match vs. Stanford will begin at 2:30pm CT and will be televised on ESPN. This is a huge weekend for Nebraska Volleyball, and Lincoln as whole, so it will be an exciting event for the city and state! GO BIG RED!!