Husker Volleyball Returns to Lincoln to Host the Ameritas Players Challenge

After what has been a crazy first 2 weeks of the season, Husker volleyball is finally going to be playing their first home matches of the season in the Bob Devaney Sports Center!! These matches probably won’t be as heart stopping as 3 of the first 4 were, but they will still draw a huge crowd to the Bob for the weekend.

In Week 0, along with several other teams, the Huskers competed in the AVCA First Serve Showcase which drew a huge crowd to Lincoln, Nebraska. The Huskers looked very dominate in their

matches against Pitt and Stanford. They also played a tune up match in Nashville when they played Lipscomb on August 29th. Freshman Campbell Flynn and Manaia Ogbechie got quality minutes along with RS-Freshman Skyler Pierce in the Lipscomb match.

The Kentucky match made the Huskers work harder than they have this season. It also made Husker Nation’s hearts almost burst as well. Kentucky came out looking less like the #7 team in the nation and more like #2/#3. It was a tough match to watch, at the start, but with some changes made by DBK, the Huskers were able to pull off the reverse sweep to stay undefeated for the season. It definitely showed some of the weaknesses that Nebraska has, but better now that that happened to us then in December.

The Huskers are playing in the Bob this weekend as they host the Ameritas Players Challenge. Teams attending this year are Wright State and California. Nebraska will play both teams with matches on Friday and Sunday. Saturday is the off day for Husker Nation to enjoy some football vs. Akron.

Wright State Raiders

2024 Record: 24-7 in the Horizon League
Ranked Wins in 2024: #20 Miami
NCAA Tournament 2024: Didn’t make it, played in NIVC – lost to Bowling Green 3-1

Wright State will enter Lincoln with a 2-1 record so far this season with the 2 wins being against Drake and Loyola Chicago. They only lost 3 conference matches in 2024 and their 4th loss was in the Horizon League Semifinal match.

Wright State will be one of those matches that Nebraska will expect to win, but could possibly lose if they aren’t in the right mindset. This means going into the match thinking they are playing someone like a B1G opponent and not a lower caliber team. Wright State can have the means to win, but only if we let them.

In the Horizon League’s preseason coaches poll, Wright State was picked #1 with 94 votes, and also received 6 of the 10 1st place votes. This is the 5th time in the last 6 seasons that they have been picked to come out on top.

The Raiders return the Horizon League Setter of the Year in Junior Lauren Yacobucci. She finished last season as the 2024 NCAA D1 statistical champion for assists per set with 11.92. She currently has 96 assists and is averaging 7.38 a set as of 9/3.

The Raiders do have some fire power on their team and that starts with Junior OH Mya Ayro who leads the way in kills for her team. She averages 3.85 kills a set and is hitting .184% on the season. Sophomore OH Katie Sowko is right up there with Ayro as she has 43 kills and averages 3.58 kills a set. She had her career-high in kills, with 22, on August 30th against Loyola Chicago. Her hitting is a little more consistent at .209% through 3 matches. Sowko also plays some stellar defense as well with 33 digs.

While their top 2 outside hitters have been putting up some good numbers to start the season, their middle blocker Junior Reilly Zegunis has also been contributing to the offense while also helping lead the defense as well. Zegunis has 23 kills and is hitting .172%. She has also recorded 10 blocks with 2 of these being solo. Grad Student MB Taylor Bransfield leads the team in blocks with 14.

Katie Sowko, along with SO MB Haley Robinson, who has yet to play this season yet, were named to the Horizon League all-freshman team in 2024. Reilly Zegunis was named to first team, along with Yacobucci last season. These two will have a good connection dating back to their freshman year in 2023.

Wright State Raiders (2-1)

#1 Audrey Hudson 5’10” SO OH
#2 Reilly Zegunis 6’1” JR MB
#3 Taygan Corstange 5’7” FR DS/L
#4 Elena Dubuc 5’11” SR OPP
#5 Taylor Bransfield 6’0” Grad Student MB
#6 Larsen Terrill 5’11” FR Setter
#7 Lauren Yacobucci 5’10” JR Setter
#9 Greta McKee 5’5” SO DS/L
#10 Mya Ayro 5’11” JR OH
#11 Olivia Schmidt 6’0” FR MB/OPP
#12 Andrea Bortulin 5’6” SR Setter/DS/L
#13 Elissa Furlan 5’9” FR OH
#14 Katie Sowko 6’0” SO OH
#15 Fiona Cooper 5’9” SO Setter
#16 Ella Seeger 6’0” FR OH
#17 Haley Robinson 6’2” SO MB
#18 Sophia Loomis 6’1” FR MB
#35 Ella Gaona 5’4” JR DS/L

California Golden Bears

2024 Record: 15-17 in ACC
Ranked Wins in 2024: None
NCAA Tournament 2024: Didn’t make it

Cal, like Stanford, made the transition over to the ACC last season. This means lots and lots of traveling with all of their competition being on the east coast. 2025 will be their 2nd season in this conference and I guess we will see how much longer they, and Stanford, can keep it up since it means they are barely at home.

Cal joined a conference that is one of the hardest to play in, if not the 2nd hardest, just behind the B1G. Pitt and Louisville have ran the conference for awhile, but with Stanford’s addition they have had to work harder.

Cal’s 1st season in the ACC was pretty rough in 2024 as they had a losing record of 15-17 and didn’t get the change to compete in the NCAA Tournament. While 2024 was rough, it looks like they have had little to no success in the past 5 years. Their best season, in the past 5 years, came in 2023 when they just made it over .500 going 16-15, and 5-15 in conference.

Cal was picked to finish 14th out of 18 teams in the ACC this season. They don’t have any players on the on the Preseason All-ACC Team as teams like Louisville, Pitt, SMU, and Stanford have most of those spots.

They have started their 2025 campaign with a 2-0 start so far. They have beaten San Diego State and San Francisco and have only dropped 1 set between the 2 matches. They will look to be 3-0 when they play Nebraska as they will first play Wright State on on Saturday.

Cal will look to 3 players to help produce for the Golden Bears. SR OH Peyton DeJardin, FR OH Arissa Carbonara, and SR MB Mikayla Hayden each have over 15 kills so far on the season. DeJardin is leading the way, so far, with 21 kills and is hitting .194%. She also adds 20 digs and 4 blocks as well. She will be a force on both offense and defense against the Huskers.

While Mikayla Hayden is producing on offense, her main role on the team is defense as she is a middle blocker for the Golden Bears. She leads the team with 13 blocks and averages 1.86 a set so far. The next closest teammate to her in blocks is SO OH Dominique Phills at 6 so Hayden really does carry a lot of the load for Cal’s defense.

SR Setter Natalie Lau is back for her final season as a Cal Golden Bear and has already hit a landmark in her career just two matches in. She reached 1,000 career assists against San Francisco. She after really only playing her freshman, junior and senior years. During her sophomore year, she only competed in 2 sets of a match.

California (2-0)

#2 Sophia Johnson 5’9” JR DS/L
#3 Ashleigh Woodruff 6’3” JR MB
#4 Francesca Popescu 5’6” FR DS/L
#7 Mikayla Hayden 6’1” SR MB
#9 Annemarie O’Gara 6’2” FR OPP
#10 Dominique Phills 6’1” SO OH
#11 Grace Agolli 6’1” RS-FR OPP
#12 Natalie Lau 6’0” SR Setter
#14 Elise Lau 5’10” FR DS/L
#15 Sawyer Thomsen 6’3” JR MB
#17 Arissa Carbonara 6’1” FR OH
#18 Ashley Li 6’3” JR OH
#22 Maria Stirbu 6’0” FR Setter
#30 Cherlin Antonio 6’4” RS-SR OPP
#42 Sophie Scott 6’3” RS-JR MB
#55 Peyton DeJardin 6’1” SR OH

The match on Friday night will be played at 7:00pm and will be able to be streamed on B1G+. This subscription will cost $12.99/month or $89.99/year. Sunday’s match will be at 1:00pm and will be televised on B1G Network.