Husker volleyball takes care of Pittsburgh in Busboom Kelly's head coaching inauguration

She’s 1-0.

The University of Nebraska volleyball head coaching debut for Dani Busboom Kelly ended with a massive win over No. 3 Pittsburgh.

In front of a stirring, capacity crowd inside Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, the No. 1 ranked Cornhuskers beat the Panthers, 3-1.

The match was a part of the American Volleyball Coaches Association First Serve Showcase.

In a matchup of two reigning Final Four teams, the crowd was electric, sparked largely by the relentless swings of junior outside hitter Harper Murray and consistent presence of junior middle blocker Andi Jackson. Jackson earned player of the game honors with ten kills while hitting an efficient .348. Murray netted 15 kills while hitting .278. Hitting percentage is figured by kills minus errors divided by total attack opportunities.

Busboom Kelly arrived in Nebraska after building up the Louisville program to a national contender. Winning against a former Atlantic Coast Conference foe in her first game leading the Huskers, Busboom Kelly said the stars aligned.

“It was pretty magical,” Busboom Kelly said, “and then coming away with the win against an old rival of mine, it couldn't have lined up [more] perfectly.”

Jackson agreed the win was special. She added that Busboom Kelly is “an awesome coach.”

“It's been just really fun getting to know her as a person and as a coach,” Jackson said during the postgame news conference. “We all really wanted it for her super bad, especially because it was against Pitt, her old rival.”

With a sellout crowd inside the arena, few seats were empty for the top-three matchup in downtown Lincoln. Murray summed it up as an atmosphere akin to a title bout.

"I think at one point during the game, I said to Andi, ‘it feels like we're playing a national championship,’” Murray said. “I feel like we owe that to our fans. They show out every single game, and that was exactly what we expected. But I think our fans really push us to win, and having their energy and their presence here and at the Bob [Devaney Sports Center] truly helps us.”

Huskers look strong early, rally back after dropping set three

Nebraska led or tied throughout the beginning of set one. The two-time all-American Murray smacked home back-to-back kills for the first points of the match, bringing the Husker-biased crowd to a roar.

Pitt nabbed its first lead in the match at 17-16. The Panthers led by three at 21-18, before the Big Red stormed back with a 5-0 run to take a 23-21 lead. That run included multiple blocks and a kill from senior Taylor Landfair.

Set one ended the same way it started – a swift Harper Murray spike. The athletic backrow attack, into the teeth of the Panther defense, gave the Cornhuskers a 1-0 advantage with a 25-22 win.

In game two, NU dominated. A fast start was thanks to several Pittsburgh errors and the attack of Murray and Jackson early. Mixing it up more in the middle of the set, freshman Virginia Adriano, Landfair and senior middle Rebekah Allick got into the action with multiple kills each. The biggest margin was 15, when the Cornhuskers led 24-9. Nebraska eventually took the set, 25-11.

The Panthers, which were ranked No. 1 for the majority of the 2024 season, rebounded in set three. A 4-0 run gave Pitt a 7-2 advantage to kick things off. NU clawed back, cutting the Panther advantage to one. But the visitors pulled away to win the set, 25-20.

With the teams trading blows to start set four and the match score 2-1, each point grew more tense. When the Big Red took a two point lead at 12-10, it wouldn’t look back. The Cornhuskers extended the margin to four at 20-16 with a Harper Murray kill.

That wasn’t the final push from the Panthers, which tied the set at 23. One more Murray kill and a three-person block sent the Huskers to a 1-0 record.

Nebraska will face No. 6 Stanford in its second match of the First Serve. That game will be played Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CT in Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln.

After this weekend, the Huskers still have nine matchups against opponents ranked inside the AVCA top 25.

No. 12 Creighton plays in the AVCA Showcase 4 p.m. CT Saturday against defending national champion and preseason No. 2 Penn State.

Florida-Stanford Friday night, Kansas-Vanderbilt Saturday and Florida-Pitt Sunday round out the action this weekend at Pinnacle Bank Arena.