Huskers acknowledge pressure of following up three straight Big Ten volleyball titles

Nebraska volleyball players and coaches know there’s pressure in being the most popular college volleyball team in the country.

But they want to embrace it without getting complacent.

That’s the message heading into the 2026 campaign, as seniors Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly joined their coach Dani Busboom Kelly on the podium Monday for Big Ten Media Day in Chicago.

The Huskers are coming off a 33-1 season that ended in the Elite Eight. NU returns a core group of four seniors who have lost just six games in three years and have won three straight Big Ten titles.

Jackson said she knows there’s a ”target on our back.”

“The pressure is definitely there, but I think we've earned the right to be in that position,” Jackson said. “And we've worked really hard these last three seasons. And we know what it takes to win a Big Ten championship. It's not easy. It's a really tough volleyball conference, and every game is going to be a dogfight.”

Busboom Kelly said the high expectations at Nebraska mean the team’s attitude is key.

“We have to continue to work to combat getting complacent and letting that pressure hurt us,” Busboom Kelly said.

The second-year head coach in Lincoln said she also wants her players to enjoy the journey, regardless of venue or opponent — something she emphasized often in 2025. That team started the year perfect at 33-0 before dropping its first match of the season to eventual national champion Texas A&M in the Elite Eight.

Busboom Kelly also said the program will continue to focus on trust and collaboration. Reilly, a four-year starting setter, agreed that goes for all players and coaches.

“I feel like Dani really does value our input, and that's a really cool thing about, just, our program as a whole,” Reilly said.

The Big Red starts regular season action at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas,— home of the Dallas Cowboys. That match will be against Florida at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. That’s just one stop on the Nebraska volleyball tour, with the team also playing neutral site games in Las Vegas and two in Chicago. That includes a game vs. Missouri on Sept. 6, at one of the oldest sports stadiums in the country: Wrigley Field.

Compared to their freshman season when the Huskers were already selling out arenas, Reilly said the movement has gone coast to coast now. She explained that fans keep the team going through the grind of the regular season.

“Yeah, we might be tired. It might have been a long game the night before, but it could be their first time [watching Nebraska], so let's go out and give them a show,” Reilly said.