Tag Archives: nebraska

Sports, Volleyball

Nebraska volleyball 2025 season

Leave a comment

By: Siri David

This season at Nebraska there is a new head coach. Her name is Dani Busboom Kelly. She is an alumni of Nebraska and played there as a libero and setter in the past from 2003 to 2006. She then coached at Louisville from 2017 to the winter of 2025 where she then stepped down, and decided to coach at Nebraska.

This is a huge deal because the Nebraska coach at the time, John Cook, was retiring and he played a huge role in the whole organization of volleyball at Nebraska. He coached at Nebraska for 25 years, and made an incredible impact.

He coached Dani throughout all of her years at Nebraska, and the loss of him retiring affected everyone. John made a strong impact on the outside hitter Harper Murray. Harper struggled with her mental health a lot in her freshman year and made a lot of mistakes, but John never stopped supporting her and helping her even when she couldn’t help herself. Before John told anyone else on the team he sat down with Harper and talked to her because of how important their bond was.

Dani coming to Nebraska caused a lot of different reactions both negative and positive. For the team though everyone was excited, and they all knew that she was a great coach because of how successful she was at Louisville. She also went to Nebraska so she knows how the atmosphere is and how to help them continue to be a successful team and organization.

Along with that she is also one of the only females to ever coach at Nebraska, and is taking major strides to help female leadership roles become more common. She took Louisville to the national championship against Penn state where both head coaches were female which has never happened in NCAA volleyball history.

Overall, Dani coming to Nebraska has caused a lot of changes but a lot of good changes. The Huskers are currently undefeated and are ranked number one. A lot of people are saying that they will go to the national championship and win it all. The players at Nebraska have vocalized that they do miss John but that they love Dani a lot and that she is doing a lot of good for the team and they have a lot of trust in her. There obviously have been a lot of things to adjust to but the team is handling it all really well.

Volleyball

Head coach John Cook is retiring: What does this mean?

Leave a comment

By: Grace Wright

John Cook has been the head coach of Nebraska Cornhuskers Volleyball for the last 25 years. He has just recently announced his retirement from the team. John Cook started coaching first at Wisconsin in 1993, for 7 years, and then has been at Nebraska for the last 25.

John has helped lead Nebraska Volleyball to four national championships and 12 NCAA semifinals. Also with many Big Ten and Big 12 titles. John Cook has had a long standing history with helping women’s volleyball get coverage and appreciation for the sport. One of the biggest things he has done was have his team play in the outdoor football stadium in 2023. It was a huge success, 92,003 people filled up the Memorial Stadium and history was made.

John Cook has also built up many unbreakable relationships; one of his most memorable is with one of his current players Harper Murray, an outside hitter from Michigan.

His successor is Dani Busboom Kelly (DBK). She used to play under Coach Cook and was the starting libero on the Nebraska 2006 national championship team.  She took a break from volleyball once she graduated, but then she came back to be an assistant coach for Cook for 4 years before she went to Louisville. DBK has been with the Louisville Cardinals for the last 8 years building it into a very influential volleyball team. She has led them to two NCAA championships, 3 semifinals and won four ACC titles.

Many of the Nebraska players were shocked but happy that John Cook was able to choose what was best for him. For the rest of the volleyball community cannot wait to see what DBK is going to be able to do at Nebraska.

 For more information about Nebraska volleyball, you can go to: https://www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-women/article/2025-01-29/nebraska-volleyball-coach-john-cook-retires-after-25-seasons-4-national-titles#:~:text=LINCOLN%2C%20NE%20—%20Four%2Dtime,great%20run%2C”%20Cook%20said.

Volleyball

Volleyball Day in Nebraska

Leave a comment

By: Siri David

Volleyball Day in Nebraska took place August 30, 2023. This was a historic day for Nebraska volleyball and female sports overall. Nebraska volleyball broke a world record this night. They broke the record of the most people to watch a female sport in person. There were a total of 92,003 people in the Memorial Stadium which is their football stadium.

The idea for this was created by the head coach of the Nebraska volleyball team John Cook. The goal was to beat the record Wisconsin had just created a few weeks before. The issue was there was no indoor stadium that could hold that many people, so they decided to do it outdoors in the Nebraska football stadium. The stadium can technically only hold 85,458 but has exceeded that number many times before. A lot of the administrators at University of Nebraska thought that this might not be successful but they were definitely proved wrong. The night tickets went on sale; they sold out in the first hour. Everyone was shocked by how fast they sold out.

The day of the game, the Nebraska volleyball team did a meet and greet with a ton of Husker fans. The goal of this meet and greet was to show the love the Nebraska volleyball team has for their community and the love the community has for them. The meet and greet was truly so special, so many young fans got to meet their idols in volleyball and it was amazing to see.

The game was against Omaha, and the University of Nebraska won in three sets. It was a beautiful night, not a cloud in the sky. Once the second set ended they found out the attendance number, and how they broke the record. All the players were trying to stay locked in for the game but could not contain their excitement. A lot of tears were shed by coaches, players, and fans. It was truly an amazing thing to hear and learn about as a younger volleyball player. Nebraska is the volleyball capital of the world and it truly is such an amazing atmosphere.

Volleyball

Nebraska volleyball recruitment class of 2023

Leave a comment

By: Siri David

Nebraska had some of the best recruitments from the 2023 class. These players, who are now sophomores, changed Nebraska’s team as a whole. There were five players, with one who was a redshirt for the team. Four of their starting players in the 2023 season were freshmen. This is not commonly seen as most freshmen come into schools not planning on getting a lot of playing time.

Now, let’s talk about each of these players individually. First, there is Harper Murray who is an all around outside. She won Gatorade National Player of the year, and was top of her class for her position. Next is Bergen Reilly, she is the all-around setter for Nebraska. Some would say she is the best setter in the NCAA right now. She was top of her recruiting class for her position as well. The next player is Andi Jackson. Jackson is a middle blocker. She has the highest hitting percentage this season, and a lot of people say is on route to becoming an Olympian. The last player is Laney Choboy. Choboy is a DS which stands for defensive specialist.

All of these players played on the U19 national team, and won the Pan American Cup. Reilly won MVP and best setter. Murray won best attacker, and Choboy won best defensive player. These four players have changed Nebraska volleyball in so many ways. They each bring something different to the court and their team. Reilly has this calm sense on the court and that is what makes her so unpredictable to opponents and such a consistent setter. Murray is a really good all-around player, she has good coverage when she is in the back row. She averages 3.36 kills per set, which shows how consistent of a hitter she is. Jackson had the highest hitting percentage of .504 leading the nation, and she was also in the top 25 hitters as the only freshman. Choboy brings a level of competitiveness that nobody else can. She is also a very scrappy player. She will hustle for any ball and not let anything stop her.

This class is truly amazing and is the reason the Nebraska team went to the National Championship game and only lost two games last season. I can’t wait to see what Nebraska does this season.