How to Watch Nebraska Volleyball in the AVCA First Serve: Previews, Breakdowns, TV Channel
They say heavy is the head that wears the crown, and after 25 years of John Cook running the most prestigious college volleyball program in the country, it's time for the era of Dani Busboom Kelly.
Similar to legendary Nebraska volleyball coach Terry Petit, Cook made it a point to leave DBK with a stocked shelf, and did he ever.
With three All-Americans (Harper Murray, Andi Jackson, Bergen Reilly) back in the fold alongside one of the country's top libero-defensive specialist duos (Laney Choboy, Olivia Mauch), plus all-conference middle Rebekah Allick back for her senior season, the Huskers have one of their best chances to secure their first national championship since 2017.
And that's not even mentioning another loaded recruiting class paired with Italian opposite Virginia Adriano, who's sharpened her skills against some of the top players in the world in the Italian pro leagues.
Like always, expectations are enormous.
The Huskers were voted No.
1 in the AVCA preseason poll for the seventh time in the last 25 years the most in the nation.
But there's a sense of magic in the air.
The last time Nebraska changed coaches, a 35-0 record and national championship followed, and with the NCAA Volleyball Championships returning to Kansas City for the first time since 2017, NU will aim to repeat history.
First, what awaits the Huskers are two top-six matchups to begin the DBK era, which begins with a team that's reached the national semifinals four seasons in a row, and then ends with taking on the most successful college volleyball program in history.
Here's all you need to know as Nebraska volleyball kicks off its season at Pinnacle Bank Arena for the AVCA First Serve Showcase.
How to Follow Along Game 1 Matchup: No.
1 Nebraska (0-0, 0-0 B1G) vs.
No.
3 Pittsburgh (0-0, 0-0 ACC) When: Friday, August 22 Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, NE Time: 6 p.m.
CDT Watch: FOX Listen: Huskers Radio Network and Affiliates Game 2 Matchup: No.
1 Nebraska (0-0, 0-0 B1G) vs.
No.
6 Stanford (0-0, 0-0 ACC) When: Sunday, August 24 Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, NE Time: 2:30 p.m.
CDT Watch: ESPN Listen: Huskers Radio Network and Affiliates No.
3 Pittsburgh Scout Head Coach Dan Fisher Entering 13th Season at Pittsburgh; 15th as Head Coach | 320-69 (.823) at Pitt; 395-71 (.804) as Head Coach | 9x NCAA Tournament Appearances, 4x National Semifinals | 6x ACC Champions | 4x AVCA East Cast Region Coach OTY, 3x ACC Coach OTY | Previous Head Coach at Concordia Irvine (NAIA) | Previous assistant at Hawaii, San Francisco & Pacific.
2024 Finish L, 3-1 to No.
4 Louisville in National Semifinal 2024 Record & Awards 33-2 (19-1 ACC, 1st) | ACC Regular Season Champions | AVCA National Player and Coach OTY| AVCA All-Americans: 3x First Team, 1x Second Team | ACC Player and Coach OTY | All-ACC: 4x First Team, 2x Second Team, 1x Freshman Team.
All-Time Series Nebraska leads 14-0 (Dec.
14, 2023 last matchup, 3-0 NU) Returning Production Points: 58% | Kills: 58% | Service Aces: 38% | Blocks: 75% | Assists: 3% | | Digs: 22% Returners Olivia Babcock | Opposite | Jr.
| 2024 AVCA National Player of the Year Blaire Bayless | OH | Jr | 73 kills, 39 digs, 26 blocks in 89 sets as a sophomore Ryla Jones | MB | Soph | 2024 All-ACC Freshman Team Dalia Virlan | MB | Soph | Romanian native appeared in 16 sets as a freshman Mallorie Meyer | L/DS | Soph | Native of Roca, Nebraska Kiana Dinn | OPP / S | R-Fr | Medical Redshirt in 2024 Bre Kelley | MB | R-Sr | 2024 AVCA Second Team All-American Impact Transfers/Newcomers Marina Pezelj | OH | Fr | Has played in French pro leagues, including the CEV Volleyball European Championships from 2021-24 Brooke Mosher | S | R-Sr | Transfer from Illinois, where she led the team with 982 assists and was second with 43 aces Dagmar Mourits | OH | Fr | Has competed in Dutch pro leagues, plus the CEV Volleyball European Championships Key Departures Valeria Vazquez Gomez | OH | Graduated/Pro | 2022 Second Team All-American & Two-Time All-ACC honoree Cat Flood | OH | Graduated/Pro | Three-time All-ACC Academic Team Torrey Stafford | OH | Transferred to Texas | 2024 First Team All-American Rachel Fairbanks | S/RS | Graduated/Pro | 2024 First Team All-American Emmy Klika | L/DS | Graduated/Pro | Two-Time All-ACC Second Team, 2024 Team leader in Digs Outlook Following four-straight finishes in the national semifinals, head coach Dan Fisher has had to retool his roster heading into 2025.
The losses of starting setter Rachel Fairbanks and libero Emmy Klika were expected after 2024, as well as the graduation of outside hitters Cat Flood and Valeria Vazquez Gomez.
However, one of the biggest bombshells of the season came with the transfer of attacker Torrey Stafford to Texas, who garnered third-team All-American honors as a freshman in 2023 before breaking out to make the first team in 2024 after putting up 3.70 kills per set on a staggering .358 hitting percentage.
It left the Panthers in an interesting spot, but they didn't respond by pulling away a top outside from another school.
Instead, they're banking on the development of sophomore Blaire Bayless and a pair of foreign freshmen in Marina Pezelj (France) and Dagmar Mourits (Netherlands), who, much like Nebraska's Virginia Adriano, have playing experience in their home country's pro leagues.
Fairbanks was one of the top setters in college volleyball, and her time with the U.S.
National Team solidifies that statement.
Fisher grabbed former Illini setter Brooke Mosher out of the portal alongside returning sophomore Haiti Tautua'a, who sustained a season-ending injury last summer.
However, she was highly coveted coming out of Hawaii, ranked as the No.
1 recruit out of her home state and No.
66 overall (prepvolleyball.com).
Returner and Nebraska native Mallorie Meyer will battle for the libero spot with senior Florida State transfer Emery Dupes as well as true freshman Izzy Masten, who hails from Indiana.
Second-team All-American Bre Kelley and Ryla Jones form a fearsome duo at middle blocker, with 6-foot-4 Romanian native Daila Virlan providing support off the bench.
With AVCA National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock (only a junior) back in the fold, Pittsburgh will always be dangerous.
However, questions at setter, libero and outside hitter need answered and there's no better litmus test than facing No.
1 Nebraska in Lincoln.
No.
6 Stanford Scout Head Coach Kevin Hambly Entering 9th Season at Stanford; 17th as Head Coach | 199-42 (.826) at Stanford | 377-128 (.747) as Head Coach | 2x National Championships (2018, 2019), 7x National Semifinals, 13x NCAA Tournament Appearances 0 | 5x Pac-12 Champions | 2022 AVCA Pacific Region Coach OTY, 2x Pac-12 Coach OTY | Previous Head Coach at Illinois | Previous assistant at Illinois, USA National Team and UNLV.
2024 Finish L, 3-1 to No.
4 Louisville in Regional Final 2024 Record & Awards 28-5 (17-3 ACC, T-2nd) | AVCA All-Americans: 2x First Team, 1x Second Team | ACC Setter OTY | All-ACC: 3x First Team, 3x Second Team, 1x Freshman Team.
All-Time Series Stanford leads 12-8 (Sept.
18, 2024 last matchup, 3-0 NU) Returning Production Points: 75% | Kills: 79% | Service Aces: 74% | Blocks: 50% | Assists: 9% | Digs: 47% Returners Anna Pringle | DS | Sr | One of eight players to appear in over 100 sets in 202 Jordyn Harvey | OPP | Jr | 2024 AVCA All-Pacific Region & All-ACC Second Team Koko Kirsch | DS | R-Soph | 2024 All-ACC Academic Team Julia Blyashov | OH | R-Soph | Coming off her redshirt season Sidney Duncan | MB | Soph | Daughter of Five-Time NBA Champion Tim Duncan Lizzy Andrew | MB | Soph | 2024 All-ACC Freshman Team Selection Elia Rubin | OH | Sr | Two-Time AVCA All-American (First in '24, Second in '23) Malyssa Cawa | DS | Soph | 1.05 Digs Per Set in 43 sets as a DS Ipar Kurt | OH | R-Soph | Second on Team with 3.68 K/S & All-ACC Second Team pick Taylor Yu | S | Soph | Played in 26 matches and 82 sets in 2024 Impact Transfers/Newcomers Logan Tusher | S | Soph | Spent her freshman season only playing beach volleyball, going 19-2 Kaci Demaria | OH | Fr | According to PrepVolleyball, No.
8 overall recruit in Class of 2025 Logan Parks | OPP/S | Fr | Born in Omaha and part of the U21 Team USA National Training Team (2024) Key Departures Kami Miner | S | Graduated/Pro | Three-Time AVCA First Team All-American (2022, 2023, 2024) Elena Oglivie | L | Graduated/Pro | Two-Time Pac-12 Libero of the Year (2022, 2023) Sami Francis | MB | Graduated/Pro | 2024 AVCA Second Team All-American & All-ACC First Team Outlook After reaching three-straight national semifinals, including back-to-back national championships, in his first three seasons at the Farm, Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly has been stuck in neutral.
The Cardinal were bounced in the second round in 2021, and have ended their season in a regional final for the past three seasons.
With the majority of their point scorers back for another season together in 2025, Hambly and Stanford are confident they can reach their first Final Four since winning it all in 2019.
2024 AVCA first team All-American Elia Rubin is back on the left pin alongside fellow All-ACC picks Ipar Kurt (OH) and Jordyn Harvey (OPP).
6-foot-5 sophomore Lizzy Andrew played second fiddle to All-American Sami Francis last season, but there's good reason to think she can step up after averaging 1.46 kills per set and 82 blocks as a true freshman.
The big questions are at setter and libero for the Cardinal, who replace a pair of well-accomplished graduates.
Kami Miner will go down as one of the best setters in Stanford history, racking up three AVCA first team All-American awards while combining to win three conference setter of the year awards two in the Pac-12 and one in the ACC.
The closest thing to an heir apparent is sophomore Taylor Yu, who appeared in 82 sets last season as the backup setter, but also played at opposite and as a serving specialist.
Fellow sophomore setter Logan Tusher joins the team after playing for the Stanford beach volleyball program as a freshman in 2024.
Freshman recruit Logan Parks primarily played opposite, but is also listed as a setter.
The Cardinal have a flurry of options for libero with 5-foot-10 senior Anna Pringle as the clubhouse leader in experience.
She averaged 1.20 digs per set in 2024 as a junior and was one of eight players to appear in over 100 sets.
Koko Kirsch played in 17 matches as a redshirt freshman last season with sophomore Malyssa Cawa nearly matching that total with 15 matches.
True freshman Spencer Etzler could be the wildcard.
An Ohio native, she was an Under Armour and AVCA All-American in her senior season coming out of Coldwater High School.
If there's one thing that you can mark down the Cardinal for, it's firepower.
The libero situation should sort itself out, but Hambly is betting a lot on an unproven setter taking control of what should be one of the fiercest offenses in the nation.
With Florida, Nebraska, and Texas part of another tough non-conference slate, it wouldn't be surprising to see Stanford struggle out of the gate before playing its best volleyball at the end of the season.
No.
3 Pittsburgh vs.
No.
1 Nebraska (FOX) Friday, 6 p.m.
No.
16 Florida vs.
No.
6 Stanford (FOX) Friday, 8 p.m.
No.
14 Kansas vs.
Vanderbilt (FS1) Saturday, 2 p.m.
No.
12 Creighton vs.
No.
2 Penn State (FS1) Saturday, 4 p.m.
No.
16 Florida vs.
No.
3 Pittsburgh (ESPN) Sunday, 12 p.m.
No.
6 Stanford vs.
No.
1 Nebraska (ESPN) Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
No.
14 Kansas vs.
No.
2 Penn State (Big Ten Network) Monday, 5:30 p.m.
No.
11 Minnesota vs.
No.
9 Texas A&M (Big Ten Network) Monday, 7:30 p.m.
Aug.
9 Red 3, White 1 Aug.
16 Nebraska 3, Alumni 1 Aug.
22 vs.
Pittsburgh (AVCA First Serve Showcase at Pinnacle Bank Arena) 6 p.m.
FOX Aug.
24 vs.
Stanford (AVCA First Serve Showcase at Pinnacle Bank Arena) 2:30 p.m.
ESPN Aug.
29 at Lipscomb 6 p.m.
ESPN+ Aug.
31 vs.
Kentucky (Broadway Block Party in Nashville) 11 a.m.
ABC Sept.
5 vs.
Wright State 7 p.m.
Sept.
7 vs.
California 1 p.m.
BTN Sept.
12 vs.
Utah 6 p.m.
FS1 Sept.
13 vs.
Grand Canyon 6 p.m.
NPM Sept.
16 at Creighton 6:30 p.m.
FS1 Sept.
20 vs.
Arizona BTN Sept.
24 vs Michigan 6 p.m.
BTN Sept.
27 vs.
Maryland 3 p.m.
NPM Oct.
3 at Penn State 7 p.m.
FOX Oct.
4 at Rutgers Oct.
10 vs.
Washington 8 p.m.
BTN Oct.
12 at Purdue Oct.
17 at Michigan State Oct.
19 at Michigan 1 p.m.
Oct.
24 vs.
Northwestern NPM Oct.
25 vs.
Michigan State 7:30 p.m.
BTN Oct.
31 at Wisconsin 8 p.m.
BTN Nov.
2 vs.
Oregon 1 p.m.
BTN Nov.
6 vs.
Illinois 7 p.m.
FS1 Nov.
8 at Minnesota 2:30 p.m.
NBC Nov.
14 at UCLA BTN Nov.
16 at USC 2 p.m.
B1G+ Nov.
20 vs.
Iowa FS1 Nov.
22 at Indiana Nov.
28 vs.
Penn State 5:30 p.m.
BTN Nov.
29 vs.
Ohio State BTN Home matches are bolded .
All times central.
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