As one of his last decisions before he called it a day, former Nebraska HC John Cook chose a small town in Central Nebraska for its annual tradition match– Ord. Back on Saturday, houses along the highway had Huskers flags, beer gardens and downtown establishments were covered in red, and as you came closer to the gym, fans lined up at least four hours before the gates even opened, pushing HC Dani Busboom Kelly to define it as, “a different vibe… you just feel the energy and excitement.” Indeed, it’s not every day you see NU showcase their best performance. And that they did!HC Kelly might be taking over the reins quite late for the Huskers, but she is already filling Cook’s shoes perfectly. The 1,750 spectators in the high school’s small gym sitting in 10 rows close to the side of the court watched every hit, every block made by the Huskers as they swept the Summit League regular-season champion South Dakota State in the four rounds, as agreed by the teams prior to the game, to clean-sweep their eight Spring matches before the season starts in August. But while they won it all for now, it looked like there were some surprises for the viewers.
After their win over Kansas last weekend, Kelly called the Huskers “one of the deepest groups of liberos” she’s ever coached. The same continued this time against SDSU as new lineups took the hardwood with every set, especially at the libero. However, while this was a surprise for the spectators, it somehow turned out to be the same for the players as well. And with that, DBK sent her team a warning that they will need to beware of going into the season with the first-year HC. Looks like the head coach hasn’t been keeping things static.
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The Huskers finished the spring campaign by dominating all four sets 25-18, 25-19, 25-17, and 25-19, respectively. After the Huskers wrapped up their spring sweep, Kelly shared a lesson for the Nebraska stars with the media.
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Quiz of the day
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Who led the Nebraska volleyball team with 12 kills, 7 digs, 5 blocks, and 2 aces in their recent match against South Dakota State?
Rebecca Ehrlich
Maisie Boesiger
Harper Murray
Andi Jackson
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“Well, the plan was to maybe play her (Maisie Boesiger) at libero, you know; she’s a senior and has had a great spring, but I didn’t tell her that before the trip, so she didn’t bring her jersey. So I think they learned that, you know, I’m not afraid to do some different things. So I don’t think she’ll forget her jersey again.” Busboom Kelly said to Hail Varsity.
Call it a Dani Busboom Kelly spontaneous shake-up that she might do again, so the squad better prepare themselves before the games because according to the HC, “They have earned it to be in the mix.” Olivia Mauch got the start at libero, with Laney Choboy in the second, Maisie Boesiger stayed in the black jersey in both the third and fourth sets. And because of the last-minute mix-up, Boesiger played while wearing Mauch’s jersey!
But hey, it wasn’t just Boesiger who was incredibly remarkable that day because the entire Husker squad brought the heat! Starting with Harper Murray leading the charge while racking up 12 kills, 7 digs, 5 blocks, and 2 aces. Andi Jackson made 11 kills and 10 blocks. Rebekah Allick held it down with 8 kills and 9 blocks of her own! And the list is long, with Teraya Sigler, Skyler Pierce, and many others adding the spark.
But just when it felt like all the stars were aligning for Nebraska and the team was thrilling with major wins, Busboom Kelly, players, as well as fans, just faced the big challenge amidst NCAA preparations! Call this her last-minute change imposed by the big league.
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What’s your perspective on:
Is Dani Busboom Kelly’s strategic shake-up the secret sauce behind Nebraska’s volleyball dominance this season?
Have an interesting take?
Debate
Dani Busboom Kelly remains unsatisfied with the new NCAA rule
With the Big Ten knocking at the doors, the NCAA has just shaken things up in the volleyball world lately. Call it a new set of rules that doesn’t seem to fit perfectly with the head coach’s focus. After all, fresh off her return to lead the Huskers, Dani Busboom Kelly has already steered through big match energy and some pretty major rule changes. While some coaches are all in on experimenting with the change, Busboom Kelly’s not exactly rushing into this one very soon.
“I would always consider anything, but that would not be my choice,” Busboom Kelly said while the NCAA introduced a new libero rule allowing teams to have two liberos in a single set! Now these give the coaches more room to get creative with rotations, especially if they’ve got multiple strong defensive players, but for Busboom Kelly, it might not be the same thing as for the rest.
