Nebraska vs South Dakota

When: Saturday, May 3rd 2025, 2:00 pm (CT)

Where: Ord High School

Watch: Nebraska Public Media and BTN+

Radio: Husker Radio Network

Live stats

When Nebraska’s volleyball team took to the court for the first time in a match under the coaching eye of Dani Busboom Kelly on April 26th, the energy in the Bob Devaney Sports Center and John Cook Arena was pumping. The players describe being nervous and the fans treated the event like an in-season match of consequence. It made me wonder, where does this energy come from?

There are other college teams hosting spring matches and other programs poised for a great season, but they are not selling out their stadiums. The excitement that perpetually flows around Nebraska volleyball seems to spring from at least two sources.

First, the Huskers are very talented and win a lot, which is exciting. But those other programs do that too; winning isn’t the only thing. And so, the second source is the program’s relationship with the state itself; demonstrating reciprocity and dedication to its home fans that no other program can match.

Since 2007, Nebraska has played spring matches in North Platte, Scottsbluff, Grand Island, Norfolk, Wayne, Ogallala, Kearney and McCook. Ord is the smallest of the cities and towns to host Nebraska’s volleyball team, thus far, but that doesn’t mean there will be any less excitement. The town of 2,000 people is “ecstatic”, according to mayor Jeramy Sedlacek.

Watching the Huskers in this intimate atmosphere is likely to impress. Have you had the experience of walking back into your elementary school as a grown adult? If feels small and you feel like a medium giant in the hallway. The proportion of your size, to the small-scale cubbies or water fountains has changed.

Apply this comparison to the top-level volleyball athletes returning to play in a high school gym. Andi Jackson is jaw droppingly impressive in the Devaney Center; she will be hard to describe in this smaller space. Laney Choboy can use her speed to cover 15 feet before you realize it on Terry Pettit Court, but in the intimate confines of the Ord High School gym? She’ll look like a laser bolt. She may not have as much space to use but her speed will still be there.

The distance between Allick’s block to the ceiling of Devaney compared to the distance of her hands to the ceiling of the OHS gym will be dramatic. You get the idea. Big, fast action by highly athletic women in a very small place. It will be thrilling, electric.

It might be tough to perceive on TV or radio, so unless you’re one of the 2,000 in the gym tomorrow, it may not be apparent. But see if those hairs on your arm stand up once or twice… that’s electricity, you’ll feel it.

So back to the beginning, where does the energy come from? It comes from these high- powered athletes playing small gyms all over the state and churning up energy like a dynamo, completing the circuit of electricity that flows back to Lincoln on fall weekends, creating a buzz and bright lights like no other program can replicate.

And in a larger sense, the state of Nebraska has a volleyball program that is outsized in its notoriety from the size of the space within which it exists. The Huskers are like the Yankees of college volleyball, selling out stadiums and bringing energy wherever they go. And for a day, that bright shining star of a program will be in Ord. Because Ord, and all the little towns across the state, is really where it all begins. This will be fun.