The Nebraska offensive machine ran into a few glitches against Kansas State Saturday night. 

The Huskers posted a .253 hitting percentage, their lowest since hitting .250 against Creighton, but relied on tough serving and a stingy defense to quash KSU. Despite the struggles, NU still earned a 25-17, 25-21, 25-16 sweep in front of 8,601 fans at the Devaney Center. 

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said the Wildcats used their block to disrupt the Huskers’ offense. KSU finished with eight blocks, all of which came during the first two sets. The Huskers hit .139 in the second set, just the 10th time they’ve posted a hitting percentage below .200 for a set this season. 

“This was one of the first matches in a while, we had to get it out with our serve and pass and floor defense, which is kind of like classic Nebraska volleyball,” Busboom Kelly said. “I felt like we handled it really well. We kept our composure, stayed really steady, and finished the match with our best volleyball of the night.”

With the win, NU (32-0) moves on to its 14th straight regional semifinal and will face fourth-seeded Kansas on Friday evening. No. 2 Louisville and No. 3 Texas A&M will also play in the Lincoln Region and start the doubleheader at 6 p.m., with the second match starting 30 minutes after the conclusion.

Despite the less-than-dominant performance, Harper Murray said she was grateful that their season is still alive and they have more matches to play, something only 15 other teams can say. She said the Huskers will learn from the match and get better the next time they step on the court. 

“We’re not invincible,” Murray said. “Teams are going to put their best fight up against us, and as they should, and they deserve our best effort too.

Nebraska appeared to be on track for another beatdown of an opponent after jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the first set. However, Kansas State (18-10) rallied and closed to 9-7 after back-to-back hitting errors. 

NU responded with a 5-0 run to rebuild its lead, but errors allowed the Wildcats to climb back. Kansas State won seven of the next nine rallies, with four points coming on NU hitting errors and another via a bad set from Bergen Reilly. 

However, the Huskers responded with four kills and a block during a 5-0 run to go up 21-14 before closing out the set.

Nebraska’s offensive woes carried over into the second set as Kansas State staked a 4-1 lead after three more Husker hitting errors, including two blocks. KSU coach Jason Mansfield said their block shut off the low angles for NU’s attackers. 

“They took some swings where they were trying to bounce it, and our blockers are obviously physical, and made them pay,” he said. “They’re a team that usually keeps it high, and they didn’t, and we made them pay eight times.”

Senior opposite Allie Sczech provided some relief at the net as she recorded two kills on four swings. Virginia Adriano put up seven kills, but also committed five hitting errors.  

While the offense was struggling, Nebraska stayed afloat with strong serving and good passing. The Huskers recorded three aces in the second set, including an ace from Choboy that broke a 10-10 tie. NU also only allowed two aces by the Wildcats all night. 

“Our defense hung in there, and we were ready for long rallies,” said Reilly, who finished with 34 assists. “I was really proud of us, even when it didn’t feel super clean, like we still were just playing Nebraska volleyball.

The Huskers’ offense started clicking in the third set as they hit .393 in the set. After KSU hung close early, Nebraska turned a 9-8 deficit into a 16-10 lead thanks to a pair of missed serves and three hitting errors from KSU. Landfair, who tallied eight kills, ended the match with an attack that went off the Wildcat block and landed out of bounds.

Junior middle blocker Andi Jackson put up five kills in the set while Murray added four to end the match on a strong note. They both finished with 10 kills, as Jackson led the NU attackers with a .533 hitting percentage and three blocks. Rebekah Allick had six kills and one solo block.

Olivia Mauch and Laney Choboy finished with 13 and 12 digs, respectively, while they both recorded two aces. 

Despite Nebraska’s offensive struggles, Busboom Kelly wasn’t worried about any long-term issues. Even though KSU pressed the Huskers at times, she never thought the Huskers lost their composure. 

“It never felt like we were stressed, even though it looked like it out on the court,” Busboom Kelly said. “The timeout communication was great. The communication between plays was great. So all the things that we can control were very, very good, and that’s what you want this time of year.”

When asked if she had any concerns going forward with the team, Busboom Kelly was quite concise with her response. 

“Nope.” 

More From Nebraska On SI

Considering Nebraska’s dropped just one set since September 17, not a lot of people were giving Long Island University much of a chance Friday night against the top-ranked Huskers.

NU ended up sweeping the Sharks 25-11, 25-15, 25-17, but the champions of the Northeast Conference did something some Big Ten teams failed to do this year – they made the Huskers battle a bit.

By looking at just the set scores alone, you can tell LIU shook off the nervous jitters and settled in by the end of the match. Sure, Nebraska ended up emptying its bench in yet another sweep for the Huskers this season, but the Sharks were doing a whole lot more than just lying down for NU in its NCAA Tournament opener.

“I thought it was a really fun opening match for the NCAA tournament,” Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly said in her postgame press conference Friday night. “LIU brought it. They had some really hard hitters, and they didn’t back down. I thought it was a really great team to play, and it was just awesome to see us stay consistent through the whole game and again have to work pretty hard to get some kills, especially there at the end.”

Also at the end of the match was Nebraska’s end of its bench. Much like we saw from the Huskers during their dominant regular season, Busboom Kelly wasn’t shy about putting in every single player so they could get an up-close dose of what postseason volleyball was all about.

It led to LIU going on some runs of their own and putting up 17 points in the third and final set, but it also led to some growth of players Busboom Kelly will be relying on for years to come.

“You just kind of want them to get some jitters out and their first kill or touches in behind them,” Busboom Kelly said. “That way, they can look forward, and they’ve done it, and they kind of know what it feels like. Even the atmosphere tonight, you can just feel there’s a little extra. I know they’re feeling it on the court.”

What could also be seen on the court was Nebraska’s continued calmness. Even for the No. 1 team in the country, they officially entered “win or go home season,” and that sentiment’s not lost on the players.

“We’ve worked really hard all season, and we know that we’re 0-0 now, and we don’t want to get complacent during the tournament,” Nebraska junior middle blocker Andi Jackson said. “That is our biggest fear, but with this team, that’s not an issue. We come in, we work hard every single day, and I think that it’s really translating into our play.”

Jackson has been at the forefront of Nebraska’s success all year, and that storyline didn’t change Friday night against LIU. She tied senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick with a team-high 10 kills on the night, but Jackson was able to do it with a blistering .833 hitting percentage. Allick wasn’t far behind her with a .750 hitting percentage.

Ultimately, the Sharks didn’t have an answer for the Nebraska middles, and Allick said Friday night is just the start of what she hopes fans will see for the next few weeks.

“I’d say it gives me a lot of confidence,” Allick said about her stellar night. “We’re treating everyone as a threat, so regardless of who it was, their ranking, their skill – they earned their right to be here. I think if we treat everyone with the same respect as if they’re the number one team on the other side of the bracket, then you know that consistency gives me confidence. It was just high-level volleyball and well executed.”

“I think just the flow that we have on the court right now, there’s so much confidence within our team, and I think we’ve earned the right to have that confidence, especially coming off winning the Big Ten,” Jackson echoed.

Next up will be yet another team that will look to cause Nebraska fits, and it’s because it’s a team with a few Nebraska ties. Kansas State needed five sets to oust San Diego. The Wildcats crawled out of both a 1-0 hole as well as a 2-1 hole to win the fifth set 15-12 and advance to a Saturday showdown with their old friends to the north.

Manhattan, Kansas – the home to the Wildcats – is just a few hours away, as many will remember from NU’s Big 12 Conference days, and KSU will be featuring some homegrown Nebraska talent against the Huskers.

KSU senior setter Ava LeGrand is a Papillion-La Vista South grad, and she joins senior outside hitter Shaylee Myers (Lincoln Southwest) and senior middle blocker Brenna Schmidt (Elmwood-Murdock) as former Nebraska high school stars who get to now take on the “hometown team” with everything on the line Saturday.

“I’m sure they’re going to be out to get us and pretty fired up,” Busboom Kelly said. “Their outsides are great players, so just a really solid team that’s had a great season. It’s not necessarily a rivalry, but it almost feels like it because of the Nebraska connections. I’m sure a lot of things are going to be thrown out the window, and anything can happen.”

Given that the Nebraska names on the KSU roster know a loss means the end of their college career, Busboom Kelly and NU should expect the proverbial “kitchen sink” Saturday night in Lincoln.

For the now 31-0 Huskers, it’s the next step in what they’re all hoping will be a dream season. Ironically enough, to achieve their ultimate goal, they’ll essentially need to knock off the entire state of Kansas. First is a date with the Wildcats Saturday night, and if they get past that challenge, the Kansas Jayhawk volleyball team awaits in the third round.

First things first is KSU for the Huskers, and unsurprisingly, the team is continuing to make sure they’re not missing out on a moment of the fun.

“There are a lot of people who are at home watching right now, so making it to the tournament and being in this position, it’s really, really cool,” Jackson said. “We really just try to be where our feet are – especially this year. We wanted to be mindful of where we are and not take anything for granted. I would say the confidence level is the same, but I think moving forward, we might see things change.”

More From Nebraska On SI