Nebraska and Texas are back. 

The two college volleyball powers will meet on the volleyball court this fall, according to Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly. While she teased the matchup, she didn’t reveal other details, such as when and where the match will be played during a luncheon sponsored by the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday afternoon. 

The only hint Busboom Kelly gave about the location is it won’t be at the Huskers’ home venue. 

“We’re bringing back the rivalry with Texas, so that’s going to be fun,” Busboom Kelly said. “It won’t be in Nebraska, so I hope to see some traveling.”

The Longhorns and NU last played in the national championship match in 2023, which UT won in straight sets. The Huskers lead the all-time series 33-25, but Texas owns a 7-3 advantage since NU left the Big 12 Conference in 2010. 

Texas finished 26-4 last season and suffered a loss in the regional final on its home court to Wisconsin. The Longhorns return most of their starting lineup and just have to replace three-year starter libero Emma Halter and middle blocker Ayden Ames, who transferred to Creighton. 

“They have almost everybody back, they’re going to be really good and really powerful,” Busboom Kelly said. It’ll be a really great test for us early to see where we’re at, and then win or lose, they’re going to teach us what we need to get better at going throughout the rest of the season.”

The match is yet another high-profile non-conference match for the Huskers in the non-conference. Nebraska is playing Missouri at Wrigley Field on Sept. 6, two days after it takes on DePaul in the first-ever volleyball match at WinTrust Arena. In addition, South Dakota State announced that it will be hosting the Huskers on Wednesday, September 2, at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings, S.D.

Busboom Kelly also teased another potential marquee match that featured an “exciting, unique field type experience,” but held off while the contract details are still being finalized for that event.

Swing Away

One of Busboom Kelly’s objectives this spring was to have the Huskers swing harder on attacks and serve tougher. After the match against Iowa State on Saturday, the early returns have been encouraging. 

She said hitting harder is a combination of confidence, strength and technique. It’s also a little contagious. 

“When a couple players raise their level, everybody else is like, ‘Well, I gotta raise mine,’” she said. “You get one or two players start hitting the ball harder, everybody else kind of follows suit. It’s tough to get a kill in our gym right now.”

As a team, Nebraska finished with a kill percentage of 48.6 for the match, which is a slight tick up from its rate of 47.7 percent for the 2025 season. 

Busboom Kelly singled out sophomore outside hitter Teraya Sigler as someone who has made a step forward with their attack. She recorded eight kills on 14 attacks with zero attack errors. 

“She came in hitting hard, and then she got a little banged up towards the end of the year, so we kind of forgot the pop that she had,” Busboom Kelly said. “It’s great to see her healthy and strong, and she really took advantage of the offseason. So she’s definitely hitting it harder.”

The Huskers also served tougher against the Cyclones. NU recorded four aces in the match, including line drives from Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson. 

Creighton next up on Friday

The Huskers will play their second spring exhibition when they take on Creighton Friday night at DJ Sokol Arena. CU announced on Wednesday that the 3,000-seat arena is officially sold out.

The Bluejays were hit hard by graduation as they lost All-Americans at setter, middle blocker and outside hitter (Annalea Maeder, Kiara Reinhardt and Ava Martin). As a result, CU hit the transfer portal where it picked up setter Katie Dalton from Kansas, Ayden Ames from Texas and outside hitter Trinity Shadd-Ceres from Wisconsin. 

For the Huskers, Busboom Kelly would like to see more offense from the middle blockers. The Huskers force-fed the ball to Andi Jackson and Rebekah Allick at times last season and Bergen Reilly could have gone to her middle more often in the first exhibition. The four middle blockers (Jackson, Manaia Ogbechie, Kenna Cogill and Keoni Williams) combined for 13 kills on 32 attacks in the first exhibition. 

In addition, she wants better production out of its front-row defense. NU recorded 11 blocks against Iowa State, but left some room for improvement. 

“We had a lot of great touches, and we were in the right spot. Now it’s translating that into points,” she said. 

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Over the 2026 offseason, the Oregon Ducks welcomed quarterback Dylan Raiola as he departed the Nebraska Cornhuskers via the NCAA Transfer Portal; a controversial choice as the Ducks’ 2025 season starter, Dante Moore, announced he’d return for another year at Oregon shortly after Raiola’s commitment.

Playing for the Cornhuskers for two seasons, Raiola consistently made headlines for comparisons to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, having a 69.1 percent passing game accuracy with a 13-9 record for his starts, and a broken right fibula ending his 2025 season prematurely.

Dylan Raiola Shares Regrets From Nebraska Tenure

On Tuesday, in his first media appearance as an Oregon Duck, Raiola got real about his time with Nebraska. After confirming he’s cleared from his previous injury and elaborating on his excitement to learn from Moore, Raiola admitted a few regrets from his previous home base of Lincoln, Nebraska.

“I’m very grateful for the time I had in Nebraska. I’m very grateful for the coaches, the people, and the fans, and everyone I came across, too. But like you said, you can’t emulate game-speed reps. And I think there’s a lot of instances of things that I could have did better to kind of have propel our team to win,” Raiola said.

Dylan Raiola Is Using His Nebraska Experiences as a Lesson Learned

Though the sophomore quarterback did give a mixed bag of experiences from his previous program, he also made sure to emphasize the value of those experiences and how they contribute to his current team.

“But, use all those experiences for learning and propel not only myself, but this team forward. And however I can present ideas to help Dante, or whoever in the room. I’m gonna do my best to be the best teammate that I can be,” Raiola added.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning confirmed that Raiola’s mentality when joining the Ducks lay solely in developing and helping a team while moving away from the headlines that plagued him with the Cornhuskers. According to Lanning, Raiola was willing to join the Ducks regardless of Moore’s decision, as he was searching for a new chapter.

“And obviously, he wanted to be here before he knew if Dante was gonna be back or not, just knowing that if that was an option, that was gonna be an opportunity for him to be able to grow and accelerate. It’s more about where he was going,” Lanning said. “Now, ‘Hey, am I gonna be the guy that’s up there first guy going, or am I gonna be a guy that’s gonna have an opportunity to develop and learn?’ I think all those things were really appealing to him and his family.”

What Dylan Raiola Brings to the Table

While with the Cornhuskers, Raiola put in a total of 4,819 passing yards (2,000 yards or more both seasons), -152 rushing yards off 96 carries, 31 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions over two seasons.

For Raiola, starting fresh might be a great idea to depart from his past, with the Ducks gaining a particularly sweet upside in another developed quarterback prepared to back up and potentially ready to start the next season.

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