Nebraska Volleyball Preview: Illinois and Michigan

The No. 2 Huskers return to Devaney to take on a pair of resurging programs battling in the top half of a bigger and better Big Ten.

Nebraska volleyball players celebrate a point at Illinois. / Nebraska Athletics

The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team continued its tear over the weekend, taking down Michigan State and Ohio State in a pair of road sweeps, with the latter being the first-ever college volleyball match broadcasted on NBC. The Huskers and Buckeyes put up respectable viewing numbers when going against a Saturday afternoon college football slate that included a top-12 matchup between Alabama and Tennessee that saw 12 million eyeballs. 

The match averaged 514,000 viewers which puts it in the same territory as Nebraska’s previous match against Louisville for the first regular season college volleyball match on ABC, which got 684,000 viewers. 

The Huskers return home for the weekend for a pair of back-to-back contests facing a pair of teams in Illinois and Michigan who are in a tight battle to finish inside the top half of the conference. 

Here’s all you need to know for NU’s return home to Devaney.    

How to Follow Along 

Matchup: No. 2 Nebraska (18-1, 8-0 B1G) vs. Illinois (13-5, 5-3 B1G)  

Where: Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, NE. 

Time: 7 p.m. CDT 

Watch: B1G+ 

Listen: Huskers Radio Network and Affiliates

Illinois Scout

Head Coach: Chris Tamas | 8th Season | 144-86 (.630) at Illinois.

2023 Record: 16-14 (11-9 B1G, T-6th) | One First Team All-B1G selection, One B1G Sportsmanship Honoree | Did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Record Against Nebraska: 8-35-1 (Oct. 3, 2024 last matchup, Nebraska won 3-0) 

Fun Fact: Chris Tamas took the Illinois job after four seasons as a Nebraska assistant coach under John Cook. Tamas was on the coaching staff for the Huskers’ two national championships in 2015 and 2017. Plus, Reagan Reilly, older sister of Nebraska setter Bergen Reilly, plays for the Illini. 

Key Returners: Lily Barry, DS, Soph. | Kayla Burbage, OPP / OH, Sr. | Caroline Burns, L, Sr. | Cari Bohm, MB, R-Soph. | Raina Terry, OH, Gr. | Brooke Mosher, S, R-Jr. 

Key Additions: Reagan Reilly, S, Sr. (South Dakota State) | Averie Hernandez, OH / OPP, Jr. (Northwestern) | Ashlyn Philpot, MB, Fr. (Recruit) | Laynie Smith, OH / OPP, Fr. (Recruit) | Christina Martinez Mundo, L, Gr. (Eastern Illinois). 

Key Departures: Kennedy Collins, MB (Eligibility) | Jessica Nunge, OH / OPP (Eligibility) | Vanessa Pan, L / DS (Eligibility). 

Outlook: Illinois’s straight-set defeat to the No. 2 Huskers on Oct. 3 has proved to be a turning point for the Illini and Chris Tamas. From Sep. 13 to Oct. 3 Illinois was 2-5 with losses to No. 24 Dayton and Missouri before losing nine-straight sets to open Big Ten play with a trio of defeats to No. 11 Oregon, Washington and Nebraska. 

Since then, the Illini are 5-0, winning 15 of 18 sets played. Granted, all but one of those wins have come against conference opponents that rank 13th or worse in the Big Ten standings. However, five wins are five wins and this is an important year for Tamas in sustaining his program after a couple of down seasons in Champaign. 

Highland's Raina Terry readies a serve against John Glenn. 009 Zan High Jg Vbl / Chris Crook/Times Recorder, Zanesville Times Recorder via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Raina Terry continues to be a force on the outside in her graduate student season ranking fifth in the conference in kills per set (4.28) and fourth in kills (291). The Illini may have its next all-conference middle blocker in the making with freshman Ashlyn Philpot from North Carolina. She’s sixth overall in the Big Ten with 80 blocks, which is second among freshmen behind only Washington’s Julia Hunt. Brooke Mosher’s setting numbers are in the bottom half of the conference, but she’s the third-best server in the league with 40 aces. 

The result may end up being the same from the last matchup between the two schools, but Illinois will be an intriguing program to watch in November as they battle to finish inside the top half of the conference and return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021. 

How to Follow Along 

Matchup: No. 2 Nebraska (18-1, 8-0 B1G) vs. Michigan (15-4, 5-3 B1G)  

Where: Bob Devaney Sports Center

Time: 7 p.m. CDT 

Watch: B1G+ 

Listen: Huskers Radio Network and Affiliates

Michigan Scout

Head Coach: Erin Virtue | 2nd Season | 22-26 (.458) at Michigan & Career Record | Director of USA National Team Development Program since 2019 | Served as the Offensive Coordinator and Setters Coach for Team USA that won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

2023 Record: 7-22 (5-15 B1G, 12th)

All-Time Series: Nebraska leads 23-3 (2023 last matchup, Nebraska won 3-0) 

Series Fun Fact: The Huskers have won 15-straight matches against the Wolverines dating back to 2015. NU has only lost to Michigan at home once in the 26 all-time meetings. That was a straight-set defeat in 2009 prior to Nebraska joining the Big Ten. Wolverines starting setter Morgan Burke is from Omaha, attending Omaha Skutt where she led the Skyhawks to four state titles. 

Key Returners: Jacque Boney, MB, Sr. | Valentina Vaulet, OPP / OH, Soph. | Serena Nyambio, MB, Jr. | Morgan Burke, S, Soph. | Maddi Cuchran, L, Sr. | Allison Jacobs, OH, Gr. 

Key Additions: Ella Demetrician, OH, Fr. (Recruit) | Trixie McMillin, DS, Fr. (Recruit). 

Key Departures: Kendall Murray, OH / OPP (Eligibility) | Brooke Humphrey, DS / L (Eligibility) | Scottee Johnson, S (Eligibility). 

Outlook: Talk about a turnaround. Second-year head coach Erin Virtue has gained a stellar reputation in her time with the national team program, helping develop a group that won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Replacing Mark Rosen, who spent 24 years at the helm of the program, Virtue inherited a roster that didn’t click en route to a 7-22 campaign in 2023, which marked the school’s worst season since 1990. Surprisingly, much of the roster returned to Ann Arbor for 2024, which speaks to the player development of Virtue and her staff as the Wolverines sit at 15-4, and 5-3 in the Big Ten for seventh place entering the midway point of conference play. 

Graduate student Allison Jacobs has been one of the most fun stories in the Big Ten this season. The California native spent her first two seasons in UCLA playing in a part-time role. She served a similar role with the Wolverines after transferring there in 2022, but she medically redshirted in 2023. She’s become an all-conference hitter overnight, averaging 4.12 kills per set in 70 sets which is sixth in the Big Ten while being third in kills with 301. That also includes 2.10 digs per set and 33 blocks. 

Michigan's Kendall Murray, center, and the rest of the team celebrate a point against Michigan State during the second set on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Heralding from Argentina and playing for its national teams in high school, Valentina Vaulet has taken a leading offensive role in her sophomore season. She’s second on the team with three kills per set, 2.17 digs per set and 36 blocks. Plus, she’s one of the most fearsome servers in the league with 49 aces (0.75 SA/S). Those numbers are both second in the conference with her aces per set ranked fourth overall in the nation and total aces fifth. 

Omaha Skutt graduate Morgan Burke runs the show at setter after being a part of a 6-2 offensive system a year ago. She’s averaging 10.18 aces per set, which is sixth in the league while also contributing 2.51 digs per set and 21 aces. Senior Maddi Cuchran is one of three Big Ten liberos to have a digs per set mark of 4.0 or above. Her 4.01 number is third in the conference. 

The roster lost its best attacker and one half of its two starting setters from last season, but the jump in development has this roster rolling despite a lack of turnover in the offseason. Jacobs is thriving in her one active playing season under Virtue while Vaulet gives the Wolverines multiple weapons. Burke looks to be emerging as another standout sophomore setter in the conference. Nebraska being at home certainly helps, and the Huskers deserve to be the favorite. However, the Wolverines could pack enough punch to give NU some trouble, especially as the second part of the back-to-back match weekend.  

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