Three Thoughts on Nebraska-Wisconsin Volleyball Part III

The Huskers and Badgers face each other Sunday for the third time this season, the third time they've done so in the last six years.

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

From the minute the NCAA Tournament bracket was released, the anticipation began. 

With SMU – one of the darlings of the college volleyball season – losing a five-set thriller to NC State in the regular-season finale, it opened the door for Wisconsin to vault into the No. 7 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. That put the Badgers up with the No. 2 overall seed Nebraska, its ultimate rival and trend setter in the sport. 

The big stage has always been reserved when these two teams meet, and Sunday’s regional final with a spot on the Final Four on the line won’t be any different. The Huskers and Badgers have met twice before this season with both ending as a Nebraska sweep. But as Wisconsin survived a five-setter against Texas A&M and Nebraska took care of Dayton in four sets, it set up the biggest regional final of the four, with a 2 p.m. CST start on ABC to boot. 

Harper Murray had 22 kills against Dayton, the most by a Husker in an NCAA Tournament game. / Amarillo Mullen

“This is what ABC wanted,” NU head coach John Cook said. “This is what everybody wanted, what the NCAA Tournament wanted was us and Wisconsin. Now they’ve got it. Huskers will be fired up.”

Not only is the Final Four at stake, but the continuation of some of college volleyball’s most historic careers. The Badgers’ Sarah Franklin will most likely repeat as National Player of the Year while fellow seniors Devyn Robsinon, Anna Smrek and Julia Orzol will leave as the senior class that gave Wisconsin its first-ever national title. 

“They’ve elevated it. Can you leave a program better than when you walked into it? Certainly, that’s a focus of mine as a coach and that’s something we talk to our players about. I don’t think there’s any question about these two and any other seniors,” Badger  head coach Kelly Sheffield said of the seniors. “They’ve elevated the program and they’ve inspired a lot of people along the way, as they’ve played. They’ve represented the university and athletic department with a lot of class and enthusiasm. These two and everybody in that class is the epitome of what a student-athlete should be. I’m proud to be their coach and excited to get after it with them tomorrow.” 

Sunday’s match will be the last for Husker legends Lexi Rodriguez and Merritt Beason – pillars of the last two Nebraska teams – as well as Lindsay Krause and Kennedi Orr who have been there for two national runner-up teams. 

“I don’t even want to think about it,” Cook said. “ I’m not going there.” 

Here are three thoughts going into tomorrow’s regional final. 

Wisconsin seniors embrace each other after their victory against Georgia Tech in the second-round match of the NCAA volleyball playoffs on Friday December 6, 2024 at the UW Field House in Madison, Wis. / Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Wisconsin is hoping third time’s the charm 

Neither of the teams' previous two matches was close this season. The Huskers swept both, with the Badgers getting swept at home for the first time since 2016, and NU’s first sweep in Madison since 2013. 

Conventional wisdom says it’s extremely hard to beat an opponent three times, but history says otherwise. The two teams have met three times in a season twice in Nebraska’s Big Ten era – 2019 and 2021. Wisconsin won all four regular season meetings before sweeping Nebraska in the 2019 Madison Regional and then the famous five-set thriller in the 2021 national title match. 

The Badgers will have to execute better on offense if they hope to dispatch the Huskers – who for the first time since 2017 have the better team. NU held Franklin and company to team hitting percentages of .094 and .169 respectively in the first two showdowns. 

True freshman setter Charlie Fuerbringer needs to take a lesson from her counter Bergen Reilly in setting a balanced offense. Franklin, Smrek and Orzol had a combined 184 attacks compared to the 47 from Robinson, Crawford and Carter Booth in the first two matchups. 

If you want to get past the floor defense of Nebraska, you have to keep them guessing. 

Harper Murray (left) celebrates her kill with Bergen Reilly (2). / Amarillo Mullen

Can Nebraska’s offense show up? 

Dayton exceeded expectations on Friday by winning a set over the Huskers with a 27-25 third set victory. It woke up the Huskers – who looked slow with a 9 p.m. start time – as the offense hit .296 in the fourth set to take the match. 

But before that outbreak, Nebraska didn’t really find an offensive flow aside from Harper Murray, who had one of her signature matches as a Husker with 22 kills (.318 clip), four aces and 16 digs. Rebekah Allick added 10 kills on a .368 clip, but Beason, Taylor Landfair and Andi Jackson combined for a .090 hitting percentage with 19 kills. 

Murray may be able to be the lone savior against Dayton, but not against the Badgers. One of the only critiques of this season’s team has been the inconsistent offense, and that question mark has to be answered on Sunday. 

If the Badgers – who have four players with 100 or more blocks this season – can find tips at the net and freshman Lola Schumacher leads the floor defense in the back row, Wisconsin can “ugly it up” and keep it close. 

Nebraska's Bergen Reilly, Andi Jackson, and Harper Murray go for the block against Dayton in the NCAA regional semifinals. / Nebraska Athletics

Another huge platform for the sport 

There’s a reason why the NCAA and ESPN chose the Lincoln Regional Final as its premier match at 2 p.m. in the ABC slot. Nebraska and Wisconsin bring bonker numbers to TV, including B1G Network’s largest volleyball viewing audience in last year’s 2023 matchup in Lincoln with 612,000 – which outdrew the Nebraska football game earlier that day. 

“TV is just really recognizing the interest in women’s volleyball, and putting it on ABC is a statement that they really think this is worth it,” Cook said. “It’s a great product, it’s a great show, it’s a great sport. It’s exciting. We’ve been watching tons of volleyball. It was exciting watching the Texas A&M/Wisconsin match yesterday. This is a time of year where everything is on the line.” 

Put NCAA volleyball in a premier spot on a major network and it will deliver. Nebraska-Louisville proved that earlier this season by drawing an average of 684,000 viewers in a morning ABC slot on Sunday, Sept. 22. The 2023 national championship match between Nebraska and Texas drew 1.7 million on ABC while Texas-Minnesota drew 1.659 million in a post-NFL slot on FOX last season as well. 

With a 2 p.m. CST start this time around, and two of the sport's biggest fanbases, it could push one million on its own. We’ll see the final numbers on Tuesday, but the smart thinking from the NCAA and ESPN could once again draw huge numbers and continue to show the ascent of volleyball in the U.S.

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