VB Preview: at Northwestern, vs. No. 13 Purdue

Thursday, Oct. 15 – No. 1 Nebraska at Northwestern
First Serve: 7 p.m. CT
TV/Streaming: None/B1G+
Radio: Huskers.com, Huskers App, Huskers Radio Network

Saturday, Oct. 17 – No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 13 Purdue
First Serve: 4 p.m. CT
TV/Streaming: BTN/FoxSports
Rado: Huskers.com, Huskers App, Huskers Radio Network

Follow the Match
• Thursday’s match at Northwestern will be streamed on B1G+. 
• Nebraska’s match against No. 13 Purdue on Saturday can be seen on BTN, with Larry Punteney and Mac Podraza on the call.
• Huskers Radio Network with John Baylor and Lauren (Cook) West will broadcast all the action on their volleyball affiliate stations, on Huskers.com and on the Huskers App. 

Nebraska vs. Northwestern
• Nebraska holds a dominant 22-1 advantage through 23 all-time matchups with Northwestern.
• The Huskers have won 18 consecutive matches against the Wildcats since Northwestern picked up a 3-1 victory in their first match as Big Ten foes in 2011.

Nebraska vs. Purdue
• Through 34 all-time meetings, Nebraska holds a 26-8 lead in the series against Purdue. 
• The Huskers have won seven consecutive matches against the Boilermakers after Purdue recorded a five-set win in West Lafayette in 2019.
• Since joining the Big Ten in 2011, Nebraska is 17-4 in 21 meetings with the Boilermakers.

Huskers at No. 1 in Latest AVCA Poll
• The Nebraska volleyball team was ranked No. 1 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll released on Oct. 12. 
• The Huskers collected 1,575 points in the poll and came in ahead of No. 2 Pitt (1,511), No. 3 Louisville (1,415), No. 4 Kentucky (1,362) and No. 5 SMU (1,349). Nebraska got all of the 63 first-place votes. 
• It marks Nebraska’s 131st week all-time at No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, the most of any program in the nation.

Three Huskers Earn Big Ten Weekly Honors
• Senior outside hitter Harper Murray was named co-Player of the Week, Bergen Reilly earned Setter of the Week and Manaia Ogbechie was named Defensive Player of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday.
• Murray put up strong numbers in Nebraska’s 3-0 wins at No. 15 Indiana and vs. No. 7 Wisconsin last week. The senior averaged 5.17 kills per set with a .429 hitting percentage on the week, finishing as one of three players nationally with more than five kills per set with .400-plus hitting. Murray led all Big Ten players with 5.17 kills per set and 5.92 points per set on the week. 
• Against No. 7 Wisconsin, Murray posted a season-high 20 kills on .471 hitting with four digs and three blocks in the sweep of the Badgers. Murray tallied 11 kills, seven digs and a pair of blocks in NU’s sweep at No. 15 Indiana on Thursday.
• Reilly continued to improve her already strong resume, directing the Husker offense that led the Big Ten and finished second nationally with a .388 hitting percentage across two matches. Reilly finished second in the Big Ten and 12th nationally with 12.33 assists per set and added 2.17 digs per set. 
• Behind Reilly’s setting, the Big Red hit .379 at No. 15 Indiana and .396 vs. No. 7 Wisconsin, which had the Husker offense over .300 hitting for the seventh time in the last eight matches. The senior recorded 35 assists, seven digs and three kills against the Hoosiers while totaling 39 assists, six digs, two kills and a block vs. the Badgers on Saturday night.
• Ogbechie led the Big Ten and ranked eighth in the country with 2.17 blocks per set last week. The sophomore picked up six blocks to go with eight kills on .500 hitting in a road sweep at No. 15 Indiana. Ogbechie posted seven blocks and helped the Husker defense limit the seventh-ranked Badgers to .171 hitting in NU’s sweep of Wisconsin on Saturday night.

Huskers off to 17-0 Start for The 10th Time
• With a 17-0 start, the Huskers have posted an unbeaten record through the first 17 matches of a season for the 10th time in program history. 
• This is the first time the Big Red have recorded consecutive 17-0 starts since a four-season run from 2005-08.
•Of the 10 seasons with an 17-0 start, nine have reached an unblemished mark through 20 matches.

Road Warriors: 23 Straight Away From Home
• Nebraska has a 23-match win streak in road and neutral-site matches, which is tied for 11th all-time in NCAA history and is the 20th all-time streak of 20-or-more victories.
• The Huskers’ current win streak is the longest nationally since UNI’s string of 29 straight wins in 2010-11. 
• The 23-match win streak is Nebraska’s third-longest in school history, trailing streaks of 29 victories in 1994-96 and 26 wins in 2002-03.  

NU Rides 48-Match Regular-Season Win Streak
• Nebraska is on a 48-match regular-season winning streak that dates back to the 2024 season, which is the second-longest regular-season winning streak in program history in the NCAA era (since 1981).
• The Huskers finished the 2024 regular season with a win at Maryland before finishing the 2025 regular season a perfect 30-0, the third perfect regular season in program history (1994, 2000). Nebraska has started the 2026 season with 17 straight wins. 
• Nebraska’s last regular-season loss came on Nov. 29, 2024 at No. 4 Penn State. The Huskers’ win streak is the third in program history over 40 matches, joining streaks from 1999-2001 and 2004-05.
• In the NCAA era, the Big Red have 15 streaks of at least 20 regular-season wins and four of 35-plus.
• Head Coach Dani Busboom Kelly also recorded a 43-match regular-season winning streak at Louisville that spanned the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Busboom Kelly vs. Ranked Opponents
• Head Coach Dani Busboom Kelly is 62-28 against ranked opponents in her 10 seasons as a head coach at Louisville and Nebraska. 
•At Nebraska, Busboom Kelly is 20-1 against ranked foes in two seasons after going 13-1 last season and holding a 7-0 mark vs. ranked teams in 2026.
• Busboom Kelly totaled a 29-13 record vs. ranked opponents in her final three seasons at Louisville before joining Nebraska in 2025.

Big Red Response Under DBK
• Nebraska has dropped 13 combined sets in the last two seasons and is 10-2 in the following set under Busboom Kelly.
• In those 12 following sets, the Huskers are hitting at a prolific pace of .372 with 163 kills and 38 errors in 336 swings.
• Defensively, the Big Red are stifling the opponents to a .153 hitting percentage after a set loss and have forced 72 errors across 385 swings.

NU’s Race to the Red Zone
• Nebraska is 147-0 in sets under head coach Dani Busboom Kelly when reaching the red zone (20 points) first.
• The Huskers are 51-0 when reaching the red zone first in 2026 after posting a 96-0 mark last season. 

Harper’s Heating Up
• Last Saturday against No. 7 Wisconsin, Harper Murray finished with 20 kills and hit .471 (20-4-34) in Nebraska’s 3-0 win over the Badgers.
• With 20 kills and .471 hitting in the sweep, Murray became the sixth different Husker (10th instance) to total 20-plus kills with at least .400 hitting in three sets in the rally-scoring era, including four times since sets moved to 25 points in 2008.
• In her last four matches, Murray is hitting .396 and leading the team in kills (50) and kills per set (4.55). Over that same span, Nebraska is hitting .367 as a team.
• It is Murray’s ninth time in her career where she has a span of 50-plus kills over four matches.

Home Sweet Home
• Nebraska has won 58 regular-season home matches in a row at the Devaney Center, going back to the start of the 2023 campaign. 
•The Huskers had a 63-match home win streak snapped in the Regional Final against No. 6 Texas A&M. It is tied for the fifth-longest streak in NCAA history. 
• The Huskers’ recent home court win streak was their longest since moving into the Devaney Center in 2013, and it’s the tied for the second-longest home court win streak in program history. 
• Nebraska’s longest all-time home win streak was 90 matches from 2004-09. Nebraska also won 63 straight at home from 1999-2002. 
• Penn State holds the all-time record of 94 from 2006-10. 
• The Huskers went 22-0 at home in 2024, a school record for home wins in a season. 

NU Offense Racking Up .400 Sets in Last Two Seasons
• As of Wednesday, Nebraska leads the country with a .330 hitting percentage. Last week, the Huskers hit .379 at No. 15 Indiana and .396 in a sweep of No. 7 Wisconsin.
• Nebraska has hit at least .300 in all but five matches this season, including a season-high .434 at DePaul on Sept. 4.
• Nebraska hit .400 in the second set at Indiana and added a pair of .400 or greater sets vs. Wisconsin, hitting .424 in the set two and .538 in the third set. The Huskers have now tallied 20 sets this season with a hitting percentage of .400 or greater.
• Dating back to the beginning of the 2025 season, Nebraska has 61 sets hitting .400 or greater after finishing with 41 last year.
• Last season’s total of 41 sets of .400 or greater rose from 30 in the 2024 season, where the Huskers hit .400 or greater in 30 of 122 sets (.246).

NU’s Two-Way Dominance
• After leading the country in hitting percentage and opposing hitting percentage last season, Nebraska became the first team to finish first nationally in both categories since at least 2014, the NCAA’s first season tracking opposing hitting percentages.
• The Husker offense hit at a school-record pace of .351 and hit over .400 in nine matches last season, which is a school record in the rally-scoring era.
• The NU defense has led the nation in opponent hitting percentage three times in the last four seasons (2022, 2023 and 2025) after limiting opponents to a pace of .129 in 2025.
• Through 17 matches, Nebraska leads the country with an opposing hitting percentage of .105. The Huskers have held eight opponents under a .100 hitting percentage and two in the negatives.
• As of Oct. 14, Nebraska is the only team in the country holding opponents under .125 hitting. Lehigh ranks No. 2 nationally in opposing hitting percentage with a clip of .132.
• On the flip side, the Huskers are hitting .330 as a team this season to lead the country. Nebraska is one of five teams nationally that own a hitting percentage over the .300 mark as of Oct. 14.
• With Nebraska’s hitting percentage of .330 and opposing clip of .105, the Huskers own a margin of +.225 to lead the country. NU is the only team in the country above +.200 and one of two teams with a margin of +.150 or better.

Acing the Test In the 2026 Season
• Nebraska has recorded 105 service aces through 17 matches after totaling a program-record 70 aces in the first 10 matches of the season. 
• The 70 aces surpass the previous high of 67 set in 2002, followed by 65 in 2003, 64 in 2018 and 63 in 2000. 
•Additionally, the Big Red rank second nationally in point differential at the service line and are one of four P4 programs in the country to post a point differential greater than +55 at the service line as of Wednesday.

Big Red on the Run
• Nebraska has recorded 47 runs of five-plus unanswered points through 17 matches this season, highlighted by a season-long streak of 12 against FGCU and 10 consecutive points vs. No. 2 Texas and New Mexico. 
• The Huskers have scored five consecutive points on 26 occasions, six straight points 11 times, a seven-point streak four times, two eight-point runs, a nine-point streak and three runs of 10-or-more points.

Dynamic Duo in the Middle
• Andi Jackson and Manaia Ogbechie have led the Big Red at the net and on offense this season in multiple stat categories.
• Offensively, Jackson leads the conference and ranks third nationally with a hitting percentage of .487, while Ogbechie is fifth in the league and 15th nationally with a .419 clip. They are the only pair of teammates in the Power Four to rank inside the top 15 nationally in hit percentage.
• Ogbechie was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, as she led the Big Ten and ranked eighth in the country with 2.17 blocks per set. She finished with six blocks against Indiana and seven vs. Wisconsin on Saturday.
• Both players have been named the Big Ten Player of the Week this season, as Ogbechie took home the award on Sept. 14 and Jackson won honors on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5.
• On Sept. 23 against Missouri, Jackson hit a season-best .667 with 10 kills and zero errors on 15 swings (10-0-15). She has hit .500 or better (min. 10 att.) eight times this season, including a .625 (11-1-16) clip at Penn State on Oct. 1.
• She hit a season-high .778 (7-0-9) against Missouri on Sept. 23, one of her three matches with a .500 hitting percentage this season with a minimum of 10 swings.