Dani Busboom Kelly believes in this year’s Nebraska team.
During her media availability before this year’s Red-White Scrimmage, the NU coach spoke optimistically about each position group, but her strongest sentiment was saved for the middle blocker group -- senior Andi Jackson, sophomore Manaia Ogebchie and freshmen Kenna Cogill and Keoni Williams.
‘We’ve got to have the best middle crew in the country,” the second-year coach said. “There’s days that you could even take Andi out of it -- the (AVCA) Middle Blocker of the Year last year -- and we still would have the best middles in the country, in my opinion.”
All four middle blockers will get to showcase their talents Sunday afternoon during the intrasquad scrimmage at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Middle blocker wasn’t the only position that earned high praise from Busboom Kelly. She said both setters, senior Bergen Reilly and sophomore Campbell Flynn, could lead the Huskers to a national championship. Busboom Kelly said the margins between starters and non-starters are razor thin.
While the Huskers have plenty of talent, don’t expect too many insights on what the starting lineup might be during the scrimmage, which will be broadcast on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.
In practice, Busboom Kelly said they don’t often break up teams into an A-Team and B-Team. Instead, she mixes up the lineup to find combinations of players that work well together.
“I want to see what players do with each other, and you want to put the core out there that you know can win together,” she said. “With this group, it’s not necessarily about a stat line. It’s who makes each other better and who’s giving each other confidence every day to be great.”
NU hasn’t played a match in their hometown since December. The construction also forced them on the road in the spring, traveling to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Omaha and Chadron for their three exhibitions.
With John Cook Arena still under construction, the scrimmage will look different this year at PBA. The Huskers opened last year’s regular season there for the AVCA First Serve Showcase and will host in-state rival Creighton at the venue in September.
Senior Harper Murray said she likes playing at PBA and wishes they would play in the venue normally used by the men’s and women’s basketball teams more often.
“We all like playing in PBA,” the senior outside hitter said. “We wished we played in there more, especially our freshman and sophomore years. Red-White in PBA isn’t something that we’ve normally done, so I think it’ll be fun.”
Jackson and Murray said they’ve been impressed with the progress Ogbechie and sophomore outside hitter Teraya Sigler have made since the end of last season.
Murray said the scrimmage is a chance for the Huskers to put on display what they’ve been working on during the spring and summer, but also learn about their deficiencies.
“It’ll show the coaches what we need to work on,” she said. “After the Red-White Scrimmage, we’ll go to practice the next week and work on exactly what they see.”
Besides identifying points of emphasis before the regular season starts in two weeks, Busboom Kelly wants the players to have fun, the freshmen to get to experience another match in front of Husker fans and everyone to stay healthy.
“I want to be able to put on a show for the fans,” she said. “It’s unique being at Pinnacle Bank Arena, and it'll be fun. I’m gonna see some of those players -- I heard Andy and Harper talking about ones that made huge strides -- show that in front of a crowd and while they're wearing the jersey.”