Texas A&M @ Nebraska 12-14-2025 WVB Quarterfinals

Dear Readers~

    There is another quarterfinals game of the 2025 NCAA Division 1 Women's Indoor Volleyball season that I wanted to cover. Today's game has Nebraska hosting Texas A&M in Lincoln, Nebraska to see who can move on to the semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri the following weekend. We've previously discussed Texas A&M beating TCU in College Station for round 2 and Nebraska beating Kansas in Lincoln for round 3. Now that we've reached the point where the winner moves on to Kansas City and gets to play at the T Mobile Center, who do you think will come out on top: the Cornhuskers from Nebraska or the Aggies from A&M? Let's get into today's game to find out.

    Let's see who's coaching A&M and Nebraska. Up first, is the visiting Aggies. They are coached by Jamie Morrison as Head Coach, Lindsey Walton as Associate Head Coach, Jen Woods as the other Associate Head Coach, Jeff Fiorenza as the General Manager and Assistant Coach, Joe Skinner as Director of Analytics, Kaitlyn Corbett as Director of Operations, Tom Blugstad as the Strength and Conditioning Coach, Taylor Tedesky as Athletic Trainer, and Scott Battley as Director of Sports Science Service. Now let's see who's coaching Nebraska. Their Head Coach is Dani Busboom Kelly (known also as DBK, her initials). The Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator is Jaylen Reyes. The other Assistant Coach is Kelly (Hunter) Natter. The Interim Assistant Coach is Brennan Hagar. The support staff includes Lindsay Peterson (Director of Operations), Nate Wilson (Video and Administrative Coordinator), Joni Duff (Volleyball Administrative Assistant), Jolene Emricson (Associate Athletic Trainer (Volleyball)), Brian Kmitta (Director of Olympic Sports Performance (Volleyball, Bowling)), Kristen Brown (Deputy AD- Senior Woman Administrator (Sport Administrator)), and Kate Frazier (Assistant Director of Life Skills (Secondary Sport Administrator)).

    If you've been following along this season, I'm sure you have an idea of how the sport works in the NCAA and the national championships are no different but for those who haven't seen my coverage of some of the earlier games in the season (or the first few rounds of play), let's explain. The NCAA indoor games are played anywhere from 3 to 5 sets. If you win 3 sets, you've won the game but if you lose 3 sets, you've lost the game, and this is the point in the season where if you lose 3 sets, your season is over. The game can last anywhere from 3 to 5 sets, depending on how long it takes one team to win three sets. The first four sets are played first to 25 (which happens very often unless you're Nebraska (sorry A&M) or Kentucky for example) while the fifth set (if needed) is played first to 15. The thing is each set requires a lead of 2 points or more for the set to conclude. With most sets playing to 25, each team is given two timeouts for each set, just like how a timeout works in basketball. Just like in basketball, the NCAA lets teams switch out players up to 15 times each set but with 6 players on the court for each team, the changes need to be smart and strategic. With our explanation over, let's get into today's game from Kentucky as we see who can win their quarterfinal game and move on to the semifinals to play either Pittsburg or Purdue in the semifinals at the T Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri the following weekend.

    With it being the point in the season where if you lose a game, your season is over, every point matters. The first set ended 25-22, in favor of A&M and giving them a 1-0 lead over Nebraska. The second set also ended at 25-22 as well and in favor of A&M, giving them a 2-0 lead over. The third set ended at 25-20, this time in favor of Nebraska and putting them one set behind A&M at 1-2. The fourth set ended at 37-35 (the second highest NCAA score I've seen at the conclusion of any set), in favor of Nebraska and tying it up at 2-2, causing a fifth set to see who moves on. The fifth set ended at 15-13, in favor of A&M and giving them a 3-2 win over Nebraska. This means Nebraska has no chance at competing in Kansas City (a 3-hour drive from Lincoln) and no chance for the national championships after having only one loss this season, since this game was the only game they lost all season long. This means A&M move on to the semifinals the following weekend in Kansas City. At the conclusion of this game, A&M would end with 101 points while Nebraska would only have 89, impressive none the less but not enough to beat A&M and move on to the semifinals.

    Let's see where each team stands when looking at the five stats. These five stats include kills, aces, blocks assists, and digs. The leader in kills goes to A&M's Kyndal Stowers and Harper Murray, each with 25, while A&M's Logan Lednicky is next with 24, and Rebekah Allick is next with 15. The leader in aces goes to A&M's Maddie Waak, with 4, followed by Nebraska's Harper Murray, with 3. A&M's Ifenna Cos-Okpalla and Emily Hellmuth along with Nebraska's Bregen Reilly and Teraya Sigler all had 2 aces of their own. The leaders in blocks are all from A&M. These include Morgan Perkins, with 9, Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, with 8, and Logan Lednicky, with 6. Nebraska was led by Rebekah Allick, with 4, while Bergen Reilly and Virginia Adriano each had 3. The leader in assists goes to A&M's Maddie Waak, with 63, while Nebraska was led by Bergen Reilly, with 58. The leader in digs goes to Kyndal Stowers, with 16, followed by Nebraska's Bergen Reilly and Olivia Mauch, each with 13. Now let's see which athlete has shown up the most out of these five stats we've talked about. That athlete is Nebraskan Setter Bergen Reilly as she showed up in 4 of the 5 talked about stats and ended the game with 2 aces, 3 blocks, 58 assists, and 13 digs. The most mentioned athlete for A&M goes to their Setter, Maddie Waak, as she appeared in 3 of the 5 stats we've talked about. Waak ended the game with 4 aces, 63 assists, and 8 digs. This goes to show you just how much it takes to be a setter.

    With this being the end of Nebraska's season, they would end with a record of 33-1. They won all 30 games of the regular season and the first three rounds of the national championships. With only a few seniors, keeping the same head coach, and nobody transferring from Nebraska to other schools for the 2026 season, keep an eye open for them to return to the national championships come 2026. A&M on the other hand moves on to the semifinals with an updated record of 27-4 as they prepare for the semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri.

Nebraska's Matchday post on their Instagram as they prepare for their final home game of the 2025 season. Follow them over on that platform to see what they're doing this off season: @huskervb

NCAA showing us the results of the match that left so many speechless. Follow the NCAA over on their Instagram to see what everyone's doing this off season: @ncaavolleyball

NCAA letting us know A&M beat Nebraska and is moving on to the semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri

The A&M Aggies move on to Kansas City for a spot in the semifinals

    This concludes the quarterfinals as Nebraska hosts A&M in Lincoln. How do you think A&M will do in their semifinals in Kansas City? Will they move on to the national finals or will their luck run out now that they're the only team to beat Nebraska this season? Stay tuned as I cover the Semifinals and Finals that took place at the T Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri on December 18th and 21st. Do you prefer reading about indoor games or are you more interested in reading about beach volleyball? The spring comes with NCAA having beach volleyball for the ladies and indoor volleyball for the guys. If either of those sports interest you, stay tuned and until next time, Miller out

~J. Miller