Nebraska Finishes Strong to Claim the Spikes Under the Lights Title at AT&T Stadium

Under the bright lights of AT&T Stadium, Nebraska opened a bit slow but saved its best for the final act. 

The top-ranked Huskers eked out a 21-19, 21-17 victory over No. 17 Florida and then dominated No. 11 SMU in the final (21-12, 21-11) to win the Spikes Under the Lights exhibition event Thursday night in Arlington, Texas. 

With the title, the Huskers earned an extra $150,000 for the program on top of the $200,000 that the four participating teams received. 

"Of course there is money on the line, but it meant a lot more than money," NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. "It was a fun way to end a long day."

After the final point, the NU players celebrated with an oversized novelty check before waving to the crowd of an estimated 40,000 fans at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. 

The regular season gets underway Saturday evening for the Huskers against UNLV in Las Vegas. NU then faces No. 2 Texas on Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena. 

Nebraska players celebrate a point scored by Virginia Adriano, right, during their volleyball match against the Florida Gators at AT&T Stadium. Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Here are takeaways from the pair of matches: 

Seeing Red

The event might have felt like a home match, with most of the fans filling AT&T Stadium wearing red and cheering for the Huskers. 

However, NU struggled to adjust to their surroundings. The evening featured lots of Nebraska fans cheering in a fast-paced event. The sets were only played to 21, with each team getting one timeout. 

“It’s definitely a different environment. Everything’s very fast-paced,” NU senior middle blocker Andi said. “There’s a lot happening at once. All the lights, all the fans. But it’s an awesome environment, and it was a super fun game.”

Jackson said it took them a little bit to settle into the environment of the large football stadium. The teams practiced on the court Thursday morning, but the lights were positioned lower for the matches, which made it challenging for setters and passers to pick up the ball. 

She said the magnitude of the event hit her and her teammates during the serve-and-pass practice. 

“Everyone’s jaws were just on the floor. You couldn’t even believe that we get to play in this venue, and it’s so massive, and it’s so cool, and the lights are everywhere,” she said. “We’ve heard about it, and we’ve seen it on social media, but actually being here now, it’s very surreal.”

Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson serves the ball against Florida. The senior middle blocker finished with five kills on seven attacks and three blocks against the Gators. Chris Jones-Imagn ImagesStrong Finish

After a sluggish first match against Florida, the Huskers sat around for an hour while SMU and Penn State were playing, and Julia Cole performed several songs. 

The layoff didn’t appear to have any impact as Nebraska came out on fire against SMU. The Huskers jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first set and were hitting .455 with six kills on 11 swings. Meanwhile, the Mustangs were scuffling with just one kill on 11 attacks and four errors.

The second set started closer, but NU turned an 8-7 advantage into an 18-9 lead before NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly emptied the bench. 

The Huskers hit .339 for the match, with nine players recording a kill. 

Nebraska middle blocker Manaia Ogbechie attacks the ball against the Florida. She finished with three kills, including two for the final points in the first set. Chris Jones-Imagn ImagesStrong Finish x 2

Florida led in both sets before the Huskers closed strong. 

The Gators were up 19-18 in the first set before NU scored the final three points on a service error and two Manaia Ogbechie kills. 

“Being an underclassman and stepping up and doing that with the little experience that she has in those high-pressure moments is so impressive that I’m proud of her,” Jackson said about Ogbechie. “It really shows that she’s really earned the right to be there, and she’s earned that spot. In practice, I see what she can do, so I’m really excited for you guys to see everything that she can do.”

In the second set, Florida was up 13-10 before the Huskers scored five points in a row. The Gators closed to 19-18 before Virginia Adriano notched a kill and Teraya Sigler ended it with an ace. 

Busboom Kelly said in a postgame radio interview that she gave her team a B- grade for the performance. 

Jackson said they stopped having fun during the match while they were struggling and got a little tense. During a challenge, they reminded each other to have more fun on the court and enjoy the experience. 

“It sounds cheesy, but truly, when you’re uptight, it’s really hard to play good volleyball and trust your training,” she said in an interview on TNT. “We went out there, and I looked at (Adriano), and I said, ‘Hey, let’s see a smile.’ Little things like that, having fun, smiling, cheering – it really helps you feel loose and play your best volleyball. We know what we’ve trained for, and we know that we can trust our training. You saw in those last moments it was super smooth, super clean volleyball, and we just trusted each other and trusted our training.”

Outside hitter Teraya Sigler goes up for an attack against Florida. Sigler led NU with 13 kills over the two matches. Chris Jones-Imagn ImagesMore Terminal Pins

If NU wants to improve in any area, it’s getting more kills from its outside hitters. Over the two matches, Sigler led NU with 13 kills and six errors on 33 swings. Harper Murray hit negative in the first match but rebounded for eight kills and six errors on 28 attacks. 

The duo struggled to put away in-system attacks at times and finished with a combined kill percentage of 41.2 percent. 

Everyone Plays

All 16 players saw the court during the two matches. Campbell Flynn and Jayden Robinson got in during a double substitution against Florida while everyone else saw action versus SMU. 

Most of the bench players made the most of their short time on the court. Skyler Pierce recorded three kills on four swings while Kenna Cogill, Keoni Williams and Ryan Hunter all notched a kill on their only attack. 

Penn State outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein tips the ball over the SMU block in a semifinal match at AT&T Stadium. Lauenstein, who began her career at Nebraska, finished with a match-high 12 kills. Chris Jones-Imagn ImagesLethal Lauenstein

Whitney Lauenstein looked impressive in her debut for Penn State. The Waverly graduate spent her first two years with the Huskers before sitting out a year and transferring to Texas. After two seasons with the Longhorns, she was granted a medical hardship for an additional year of eligibility and elected to play for the Nittany Lions. 

After mainly playing opposite for most of her career, Lauenstein started at outside hitter for PSU. She finished with 12 kills, the highest total of anyone in the three matches, while hitting .450. She added three digs and a block. 

It wasn’t enough to power the Nittany Lions to a win as they fell 24-22, 21-18 to SMU.