Nebraska’s Defense Steals the Show at Red-White Scrimmage

LINCOLN — Manaia Ogbechie is rarely at a loss for words. 

However, after learning she finished with 13 blocks in Sunday’s Red-White Scrimmage, the sophomore middle blocker needed a second to wrap her mind around that stat line. 

“Oh my goodness! I didn’t even know that,” Ogbechie said. “Well, first of all, I did not. I did not know 13. I really feel like the only team that could hit up. Let me restart. I feel like -- sorry. I’m just shocked.”

Defense dominated the match as the Red Team earned a 27-25, 25-21, 25-19, 17-25 victory in front of 10,753 fans Sunday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena. 

Ogbechie was the star of the show, easily exceeding her season high of eight blocks against Rutgers last year. During one stretch in the second set, she recorded block assists on four straight rallies against three different attackers. Harper Murray assisted on two of those blocks and Virginia Adriano was in on the other two. Five points later, Ogbechie added one more block for good measure. 

The Huskers watch the pregame video before the Red-White scrimmage at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The match attracted a crowd of 10,753 fans Sunday afternoon. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Red Team, which was set by Bergen Reilly, finished with a .121 hitting percentage. Campbell Flynn ran the offense for the White Team, which hit .023 for the match. The teams combined for 29 total blocks. 

“I feel like the only team that could hold us down to whatever percentage we had today is ourselves,” Ogbechie said once she collected her thoughts. “Maybe the blocking number was great, but it’s because those are my teammates. I know them very well. I know what they like to do. I know what they like to hit. So, it wasn’t all me.”

Reilly said she wasn’t concerned by all the errors in the match. Instead, she said they made progress in out-of-system attacking and translating other areas they’ve been working on in practice to a match-like environment. 

“We know it’s really hard to kill balls in our gym, and especially when we’ve been practicing together for seven months, everyone kind of knows each other’s tendencies,” she said. “We knew like no team was gonna be hitting .300 today, and if they were, that’s more of a problem than if a team’s hitting what they were.”

Sophomore middle blocker goes up for an attack in the Red-White scrimmage. She finished with five kills and eight blocks. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said that at this point of the preseason, the defense is further along than the offense. She isn’t concerned with the lack of efficiency from the attack. Red-White matches can be tough to evaluate, and she was impressed with how well the middle blockers played, especially Ogbechie and sophomore Kenna Cogill, who posted eight stuffs. 

Busboom Kelly said Ogbechie and Cogill were learning on the fly most of last season after arriving on campus during the summer. Now with a year and a half in the program, they are much more comfortable and showing their potential. 

“The middles are just touching everything, which makes it very difficult because we’ve always had an awesome back row,” Busboom Kelly said. “Now the middles are being more effective, and the back row is scooping up the ones that get by them. I hope it’s very hard to get a kill in our gym, and I hope it’s more because of that and not because we can’t get kills.”

Opposite Virginia Adriano and outside hitter Teraya Sigler led the Huskers with 11 kills over the four sets. Skyler Pierce added 10, but NU’s outside hitters struggled for most of the match as they combined for 37 kills and 31 errors. 

Laney Choboy and Olivia Mauch each played libero for their respective teams. Choboy finished with 16 digs, eight assists and two aces, while Mauch added 14 digs, three assists and an ace.

Here are other takeaways from the scrimmage: 

No Nerves Necessary 

The three freshmen making their home debut looked like they belonged for most of the match. 

Outside hitter Jayden Robinson posted seven kills on a .222 hitting percentage, the best for an NU attacker. Gabby DiVita mainly played back row for Robinson and tallied a kill, an ace and two digs. Middle blocker Keoni Williams put up three kills on eight swings and was the only player not to commit a hitting error, to go with three blocks. 

Robinson said she felt prepared to play in front of 10,000-plus Nebraska fans after performing in front of several sold-out crowds in the spring. 

“It’s great, but on another side, we’re like trying to play the game,” she said. “For me, I like to cut out the crowd and just play my game.”

Setter Campbell Flynn, center, celebrates with her teammates, including Andi Jackson, after a point for the White Team. NU Dani Busboom Kelly said Flynn might have been a little nervous for the match since she has something to prove as a sophomore. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Busboom Kelly agreed with the assessment that the freshmen were calm and ready for the scrimmage. Instead, she said a couple of sophomores might have been a little more nervy. 

”There were other players -- Teaya, she’s being asked and been talked about in the media a lot, and Campbell -- that are really hoping to showcase their improvement in front of fans,” she said. “They might have been a little more nervous, and the freshmen are like, ‘Yay, we’re happy to be here.’ Those guys are like, they have something to prove coming into their sophomore year.”

Serving Progresss

One of Nebraska’s biggest offseason emphases was serving tougher. The Huskers showed signs of improvement as they racked up 13 aces, including two from Andi Jackson on back-to-back serves. Reilly also showed off a new serve that proved to be difficult to handle at times. 

With tougher serving comes more errors, as the Huskers combined for 22 over the four sets, but Reilly wasn’t concerned about the increase in misses. 

“With more tough serving is going to come more errors, and we’re going to have to accept that,” she said. “Overall, it felt like no team was ever in a super great rhythm because our serving was tough, so I thinkit’ss definitely better than where it is, and we still have room to grow too.”

New Grades

With the five-for-five rule change, Nebraska has removed the redshirt designation and updated the classes on the roster. The change impacts four players: Keri Leimbach is now a sophomore; sophomore Kenna Cogill, sophomore Ryan Hunter and junior Skyler Pierce. 

Virginia Adriano is listed as a sophomore but has only two years of eligibility left, according to Busboom Kelly.

Several recruits are at the Red-White scrimmage: 2027 setter Malorie Boesiger, 2028 setter Josalyn Samuels and 2028 middle blocker Shayla Rautenberg.

They are joined by Leilani Slacanin, a 2028 6-4 outside hitter from Germany. Her mother is former Hawai NPOY Teee Williams. pic.twitter.com/A1P14PasCt

— Lincoln Arneal (@Lincoln_VB) August 16, 2026Commits in the Crowd

Nebraska welcomed three current commits for the scrimmage on Sunday. Setter Malorie Boesiger of Norris (Class of 2027), setter Josalyn Samuels from Harrisburg, South Dakota (’28) and middle blocker Shayla Rautenberg from Milford (’28) sat on the bench. 

They were joined by Leilani Slacanin, an uncommitted 2028 prospect, a 6-foot-4 outside hitter from Germany. She has played professionally in Germany since she was 13 and has impressive bloodlines. Her mother is former Teee Williams, a two-time National Player of the Year winner at Hawaii and a member of the 1992 and 1996 United States Olympic teams.

Film Review

Busboom Kelly said she was looking forward to watching the scrimmage film, not just to break down her team’s performance but to listen to the commentary. Former Husker Allie Sczech, who played for Busboom Kelly last year, made her broadcasting debut with Larry Punteney for Nebraska Public Media. 

“She came here to get a master’s in journalism and to use Nebraska as a catalyst. So it’s awesome to see her taking advantage of that,” Busboom Kelly said. “I’m sure she did great. She’s smart and has a great voice, and I’m excited to watch, mainly to listen to her, not necessarily to watch what we did.”

Teraya Sigler is mobbed by her teammates after she was announced as the Lifter of the Year for the Huskers. | Kenny Larabee, KLINStrong Sigler

After the first set, Sigler was recognized as Nebraska’s Lifter of the Year. New Director of Volleyball Player Performance and Development Sean Smith gave her the award. Her teammates voted on the honor, and Sigler joyously ran out to center court to receive the trophy. 

Even though Busboom Kelly isn’t around for summer workouts, she can see the results this fall. 

“You can see her jumps improve. She’s healthy. She’s physical,” she said. “She not only works to lift hard, but she also is into her nutrition and sleep and doing yoga and doing things that will keep her healthy.”