The first of potentially multiple banners can be ordered to fly at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
With a sweep against Iowa (14-15) on Thursday night, top-ranked Nebraska (27-0) has earned a share of the Big Ten title in 2025, the sixth time that the Huskers have won the conference. It can be won outright coming up Saturday evening when they go against the Indiana Hoosiers.
This is the first time that Nebraska has three-peated at the top of their conference since its Big 12 days, winning five straight titles from 2004 to 2008.
8,662 people packed John Cook Arena for the 350th consecutive sellout, watching the Huskers win in straight sets 25-15, 25-21, 25-18.
Here are some quick hits following Thursday’s contest.
Adriano’s serve has lots of potential
Seldom this season have we seen much of freshman opposite hitter Virginia Adriano behind the service line. In a series that Nebraska has historically dominated, it opted to try out a few different things that it normally might not. That included putting Adriano behind the service line.
No float serves came from Adriano, but the line-drive swats prompted plenty of oohs and ahhs from the crowd. She picked up three aces on the night, leading all players, but also had four service errors.
“I’ve been working really hard on [my serve],” Adriano said postgame. “The coaches were trying to be like, just go for it, try your best, and not be scared.”
Nearly all of the Huskers’ servers primarily showcase a float serve. Only junior outside hitter Harper Murray has made a public jump-serve, which happened at the Husker Games in April against Kansas. Adriano’s serve is extremely powerful, and it earned her six service points with Bergamo last season.
With as many talented servers as Nebraska possesses, everyone has been given opportunities to get bites at the apple. Subtle changes in the serve rotation were seldom seen under former head coach John Cook, but current head coach Dani Busboom Kelly has been making it a point to get new faces behind the line.
“I felt like [Adriano] wasn’t as confident before, but today in practice, she was really going for it,” Busboom Kelly said postgame. “Then it was like, let’s see if she can get it going tonight.”
Service errors bite again
For the fourth time in the last five games, the service error bug bit the Huskers.
Ten service errors were recorded in today’s game by Nebraska, their most since they had 12 in a five-setter against Creighton two months ago. It is their most errors in a three-set match all season, with the next highest being seven (happened seven times this year).
The Huskers went with an aggressive approach to their serve game, especially because all three of the front-line players could make an impact play, no matter who was there.
“We are always looking at ways to improve our serving,” Busboom Kelly said postgame.
The aggressiveness helped lead to six team aces, the highest mark since they got six against Northwestern about a month ago. Aces have not been a key part of Nebraska’s game this year, but it has to be something that all teams need to be good at to help prompt a deep postseason run.
Defense steps to the forefront
Uncharacteristic of their typical defensive prowess, the Huskers’ recent three-school road trip did not bring their typical show-stopping defense with them. For just the second and third time this season, Nebraska allowed an opponent to hit above .200, with Minnesota posting a season-high .268 hitting percentage on the Huskers’ defense. They also allowed 55 kills to UCLA, the second highest of the year, to Kentucky’s 59 in the fourth game of 2025.
Thursday brought some familiarity back to the team as the defense posted a bounce-back, stellar performance. Iowa hit .073 against the Huskers Thursday night, the lowest an opponent has hit since Rutgers’ .061 rate back on October 4.
Blocks, passes and stifling attacks helped keep the Hawkeyes off guard, but junior middle blocker Andi Jackson credits it to the little things.
“We’ve worked really hard on our ball control this season,” Jackson said postgame. “It’s about controlling the things that we know how to control.”
As simple as it might sound, the little things can make or break a game, and potentially a season when it gets boiled down to the purest of forms.
Celebration will wait
Nebraska did get a share of the Big Ten title on Thursday, but the celebrations were nowhere to be found. More so, the internal victories about being able to call themselves Big Ten champs do go a long way.
“The Big Ten is not easy to win,” Jackson said. “We want to celebrate it for what it is, but then also understand that we’re not done yet, and there’s still a long journey ahead of us.”
There are still three tough games left to go, and one more road trip to make. A quick turnaround will take the Huskers to Bloomington on Saturday to take on the 17th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, and then a back-to-back over Thanksgiving weekend with Penn State and Ohio State. A celebration is more likely to come after the outright is clinched.
“We’re going to be focused on what’s next,” Jackson said.
Winning the conference is no slouch, however. Busboom Kelly recognizes how difficult the conference is and how great you have to play for over two months to rise to the top. Nebraska has bigger goals in mind, but a Big Ten banner is still a big first step.
“[This group] is maybe not as excited as they have been in the past, but it’s a huge accomplishment,” Busboom Kelly said. “I’m proud of this group to continue what they started, and I’m proud that I got to be a part of what they started.”