Friday Five: Nebraska Volleyball at No. 1, Red-White weekend and more

The sports drought has ended. Buckle up.

Photo courtesy Nebraska Athletics

The sports drought has ended.

We’ve hit that point on the calendar where it feels like every Husker sport is doing something. Volleyball opens its season with the Red-White Scrimmage, soccer continues its preseason, football’s grinding through Week 2 of camp and there’s even baseball coaching news in August.

Before the weekend officially takes over, here’s what’s happening.

Nebraska volleyball opens at No. 1

Dani Busboom Kelly’s first match of the fall as Nebraska’s head coach will also be her first as the coach of the No. 1-ranked team in the country.

The Huskers topped the AVCA preseason coaches poll released Wednesday, earning 40 first-place votes and 1,490 points. Penn State was second with 21 first-place votes and 1,459 points, followed by Pittsburgh, Louisville and Texas.

It’s the program’s 109th week all-time at No. 1 in the poll, which is the most of any school. The last time Nebraska opened a season at No. 1 was 2022.

The schedule won’t wait for anyone to get comfortable. Nebraska plays No. 3 Pitt on Aug. 22 and No. 6 Stanford on Aug. 24 as part of the AVCA First Serve at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Six of the Huskers’ 12 matches against ranked opponents this season are against teams in the top 10.

Busboom Kelly isn’t surprised by the ranking or the expectations that come with it.

“I’m not surprised. I get a vote, and I voted ourselves No. 1. I think we’re pretty talented,” she said. “We’re going to talk about that and talk about what it means to be No. 1, but we’re not going to dwell on that or talk about it for more than about 10 minutes.”

She’s a week into official practices and likes what she’s seeing:

“We’re very talented and a super-fun group,” she said. “They really show every day that they No. 1 love volleyball, and No. 2 want to win… It’s really hard to think of a glaring weakness.”

That’s not to say Nebraska can coast. Busboom Kelly pointed to a hungry mindset after back-to-back semifinal losses.

“Everything is a competition…” she said. “Just the attention to detail is the sign of a very hungry team.”

Red-White Scrimmage and Fan Day on Saturday

The annual Red-White Scrimmage is set for 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday at the Bob Devaney SportsCenter and will be televised on Nebraska Public Media. The Huskers will celebrate their 2024 Big Ten Championship before the first serve.

At least four sets will be played with five-minute intermissions.

Volleyball Fan Day runs from 9–11 a.m. on the concourse before the match, with players signing one item per person. Tickets were free but sold out in advance, and this year’s event requires a mobile ticket for entry.

Parking is free for Fan Day but must be cleared between events. Paid parking is available for the scrimmage.

Nebraska comes into the weekend off a 33-3 season, a Big Ten title and another Final Four run. The program will also be looking to become the first in Division I to reach 1,500 all-time wins when the regular season begins.

Baseball adds Kyle Nicholson to player development role

Baseball coach Will Bolt hired Kyle Nicholson as Nebraska’s director of player development this week. Nicholson spent last season as the pitching coach at Mercyhurst and the three years before that at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, helping guide IUP to its best season in school history in 2024 (41 wins and a trip to the Division II College World Series semifinals).

Nicholson has also coached at the high school level, been a graduate assistant at Texas A&M and pitched four years for the Aggies. In 2007, he was an All-American and National Pitcher of the Year finalist, then a seventh-round pick of the San Francisco Giants.

Soccer hosts Colorado State in preseason play

Nebraska wraps up its exhibition schedule Friday night at Hibner Stadium against Colorado State. Kickoff is 7 p.m. and admission is free.

The Huskers tied South Dakota State 0-0 in their first exhibition earlier this week, outshooting the Jackrabbits 16-5.

Regular-season play starts Aug. 14 at home against Southern Indiana. Nebraska will host 11 regular-season matches this fall, including Big Ten games against Minnesota and Penn State that will air on BTN. All other home and conference matches will stream on B1G+.

Coach John Walker returns for his 32nd season, leading a roster that returns 10 letterwinners and adds 15 newcomers. Sixth-year midfielder Reagan Raabe is back after injuries in 2023 and 2024. Goalkeeper Cece Villa, who ranked second in the Big Ten in saves last season, also returns.

John Cook’s next chapter: pro volleyball

John Cook hasn’t been retired from Nebraska all that long but his next move is already official.

The former Husker coach is now co-owner and general manager of the Omaha Supernovas, who will compete in Major League Volleyball (MLV) starting in 2026. Omaha played the past two seasons in the Professional Volleyball Federation before that league merged into MLV.

“After more than 30 years of coaching, I knew I wanted the next chapter to be just as impactful…” Cook said in a statement. “I’ve spent my career helping grow the game at the college level, and now I have the chance to take that knowledge and apply it in a new way, with the world’s leading professional volleyball franchise.”

The Supernovas have been a force for professional volleyball’s growth in the U.S., regularly breaking their own attendance records. They averaged 10,935 fans per home match in 2025, with the current record at 13,486.

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That’s a lot, huh? Well, how about this for a little football: coach Matt Rhule and his group will hit the practice field for its first major scrimmage of fall camp this weekend. We’ll hear from Rhule after that session. 

Before then, Friday brings a media availability with athletic director Troy Dannen and post-practice football interviews with quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas, linebackers coach Rob Dvoracek and selected players.

August just showed up and it’s already crowded.