Nebraska volleyball has already had a full week but it’s not over yet.
The Huskers officially opened the season with a Players Era Showcase title, Bergen Reilly earned Big Ten Setter of the Week and now Nebraska gets another made-for-TV volleyball moment: DePaul at Wintrust Arena on Friday and then Missouri at Wrigley Field on Sunday for the Big Ten/SEC Challenge.
That said, volleyball is not the only thing happening around Nebraska athletics though. Flag football already has a national showcase before its first season, basketball has a date to mark on the calendar, Isabelle Bourne is headed to the World Cup and baseball has its fall schedule set.
Let’s get to it, shall we?
1. Flag football gets a CFP stage
Nebraska flag football will compete in the first College Football Playoff Flag Football Showcase in Las Vegas from Jan. 22-24, 2027.
The event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center during College Football Playoff National Championship week. Nebraska will play in the varsity division with Manhattan University, Eastern Michigan and Cal Poly, while USC, Cal, Oklahoma, UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State are set for the club division.
If it feels like flag football is moving quickly for Nebraska, you wouldn’t be wrong. The Huskers announced women’s flag football in January as the school’s 25th varsity program and originally planned to begin competition in 2028. That timeline has since been moved up to spring 2027.
“Flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and we are excited that our student-athletes will get to participate in this fast-paced sport one year earlier than previously planned,” athletics director Troy Dannen said. “Our coaches have done an outstanding job assembling a talented roster and with the recent change in NCAA rules granting student-athletes five years of eligibility, we determined that we were prepared to play in 2027.”
Worth noting: Nebraska’s first roster includes 16 players from seven states.
2. Basketball gets an Opening Night date
Nebraska basketball season is still a month away but the first public date is now on the calendar. Opening Night is set for Friday, Oct. 2, from 7-8:30 p.m. at the intersection of R Street and Canopy Street (AKA, right outside Pinnacle Bank Arena). The event is free and will include both the men’s and women’s programs, with team introductions, comments from Fred Hoiberg and Amy Williams, player remarks, contests and autographs.
The Husker men are coming off a 28-7 season and the program’s first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. Pryce Sandfort is back after averaging 18.1 points and setting Nebraska’s single-season 3-point record. Braden Frager also returns after earning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year honors.
The women are chasing a fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance with Britt Prince back after a freshman season in which she led Nebraska in points, assists and steals. Amiah Hargrove, Logan Nissley and Natalie Potts give the Huskers more proven pieces, and Ashlyn Koupal arrives as the first McDonald’s High School All-American in program history.
3. Isabelle Bourne is on the World Cup stage
Former Husker Isabelle Bourne will represent Australia at the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin. Bourne, who played at Nebraska from 2019-20 through 2022-23, was added to the Opals’ roster as they enter the tournament ranked No. 2. Australia opens Group C play against Puerto Rico on Friday, then faces Turkiye on Sunday and Belgium on Monday.
For Nebraska fans, this is another chance to follow one of Williams’ former players on a major international stage. Bourne was a three-time honorable-mention All-Big Ten selection and three-time captain as a Husker, finishing her Nebraska career with 1,221 points and 648 rebounds. She has continued to build from there.
Bourne helped Australia win the FIBA Asia Cup in 2025, averaging 6.8 points and 3.2 rebounds off the bench as the Opals went 5-0. She also averaged 16.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the Southside Flyers in Australia’s WNBL last season.
Next up, she will join the Sydney Flames, where she will reunite with former Husker teammate Jaz Shelley.
4. Baseball has its fall schedule
Nebraska baseball released its fall schedule this week and there are a few dates worth keeping note of.
The Huskers will travel to Wichita State on Saturday, Sept. 26, then host Creighton on Friday, Oct. 9. After that, Nebraska will hold its annual Red-White Series from Oct. 13-15 at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.
Start times for the Red-White Series are still to be announced, but the Creighton exhibition and the Red-White games will be free and open to the public.
5. Bergen Reilly honored before another big volleyball weekend
Bergen Reilly was named Big Ten Setter of the Week on Monday after helping Nebraska sweep UNLV and No. 2 Texas at the Players Era Showcase.
Reilly was also named MVP of the event and it was not hard to see why. She set Nebraska to a .315 hitting percentage over the weekend and helped change the Texas match from the service line, where her 10-0 run in the first set put the Longhorns in a hole they never really escaped.
Against UNLV, Reilly had 32 assists, 10 digs, five kills, three blocks and an ace. Against Texas, she added 30 assists, five digs, two kills, two aces and a block.
It was her 14th career Big Ten Setter of the Week honor.
Now Nebraska’s road swing continues. The Huskers play at DePaul on Friday at 5 p.m. on FS1, then face Missouri at Wrigley Field on Sunday at 8 p.m. on FOX.
The Wrigley match is the obvious attention-grabber but both matches say something. Since Volleyball Day in Nebraska in 2023, the Huskers have kept showing up in professional venues. This weekend they add Wintrust Arena and Wrigley Field to the list.
Nebraska is also still No. 1 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, with 57 first-place votes. It is the Huskers’ 125th week all-time at No. 1, the most of any program nationally.
Through three matches, Nebraska has held opponents to an .068 hitting percentage, which ranks fourth nationally and first in the Big Ten. The Huskers have also been excellent once they get to 20 points first, going 105-0 in sets under Dani Busboom Kelly when reaching the red zone first.
That is a bit of a ridiculous number. It also says a lot about how quickly Nebraska can close when it gets control of a set.