No. 6 Stanford ‘Not Surprised’ by Nebraska’s Dominating Sweep

Earning a preseason No. 1 ranking isn’t something new to Nebraska. Neither is starting the year at home for an AVCA event, which in this case is the 2025 AVCA First Serve Showcase.

What is a bit new is the level of competition Nebraska faced out of the gate. After disposing of No. 3 Pittsburgh in four sets Friday night, the Huskers absolutely trounced a No. 6 Stanford team that was fresh off a 3-1 win of their own over No. 16 Florida. Nebraska swept the Cardinal 25-13, 25-19, 25-14.

“It’s not a surprise to us,” Stanford coach Kevin Hambly admitted during his post-match press conference. “Of course, we would have liked to have kept the score closer, but I thought we fought hard the whole time and tried to do some different things. Even when we had some success, they found ways to expose us.”

Nebraska did it all in this match, and it truly did show that even fellow top-10 teams aren’t stacking up to the Huskers right now. Nebraska combined for a team hitting percentage of .385 while holding Stanford to .094 — safe to say the block was working for Nebraska Sunday.

To add salt to the wound, Nebraska had three players record double-digit kills, with Allie Sczech leading the way with 12, followed by Rebekah Allick with 11 and Harper Murray with 10. Nebraska’s attack was spread out and multifaceted, while Stanford didn’t have a player reach double-digit kills in the match. Elia Rubin led all Cardinal with eight.

“There’s a reason why Nebraska’s No. 1 in the country,” Hambly said. “They have so much returning and can execute at a high level — especially with how much this core group has been together. They certainly showed that tonight.”

What stood out most in a Stanford press conference that didn’t top the five-minute mark is the sentiment that Nebraska may be in a league of its own to start the year. If wins over No. 3 and No. 6 don’t suffice for you, Hambly said you can simply see it by analyzing the other top teams around the Big Red.

“Overall, we were playing two different teams,” Hambly said of his team’s matches against Florida and Nebraska. “Florida’s trying to figure out who they are as well. That match was pretty sloppy. This match (against Nebraska) was just sloppy on one side of the net.”

For the second-straight match, Nebraska’s opponent also pointed to the atmosphere as being a key contributor to their overall experience. Of course, the large fan base of the Huskers can be intimidating — Hambly said as much when admitting that his setters were a bit anxious trying to keep up with Nebraska’s tempo in the big-time match.

However, the electric atmosphere in Pinnacle Bank Arena gave the Cardinal a chance to get a glimpse of what they again hope to see at the end of the season. The passion of Nebraska’s fan base and the backdrop provided in Lincoln gave all of the visiting teams a valuable experience, regardless of what the end result of the match was.

“It was an incredible environment in there,” Hambly said. “The crowd, of course, was amazing. It’s one of the best events we’ve ever been to. It was just really cool to be a part of it, and we feel very fortunate despite the result of this match. It was good to get our athletes in a match like this to get some exposure.”

There’s not much higher praise that can come from an opposing coach, let alone two coaches of top-10 teams in the matter of three days. Up next, Nebraska will hit the road for the first time all season for the LUV Invitational in Nashville, Tenn. On Friday, Aug. 29, the Huskers will square off with Lipscomb. Then, it’s another top-10 showdown as Nebraska takes on No. 7 Kentucky in an early match at 11 a.m. CDT Sunday, Aug. 31.

For Nebraska and first-year coach Dani Busboom Kelly, it’s easy to play lights out when you have tens of thousands of Husker fans to cheer you on at home. Now, they’re heading to an outside arena that will certainly showcase a different feel than they’ve had to start the year to this point.

However, if Nebraska can come out and make Lipscomb and Kentucky look like JV squads, then it might suggest the Huskers are ahead of schedule in replacing legendary coach John Cook and seeking the team’s next national championship.

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