BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAYS

August 3, 2026

Dani Busboom-Kelly

Bergen Reilly

Andi Jackson

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Press Conference

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: Honestly, just a huge honor to be here and thankful to the Big Ten for continuing to lead the way for women's volleyball and making it a big deal for our sport. It's been an awesome day and really fun. And just highlighting all the amazing players and coaches in this conference is neat to see.

Q. Bergen, Andi, how do you think playing in Memorial Stadium your freshman year has prepared you for the (indiscernible) and Wrigley?

BERGEN REILLY: I think it's really cool to have that opportunity under our belts, but you never know what the weather could bring, what it's going to look like. But yeah, I mean playing in that kind of environment, it's definitely something that you don't get to play in every day.

So not being completely new to it will help, but it's also been a while, and I don't think that playing in front of that many people will ever get easier.

So we've got to hope for some good weather so that will help out. But it will be really fun. We're all really excited. And it feels almost a little full circle of we got to play Memorial freshman year. Now senior year getting to play another kind of stadium game.

ANDI JACKSON: I think it also helps that we play beach January through March. So hopefully when there's a good side and a bad side, we can play into that a little bit and have some beach knowledge to our advantage.

Q. (Off microphone)

BERGEN REILLY: Not at all. I think it's really cool to see that Sioux Falls and South Dakota as a whole is growing in the volleyball aspect. Growing up, it kind of felt like we were pretty behind in that part of the world. And so getting to see just the growth -- and I think they kind of try and model Nebraska a little bit.

Nebraska has such a great club in high school and youth system. And South Dakota has done a great job of just finding ways to help volleyball grow. And we have such great facilities there that put on really great shows for volleyball games, too.

Q. (Off microphone)?

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: Yeah, we're excited. I think our nonconference schedule is a mix of locations and opponents. When we decided to play South Dakota State, we didn't have all these other games scheduled. So it really got jammed in there.

It's going to still be a great game. They're a great program. I know they have a great coach, and definitely an area where we recruit a lot out of. And it's always great to go up there.

Q. I'm sure this is something that frequently comes up, but playing, being three straight Big Ten champions, having that target on your back, how does that fuel and motivate when you take on any opponent in the Big Ten?

ANDI JACKSON: The pressure is definitely there. But I think we've earned the right to be in that position, and we've worked really hard these last three seasons. And we know what it takes to win a Big Ten Championship. It's not easy. You know it's a really tough volleyball conference and every game is going to be a dogfight.

Going into this season, we know what it takes. And we're not gonna back down. We know that we have a target on our back, and a lot of people want to beat Nebraska. That's very valid. We've won the last three. So we are not gonna get complacent. We know that it's not gonna come easy, but it's definitely our goal to go 4-for-4.

Q. Talk about pressure. Nebraska volleyball, what does that do for you and how does that translate into your players, because obviously they're so used to that. But how do you use that as an advantage pressure being the top of the heap in volleyball?

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: It's certainly a driving force and the way we play and practice and go about everything that we do on a daily basis because you take a day off or reps off, it's eventually going to catch you.

And when something catches us at Nebraska, everybody notices. And we have to be prepared for that. We have to continue to work to combat getting complacent and letting that pressure hurt us.

But for me, personally, I really want to model what I want my players to feel and how I want them to act. And so just making sure that we continue to enjoy the journey. We love volleyball. I've talked about to a lot of recruits, I want players that love the game. So that doesn't matter if you're playing in front of zero people or 92,000. I want us to play with the same type of joy.

And I want to come into the gym every day, practice or competition, in a consistent manner where they can feel that.

I also think reminding them we're just more than just volleyball players and putting my money where my mouth is, is that the saying, where I tell them when I have things to do with my family or when we need to take days off for personal things, like, that's okay. And usually that just makes us stronger.

Q. Big-picture question, what do you see being the next step in the growing of volleyball?

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: I don't know. It feels like every time you think that, oh, maybe we've done it all, something else comes up, something bigger. I do think we still have room to grow in terms of media coverage when it comes to TV games and on big networks, not just the conference networks. Like, how many can we get on Big Ten networks?

And then you've seen it a little bit with some of the events we're playing in, but are these events paying money to not only players but also athletic departments and funding the trips to get there and all that? And there's a few, but I think there's room to grow, as you've seen in men's basketball and women's basketball.

So it's pretty neat though to see the foundation of that being laid and companies willing to put themselves on the line to help our sport. And then typically it pays off for them. So hopefully we continue to see more growth in those areas.

Q. (Off microphone)

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: It really depends and it varies. It's hard to go on the road in some capacities for us because our home atmosphere, number one, is great, but it makes money for the university. So we have to evaluate what that looks like. But also we want to put our players in tough situations. We can't just play every nonconference game at home. We want to have some experience going on the road.

We look at where our players are from. Does it get them closer to their hometowns? Where are we recruiting from where recruits could come from watch us? And, of course, who the opponents are certainly matters.

We want to make sure again we have a balance of -- I don't want to play the top 1 through 10 teams in the country to start the season. I want to be able to have different types of challenges throughout the nonconference.

I'd say it really varies from year to year. And, yes, a lot of programs want us to come. And I get pitches all the time from schools of, you need to come here because Andi Jackson, let's get her home to Colorado.

ANDI JACKSON: Why haven't we? (Laughter). Go, Buffs.

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: And it's cool, though. We're playing DePaul here, and I'm friends with Marie, the head coach at DePaul. She's, like, this is a big deal, you guys coming. So when I can also help out a colleague and somebody I really respect and give their program a boost, that's a pretty fun reason to come somewhere as well.

Q. (Off microphone)

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: I feel I touched on it a little bit already. Making sure we're really thoughtful about days off, about having honest conversations about what we need. And one of my biggest pillars of my coaching style is being collaborative. I want input from my staff and players. I take that to heart.

And I think our players, they trust me enough, especially now going into year two, to say how they really feel and think. And then typically we can come to some sort of agreement from experience as a coach what works best or what worked best in the past, versus what they need and what they feel like they need.

So I think collaboration is very, very key when it comes to a long season. And the season's longer than it's ever been this year, but I think that's a good thing. I don't know if these ladies have anything else to add.

BERGEN REILLY: I agree. I feel like Dani really does value our input. And that's a really cool thing about just our program as a whole. You can tell she values the input of the other coaches and us players.

It doesn't even have to be me and Andi. It can be anyone on the team, and she's not going to say, hey, if we're tired, she's not going to say, well, you want a day off. Because we do have that relationship with her, that if we go and we feel like our bodies need a little bit of a break or a lighter practice or whatever, she knows that we means that. And it's really a two-way line of communication that comes from a lot of trust and respect off the court, too.

ANDI JACKSON: I think Dani also does a really good job of making practices fun. I said it last year when we first started working with her. But I feel like there's a fine line between having fun and not being productive. But I feel like at every single practice we can really be ourselves and have fun and laugh and make jokes as a team and even with the coaches.

But we get so much done in that timeframe that it doesn't even really feel like work sometimes. I mean, you're dripping in sweat and you worked hard but you had so much fun. So I think to your point about having anything left in the tank, that's probably why, because it doesn't feel like a job when you have to go to practice even though you're on week seven of the Big Ten because we're still having fun.

Q. (Indiscernible). How do you see your role?

BERGEN REILLY: For sure. It's been so cool to see the progression even from like our freshman year to now. I think freshman year we were selling out places, people wanted to come see. But now it's, like, coast to coast, we have people lining up at our bus and just coming to our hotels to see us, which can get to be a lot sometimes.

But when you take a step back and really see the impact that we have on the sport and on women's sports in general, and on so many young girls, it's all worth it. And it really helps us through those times when we're getting to the hard part of the season. It's getting to be a long season. And we can kind of step back and see, like, hey, we're doing this for all those little girls, for all the people across Nebraska and across the nation and now across the world that are watching us.

And Andi mentioned it in another press conference, like, we want to put on a show for everyone. And it might be someone's first time at a Nebraska game. And, yeah, we might be tired, it might have been a long game the night before. But it could be their first time, so let's go out and give them a show.

ANDI JACKSON: That was beautiful.

Q. (Off microphone)

BERGEN REILLY: Our team is full of some of the best players in the country, whether they're on the court or not. And I think -- I don't necessarily think we have specific conversations about that, but it's just really having those relationships off the court that, hey, maybe I'm not playing but I want the best for the person that is playing in front of me. So I'm going to help them out anyway I can on the bench. I'm going to tell them what I see and communicate with them during timeouts.

And, yeah, I don't know if it's necessarily like specific conversations about that, but just a lot of putting in the work to have that chemistry off the court. And then it really translates on the court when you just want the best for all of your best friends.

ANDI JACKSON: Going off that, how Bergen talked about relationships, when I was going through my recruiting process, my coach, Craig, that was helping me, he asked me, if you weren't playing, would you still want to go to that school.

That's something that really stuck with me because whether I'm playing super well or I'm not playing, I just know that I love Nebraska and I love my teammates. And if volleyball got taken away from me tomorrow, I would still love being at the University of Nebraska. We're so well supported. And I have such a strong support system around me and I really try to relay to the other players in just building those relationships with them.

And really taking volleyball out of the picture, making them feel at home off the court and outside of the Bob, and just if that explains it well, just like making them feel like it's home, whether they have volleyball or not.

Q. (Off microphone)

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: Yeah, it's great. I do think the whole (indiscernible), including the students, is eventually going to benefit everybody, and it's going to make the atmosphere even better.

I think it's great that maybe different people get to come to our matches, especially students that you don't have to buy the whole season. And I think it's awesome that we can go out on a limb and do that because we know it's still going to sell out even if it's not the same people every single game.

Q. (Off microphone)?

BERGEN REILLY: I feel it looks still similar. It still feels like home. I feel like I have a new appreciation for it after being in a different venue for the last eight months. And we were very lucky with where we were at.

But I feel like it's just a new appreciation, and it was already the best venue in the world, and I think it's just even better now.

But in general, I feel like it looks pretty similar. It's very tall. I mean, they took out all the standing rooms. It's just like, wow, that's a lot of seats. But it's still feels like home.

ANDI JACKSON: Yeah, it looks awesome so far, so I can't wait for people to see it because it's pretty cool.

Q. (Off microphone)

ANDI JACKSON: As for the team, I think we just want to be really confident in no matter how the season ends, knowing that we left it all out there, and we really want to leave the season with no regrets. It's not to say we have in the past.

But we just want to know that we didn't miss the mark on anything. We were intentional with everything that we did, whether that was in school, in lift, on the court, in practice, we just want to know that we did everything that was in our control and whatever happens out of our control is out of our control.

So for the team, I would say that, just being really confident in who we are and how hard we worked and really trusting our training.

For myself personally my 2026 resolution was to have the most fun year ever at Nebraska, both on and off the court. It's really easy, because I always have fun on the court. I have so much fun with my team. They're awesome. They make it so easy.

Then off the court, just really deepening my relationships with my teammates and really putting myself out there, hanging out, exploring Lincoln a little bit more. I've not been too good about that in my four years here. So seeing all that Lincoln has to offer.

BERGEN REILLY: I would say as a team one of the main things that we're talking about right now is serving and being the best serving team in the country. I think we're usually pretty good at offense, usually pretty good at defense, but how can we find a way to impact the other team with our serves and maybe just get a couple of easy points off of some aces? So I think that's been a really big focus just in practice here at the beginning.

But personal goals, I think, I think just coming in every day with something to prove and it can feel like you get to the top of your game. You're an All-American. It feels like there's no more room to grow. But coming in every day knowing there's things that I can get better at today, and how can I really hone in on maybe one thing a day and figuring out how I can get better at that each day. Really just coming in and realizing that we want to finish the job this year.

Q. (Off microphone)

BERGEN REILLY: I would tell myself how fast it goes. I still vividly remember moving into the dorms and I feel like it literally could have been like this year's spring semester so I would just tell myself to soak it all in and realize that there's gonna be a lot of hard days but some of those like make the best memories of just getting to hang out with teammates after those hard practices or leaning on each other and creating those bonds and just all the relationships that I've made over the last four years at Nebraska, because I've been through the highs and lows with those people has been such a special feeling.

So I would say just like embracing that and knowing that it's gonna go so fast so don't take a moment for granted even if it feels hard or you don't want to be there in the moment.

ANDI JACKSON: Exact same thing for me too. I would just tell myself to trust in the process and when things get hard, it's all for a reason and to just really soak it up because it does go by fast.

You're growing, you're maturing. One thing that I would tell myself to do is to get more engaged with on-campus activities. It's one of my regrets of not doing when I first got here, and now I'm running out of time.

But UNL and a lot of big universities, they offer so much for students and I really regret not getting more engaged with those and meeting more people and networking a little bit more at those events. That's what I would tell myself is don't be so shy.

Q. (Off microphone)?

ANDI JACKSON: There's some days where it makes me want to rip my own hair out, but then there's some days where it's super fun and awesome. So just getting more consistent with it because, yes, I would love the opportunity to do it this season.

Dani's the coach, so she has the call. But I'm working really hard on it, and it's been, I would say, pretty good so far. But, yeah, just getting more consistent within feeling it out more.

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: I would say no. We have a long ways to go. Not even close.

Q. Can you talk about the student section?

BERGEN REILLY: Yeah, I think it's going to be so fun. I think it will make the atmosphere so much better, just having them all together. They can build off each other. I think we're starting on the other side too. So they'll get to start like behind the opponent.

DANI BUSBOOM-KELLY: We're starting behind them. We're starting behind, so that's a switch.

BERGEN REILLY: They get to get in their heads in the third and fourth set, and fifth. I just think it will be so much fun having all of them right there. Like I said, they can kind of build off each other. I feel like they would try and do cheers and chants and it's hard to coordinate when you're on the four different sides of the court. So it will be really fun to have them just all right in one spot.

Q. Andi, team gathering. You have a favorite food, what are you baking?

ANDI JACKSON: For the team, brown butter chocolate chip cookies.