Michigan State outside hitter Danyle Courtley (4) hits the ball towards Nebraska at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, MI on Oct. 18, 2025.
In a packed Breslin Center buzzing with red and green, Michigan State volleyball faced No. 1 Nebraska on Friday night. Despite a fired-up crowd and flashes of sharp play, the Spartans couldn’t overcome Nebraska’s serving and defensive precision, falling in straight sets.
Nebraska dominated the sets powered by errorless serving and sharp execution that kept MSU’s defense on its heels. The Spartans’ trio of Lia Schneider in defense, setter Malayah Long and outside hitter Karolina Staniszewska — usually a dependable pair — struggled to find their usual rhythm.
"Nebraska won the serve-pass battle," head coach Kristen Kelsay said. "It’s really the first time that we struggled in service ever, so that limited our offensive abilities. And then we missed too many serves, and that directly played into their defensive strategy. We start to get really one-dimensional when we’re struggling past these things."
Nebraska’s serves set the tone early in the first set, pushing MSU off balance and forcing rushed attacks. Long worked to find rhythm with outside hitters Staniszewska and Bianca Mumcular, but attack errors piled up quickly. Michigan State trailed 10–3 within minutes and never fully recovered, dropping the set 25–15.
In the second set, MSU rallied from a 7-0 deficit to tie it at 7-7, with kills from Zuzanna Kulig and Evie Doezema fueling the comeback. However, the Spartans struggled to neutralize Nebraska’s frontline, led by Harper Murray and Rebekah Allick. The Huskers’ consistency — low-error serves, fast-tempo sets and quick kills — left little room for MSU to recover from early deficits, as Nebraska closed out the set 25-18.
Nebraska’s ability to vary serve depth and placement also exposed gaps in MSU’s communication. While Mumcular and Doezema found moments of offensive spark, the Spartans’ attack was hampered by mistimed jumps and the ball being placed too close to the net by Long, resulting in 16 attack errors.
"They had really nice depths on their serves — some dropper, some deeps — and we didn’t communicate those and adjust to those as quickly as we have in the past," Kelsay said.
MSU showed its best composure in the third set, clawing back from a 16–10 deficit to 16–15 after contributions from Taylah Holdem and Kulig, who found rhythm in the middle. However, despite the surge, Nebraska’s late blocking sealed the match 25–20.
"All I’ve asked this team is to improve and to live our values," Kelsay said. "I’m proud of the way that they continued to battle today, but we have to play cleaner volleyball in order to play a caliber team like this."
As the Spartans regroup on Sunday at Breslin, refining net play and first-ball contact will be key to finding a rhythm against Maryland.
