As we know, the Huskers have won various honors and awards since 1980. The most honors and awards were won in the John Crook era, and he is still the Head coach. In this article, we will cover Nebraska Volleyball’s achievements with years and places.
The player worked hard in every match to get these honors and awards, especially in national championships and other events.
Nebraska Volleyball Honors & Awards
Nebraska Volleyball Honors & Awards: The Complete Husker Trophy Case
If you follow college volleyball for any length of time, you learn to expect Nebraska’s name on the list — whatever the list happens to be. All-Americans, Olympians, academic honors, national player of the year finalists. The Huskers have produced more AVCA All-Americans than any other program in the country, and by the end of the 2025 season that number had reached 111.
What follows is a look at the awards that have defined this program, why several of them mattered more than the record book lets on, and where the honors are still piling up.
Quick facts
| NCAA titles | 5 — 1995, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2017 |
| NCAA runner-up | 1986, 1989, 2005, 2018, 2021, 2023 |
| AVCA All-Americans | 111 (most of any program) |
| Head coach | Dani Busboom Kelly (2nd season, 2026) |
| Previous coaches | John Cook (2000–24), Terry Pettit (1977–99) |
| Home | Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln |
A note on the coaching change
Plenty of articles still say John Cook is running this program. He isn’t. Cook announced his retirement after the 2024 season, closing out 25 years in Lincoln with four national championships. On January 29, 2025, Nebraska named Dani Busboom Kelly the fourth head coach in program history — a Husker national champion as a player, a former assistant on Cook’s staff, and the coach who spent 2017–24 turning Louisville into a national power.
Her first season back home went about as well as a first season can go without a trophy at the end. Nebraska went 30-0 in the regular season, 20-0 in the Big Ten, and finished 33-1 after a five-set loss to eventual national champion Texas A&M in the regional final. She was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and AVCA West Region Coach of the Year, and became the first volleyball coach in Big Ten history to win the conference title in her first year at a school.
The biggest individual honors
Honda-Broderick Cup — Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year
2007: Sarah Pavan
This is the one that sits above everything else. The Honda-Broderick Cup goes to the top female college athlete in the country across all sports, and Pavan won it for the 2006–07 year — the first Nebraska student-athlete in any sport to do so. She was a 6-foot-5 right side who carried the Huskers to a 33-1 record and the 2006 national title while carrying a 4.0 GPA in biochemistry. Only three volleyball players had won the Cup before her.
(You’ll sometimes see this listed as 2006. The award covers the 2006–07 academic year but was presented in June 2007.)
AVCA National Player of the Year
- 2006: Sarah Pavan
- 2005: Christina Houghtelling
- 2000: Greichaly Cepero
- 1995: Allison Weston
Four winners, spread across three decades and two head coaches. Nebraska has also produced a steady run of finalists since — including libero Lexi Rodriguez in 2024 and setter Bergen Reilly in 2025.
AAU James E. Sullivan Award
2024–25: Lexi Rodriguez
Rodriguez became the first Nebraska volleyball player ever to win the Sullivan Award, given to the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States — a list that runs through Olympians and Heisman winners. She beat out a field that included Cooper Flagg and Ashton Jeanty. Only one other Nebraska athlete in any sport has won it: wrestler Rulon Gardner in 2000.
Honda Sport Award (volleyball)
- 2006–07: Sarah Pavan
- 2000–01: Greichaly Cepero
- 1995–96: Allison Weston
- 1986–87: Karen Dahlgren
Nebraska finalists who didn’t win include Val Novak, Stephanie Thater, Fiona Nepo, Nancy Metcalf, Melissa Elmer, Christina Houghtelling and, most recently, Lexi Rodriguez in 2025.
AVCA National Positional Awards
The AVCA introduced five positional awards in 2025, and Nebraska took two of them in year one:
- Setter of the Year: Bergen Reilly
- Middle Blocker of the Year: Andi Jackson
Jackson’s .467 hitting percentage led the nation that season. Reilly ran an offense that hit .351 as a team — a school record.
Huskers at the Olympics
Nebraska’s Olympic pipeline is one of the quiet reasons the program recruits the way it does. Recruits can see the path.
United States
| Games | Huskers | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Paris | Jordan Larson, Kelsey Robinson Cook, Justine Wong-Orantes | Silver |
| 2020 Tokyo | Jordan Larson, Kelsey Robinson, Justine Wong-Orantes | Gold |
| 2016 Rio | Kayla Banwarth, Jordan Larson, Kelsey Robinson | Bronze |
| 2012 London | Jordan Larson | Silver |
| 2004 Athens | Nancy Metcalf | — |
| 2000 Sydney | Allison Weston (captain) | — |
| 1996 Atlanta | Lori Endicott | — |
| 1992 Barcelona | Lori Endicott | Bronze |
| 1988 Seoul | Cathy Noth (alternate) | — |
Jordan Larson’s four Games are the anchor of that list. She captained the 2020 squad that won the first Olympic gold in USA women’s volleyball history.
Canada
Sarah Pavan reinvented herself on the sand after college and represented Canada in beach volleyball at 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo, adding a 2019 world title along the way.
National team careers
Kelsey Robinson (2014–present), Justine Wong-Orantes (2017–present), Jordan Larson (2009–2024), Tracy Stalls (2007–11), and both Rolfzen twins — Kadie (2018–20) and Amber (2017–20) — have all worn the USA jersey. Lexi Rodriguez debuted with the senior national team in 2024. On the Canadian side, Pavan played indoor from 2010–13 before moving to beach.
AVCA All-Americans
Nebraska’s 111 All-America selections lead the country. Here’s the recent run:
| Year | First Team | Second Team / Honorable Mention |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Andi Jackson, Harper Murray, Bergen Reilly | Rebekah Allick (2nd) |
| 2024 | Andi Jackson, Lexi Rodriguez | Bergen Reilly (2nd), Merritt Beason (2nd) |
| 2020 | Lauren Stivrins, Lexi Sun | Nicklin Hames (2nd) |
| 2019 | Nicklin Hames, Lauren Stivrins, Lexi Sun | Madi Kubik (2nd) |
| 2018 | Mikaela Foecke, Kenzie Maloney, Lauren Stivrins | — |
| 2017 | Annika Albrecht, Mikaela Foecke, Kelly Hunter | Briana Holman (HM) |
| 2016 | Kelly Hunter, Amber Rolfzen, Kadie Rolfzen, Justine Wong-Orantes | Mikaela Foecke, Briana Holman (HM) |
Two names worth pausing on. Sarah Pavan is one of only four players in NCAA history to be a four-time first-team All-American — the other three all came out of Stanford. And Lexi Rodriguez became just the third Husker to earn four All-America honors, finishing as the program’s career digs leader with 1,897.
Academic honors
This is the part of Nebraska’s résumé that tends to get skipped, and it shouldn’t. Pavan won ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-American of the Year for all sports in both 2006–07 and 2007–08 — while finishing a biochemistry degree with a perfect GPA. Rodriguez was a three-time Academic All-American, twice on the first team, and took home Nebraska’s Big Ten Medal of Honor in 2025.
Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (partial list)
| Year | Recipients |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Maisie Boesiger, Lindsay Krause, Kennedi Orr |
| 2022 | Anni Evans, Madi Kubik, Kennedi Orr |
| 2020 | Hayley Densberger |
| 2018 | Hayley Densberger, Mikaela Foecke, Brooke Smith |
| 2017 | Annika Albrecht, Allie Havers, Sydney Townsend |
| 2015 | Kadie Rolfzen, Sydney Townsend |
| 2013–14 | Cecilia Hall |
| 2012 | Morgan Broekhuis, Allison McNeal, Hayley Thramer |
| 2011 | Morgan Broekhuis, Brigette Root, Hayley Thramer, Jordan Wilberger |
The Academic All-Big Ten list runs eight to ten Huskers deep in most seasons — too long to reproduce in full here, but it’s published on huskers.com every spring.
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
One player per team, per year, voted by the conference. Nebraska’s honorees:
2023 Maggie Mendelson · 2022 Anni Evans · 2021 Kayla Caffey · 2020 Hayley Densberger · 2019 Anezka Szabo · 2018 Brooke Smith · 2017 Sydney Townsend · 2016 Brooke Smith · 2015 Sydney Townsend · 2014 Mary Pollmiller · 2013 Morgan Broekhuis · 2012 Allison McNeal · 2011 Brigette Root
Big Ten All-Freshman Team
Worth flagging, because this list gets mislabeled as “All-Big Ten” constantly. These are freshman-team selections — a useful early indicator of who’s about to become an All-American.
| Year | Selections |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Andi Jackson, Harper Murray, Bergen Reilly |
| 2022 | Rebekah Allick |
| 2021 | Lindsay Krause, Lexi Rodriguez |
| 2019 | Kenzie Knuckles, Madi Kubik |
| 2018 | Nicklin Hames, Callie Schwarzenbach |
Look at the 2023 row, then look back at the 2025 All-America table. All three became first-team All-Americans within two years.
Where things stand going into 2026
Nebraska enters the 2026 season as the unanimous preseason Big Ten favorite, with Reilly, Jackson and Murray all back. The Huskers have reached the national semifinals in 2021, 2023 and 2024, and lost a regional final in 2025 — close, repeatedly, without closing. The last national championship banner still reads 2017.
That’s the context for every award listed above. Nebraska is not short on hardware. It’s short on the specific piece of hardware this program measures itself by, and 2026 is the year the roster is built to go get it.
FAQ
Who is Nebraska volleyball’s head coach? Dani Busboom Kelly, hired January 29, 2025. She succeeded John Cook, who retired after 25 seasons.
How many national championships has Nebraska won? Five: 1995, 2000, 2006, 2015 and 2017. The Huskers have also been runner-up six times.
Which Husker has won the most individual hardware? Sarah Pavan. National Player of the Year, Honda Sport Award, Honda-Broderick Cup, two-time Academic All-American of the Year across all sports, four-time first-team All-American, and later a beach volleyball world champion and two-time Olympian for Canada.
Has a Nebraska player ever won an Olympic gold medal? Yes. Jordan Larson, Kelsey Robinson and Justine Wong-Orantes all won gold with Team USA in Tokyo in 2021, then took silver in Paris in 2024.
How many All-Americans does Nebraska have? 111 as of December 2025 — more than any other program in the country.
