LINCOLN—Nebraska’s perfect season came to a sudden end Sunday afternoon against Texas A&M, but not without a fight.
The top-seeded Husker (33-1) dropped the first two sets, but rallied to force a fifth set after a wild, marathon fourth set where NU faced three match points.
In the end, the Aggies were able to prevent a reverse sweep to earn a 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 35-37, 15-13 victory Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 8,650 at the Devaney Center in the NCAA regional final.
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A historic season comes to an end in Lincoln. We are so proud of this team and our fight.
Thank you Husker Nation for continuing to be the best volleyball fans in the world. pic.twitter.com/tdQlf3VPKv
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) December 14, 2025
Texas A&M moves on to play Pitt in its first-ever national semifinal on Thursday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The Aggies twice reached the regional final, in 1999 and 2001, but fell short both times.
The setback was Nebraska’s first home loss since falling to Minnesota late in the 2002 season and the first postseason loss at home since losing in the regional final to Texas in 2013.
Kendal Stowers led Texas A&M with 25 kills and 16 digs, while Logan Lednicky added 24 kills, including one on match point. The Aggies recorded 17 blocks and nine aces against NU.
Harper Murray put up 25 kills for the Huskers. Rebekah Allick recorded 15 kills on a .480 hitting percentage. The Huskers hit .270 for the match.
The Huskers came out firing and jumped out to a 10-3 lead after four straight points, including two backrow kills from Murray. However, A&M started to chip away by winning five of the next six rallies. The Aggies then went in front with a 10-0 run that featured two aces by Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, three kills from Emily Hellmuth and all four NU hitting errors in the set.
Down, 20-15, freshman middle blocker Manaia Ogbechie checked in and sparked NU with a kill on the first rally. Nebraska closed to 21-20. After the teams traded service errors, the Aggies won three of the final four rallies, including an ace by setter Maddie Waak.
Texas A&M players celebrate a point against Nebraska in the NCAA Tournament Regional Final in Lincoln. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN
The Aggies went up 4-1 in the second set after another ace by Waak. Nebraska took a brief lead at 8-6 after scoring four points in a row. However, Waak responded with a pair of aces and went up 14-12. Nebraska couldn’t close the gap the rest of the way. NU got as close as 24-22 before Lednicky ended the set with a kill.
Nebraska started the third set with more fight and went up 10-5 after a kill from Virginia Adriano. The Aggies responded with four points in a row, including a kill by libero Tatum Thomas. Teraya Sigler put the Huskers up 12-9 with an ace. Eventually, A&M closed to 18-17 after an ace from Thomas, but Allick and Murray had back-to-back kills to put NU in the red zone. Murray later wrapped up the set with her sixth kill in the frame.
After the teams traded mini-runs in the fourth set, Texas A&M went up 11-7 after four straight NU hitting errors. The Aggies led by as much as 18-11 before the Huskers fought back. They won eight out of the next nine rallies to tie it up at 19-all.
After a net violation on Nebraska, Allick and Murray recorded kills to put Nebraska in front. Then things got wild as they entered bonus points. Texas A&M had three match points, but never converted. The Huskers finally converted their 10th set point when Adriano got a touch call on an attack.
Bergen Reilly and Teraya Sigler celebrate as Nebraska beats Texas A&M in the fourth set of the NCAA Tournament Regional Final, 37-35. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN
In the fifth, the Aggies went in front 5-3 after back-to-back Nebraska hitting errors. The Huskers looked like they were about to tie the set at 7-all, but the officials said the ball touched Allick after she tooled it off the A&M block.
Texas A&M led by as much as 13-9 before Nebraska scored three in a row. NU fought off one match point, but Lednicky ended it with a kill.
Nebraska was without Allie Sczech, who tripped on a ball during serving practice before the match. After she was helped to the locker room, where she stayed until the start of the third set, when she returned to the bench in street clothes.
Nebraska opposite hitter Allie Sczech tripped over a ball during warmups. She would change out of her uniform and join the team on the bench. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN
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