The Nebraska volleyball program has announced the addition of middle blocker Kenna Cogill for the upcoming 2025 season.

Cogill is the first signing under new head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. The 6-4 middle blocker is the No. 24 overall prospect by PrepVolleyball. 

As a senior at Perry High School in Arizona in 2024, Cogill averaged 2.5 kills per set and hit .443. She also totaled 1.3 blocks per set, and she finished her career with 778 kills and 396 blocks for the Pumas. Cogill led Perry to the Arizona 6A state tournament in her senior season. 

A Gilbert, Ariz., native, Cogill was club teammates with fellow Husker freshman Teraya Sigler. Together they won three club national championships with Arizona Storm. Cogill is the sixth incoming freshman for the Huskers in 2025, joining Campbell Flynn, Ryan Hunter, Keri Leimbach, Manaia Ogbechie and Sigler.

"We are thrilled to add Kenna to our roster," Busboom Kelly said. "She was a very skilled blocker and attacker at the prep level and will add great depth to our talented middle blocker position. Kenna is a great human being and will fit in perfectly with our culture."

Rodriguez Wins AAU James E. Sullivan Award

Former Nebraska volleyball libero Lexi Rodriguez made history Tuesday night, becoming the first Nebraska volleyball student-athlete to win the AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented annually to the most exceptional athlete at the collegiate, Olympic, or other similarly elite level in the United States.

Rodriguez was announced as the winner of the 95th AAU Sullivan Award at the New York Athletic Club. The other finalists were Trey Augustine (Ice Hockey, Michigan State), Cooper Flagg (Basketball, Duke), Ashton Jeanty (Football, Boise State), Lee Kiefer (Fencing, USA) and Ilia Malinin (Figure Skating, USA). 

As well as honoring athletic excellence, the AAU Sullivan award also recognizes the chosen athlete’s character and honors their quality of leadership, citizenship and sportsmanship.

A native of Sterling, Ill., Rodriguez joins a renowned list of recipients. Last year, Caitlin Clark became the first two-time winner of the award. Other prior winners include Michael Phelps, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michelle Kwan, Peyton Manning, Simone Biles, Carl Lewis and Carissa Moore. Rodriguez is just the third volleyball player to earn the award, joining Lauren Carlini (2016) and Kathryn Plummer (2018). 

Rulon Gardner (2000) is the only other University of Nebraska student-athlete to receive the award. Four other Nebraska volleyball players had previously been finalists for the honor: Kelsey Robinson (2014-15), Mikaela Foecke (2016-17 and 2018-19), Kelly Hunter (2017-18) and Annika Albrecht (2017-18). 

Rodriguez finished her Husker career in December as a four-time AVCA All-American, a four-time All-Big Ten selection, and a three-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. She was an AVCA National Player of the Year finalist and a Honda Sport Award for Volleyball finalist in 2024, and she became the first-ever libero to be named AVCA Region Player of the Year.

Rodriguez is Nebraska's all-time career leader in digs with 1,897. She is also a three-time Academic All-American, including two first-team accolades. Rodriguez completed her first professional season over the weekend with LOVB Omaha, as they finished as runner-up in the inaugural season of League One Volleyball. 

Carey, Huskers Tame Bluejays on Tuesday

Dylan Carey went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a pair of RBI in Nebraska’s 6-3 win at Creighton on Tuesday night at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

Nebraska (17-20) scored six runs on 12 hits, while Creighton (20-12) totaled three runs, seven hits and two errors.

Case Sanderson was 2-for-5 with a triple and a run scored, while Joshua Overbeek drove in a run on a 2-for-5 night. Robby Bolin and Hogan Helligso recorded a double, while Tyler Stone, Max Buettenback and Cayden Brumbaugh had one hit apiece.

Ryan Harrahill surrendered a pair of runs on two hits in one inning of work. Gavin Blachowicz tossed a pair of scoreless frames, while Pryce Bender moved to 2-0 on the season after working a season-high 2.2 innings. The freshman allowed one run on two hits and struck out three with one walk.

Grant Cleavinger and Casey Daiss teamed up to throw 1.1 scoreless innings, followed by Luke Broderick dealing scoreless eighth and ninth innings to pick up his eighth save of the year.

Creighton jumped out to a two-run lead behind a pair of hits in the bottom of the first. A leadoff double down the left-field line and a plunked batter put runners on first and second with no outs.

An RBI single through the right side broke the scoreless tie, while a sacrifice fly lifted to deep center field tacked on another run to make it a 2-0 game through the first.

The Huskers answered with a run on two hits to cut the deficit in half in the top of the second. Carey’s one-out single to center, and a full-count walk to Cael Frost had runners on first and second, before Overbeek’s RBI single to center plated Carey from second base to trim the CU lead to 2-1 through two innings.

Nebraska added another run in the top of the third to tie the game back up at two apiece. The Huskers had runners on first and second with one out after Buettenback singled to left field, followed by a full-count walk to Stone. Carey smacked a 1-0 pitch for an RBI double down the right-field line to score Buettenback and even the game at two.

Creighton took the lead back at 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out solo home run down the right-field line.

The Huskers responded immediately with a run of their own in the top of the fifth to tie the game back up at three. Stone’s leadoff single down the left-field line, and Carey plunked on a 1-1 pitch had runners on first and second with no outs for the NU offense. Frost reached on a throwing error, allowing Stone to score all the way from second to lock the game at three with four innings to play.

Nebraska added a pair of runs with two hits in the top of the sixth to grab a 5-3 lead over the Bluejays. Sanderson began the inning with a triple off the center-field wall and trotted home on an RBI single off the bat of Brumbaugh. Buettenback drew a walk, while a groundout to first by Stone moved Brumbaugh and Buettenback to second and third with one out.

Carey lifted a 1-2 pitch to center field for his team-leading sixth sacrifice fly of the season, scoring Brumbaugh from third and doubling the lead to 5-3.

The NU offense added an insurance run in the top of the eighth with back-to-back two-out doubles off the bats of Carey and Bolin.

Creighton threatened in the bottom of the eighth, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out after a pair of singles. Broderick eluded any damage, inducing an inning-ending, 4-6-3 double play to send a 6-3 lead into the ninth inning.

Nebraska welcomes Northwestern to Lincoln for a three-game series this weekend at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. First pitch between the Huskers and Wildcats in the series opener on Friday night is set for 6:02 p.m. 

Huskers Add Big Ten Transfer Emily Fisher

Nebraska notched a fourth signing this week when Emily Fisher joined the 2025-26 Husker women's basketball team on Wednesday, April 16.

Fisher, who spent her first two collegiate seasons at Maryland, comes to Lincoln after playing 52 games with the Terrapins. As a freshman, the 6-0 guard/forward averaged 2.6 points and 2.8 rebounds while playing in all 33 games for a Terp team that advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She scored a career-high nine points and added a career-best eight rebounds in a win over Towson (Dec. 12, 2023). She also had eight points at both Penn State (Jan. 28, 2024) and against UMass (Nov. 25, 2023).

As a sophomore, Fisher missed 11 games with a concussion, but averaged 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds over 19 contests while helping the Terps to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. In Nebraska's 91-71 regular-season win at No. 17 Maryland (Feb. 13, 2025), Fisher finished with a season-high eight points, while adding two rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes of action.

"We had a strong relationship with Emily from her recruitment out of high school and believe that she fits perfectly with our tough, hard-nosed, gritty, hard-working culture here at Nebraska," Head Coach Amy Williams said. "She brings a versatility and a willingness to guard almost any position on the floor. We are excited to have her spend her remaining two years here in Lincoln."

Fisher was ranked as the No. 80 overall prospect by ESPN out of Libertyville High School in Illinois. She averaged 13.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists as a senior in 2022-23, when she was named the captain of the Lake County All-Area team. As a junior, she a was a first-team Illinois Class 4A all-state selection, the North Suburban Conference Player of the Year, and a first-team all-conference and all-area choice at Libertyville.

California High School Star Alanna Neale Signs with Huskers

Nebraska added its third newcomer to its 2025-26 women's basketball roster this week with the signing of current high school senior Alanna Neale on Wednesday, April 16.

Neale, a 5-10 guard out of national high school power Ontario Christian in California, averaged 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.2 steals over 32 games as a senior in 2024-25 to earn All-California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section honors.

"We are beyond excited to make things official with the signing of Alanna Neale," Nebraska Coach Amy Williams said. "She joins us from one of the winningest and most successful high school programs in the country and is coming off a stellar senior season. We have seen Alanna use her skillset to impact the game on both sides of the ball and as a rebounding guard. There is so much excitement knowing that her best basketball is still in front of her. We can't wait to get her to Lincoln."

Ontario Christian entered California's Open Division state championship ranked No. 1 nationally, before falling in the semifinal to the nation's No. 6 team. The Lady Knights finished the season with a 30-2 overall record.

As a junior in 2023-24, Neale was named the MVP of the Olympic League and a first-team all-conference pick at Village Christian High School in Sun Valley, Calif., after averaging 18.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.1 steals over 25 games for the Crusaders.

Neale spent her sophomore season at Chaminade High School in West Hills, Calif., where she was a second-team All-CIF selection and a first-team All-Mission League pick. She was also rated as one of the top 15 sophomores in the CIF Southern Section. In the first round of the CIF state playoffs, Neale erupted for 21 points against Ontario Christian.

She committed to Nebraska at the end of February after also receiving offers from UNLV, Hawaii, Grand Canyon, Cal Poly, UC Riverside and Morgan State.

Neale is the first player from the Los Angeles area to sign with the Huskers since Tear'a Laudermill (Moreno Valley/Canyon Springs High School) in 2011. Laudermill was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and ranks among the top-25 players in scoring all-time at Nebraska. She was a member of four NCAA Tournament teams and part of the most successful four-year span in school history.