Nebraska volleyball fans love winning, stuff blocks and when the team’s matches are on TV.
They also love special moments and an opportunity to applaud its extended family — former players and coaches or sisters of the current players — and they will get another opportunity to do that on Friday when Bergen Reilly’s sister takes the floor with her Illinois team.
At some point during the match, Illinois serving specialist Raegen Reilly will have her name announced at the Devaney Sports Center, and she is likely to receive a warm ovation.
There is another good reason that Raegen Reilly should be applauded — she’s also the reason why Nebraska’s All-American sophomore setter wanted to be a setter when the sisters were growing up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
This will be the second time the sisters have faced off in a college match. The first was three weeks ago when Nebraska traveled to Champaign and swept Illinois.
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This time the match is in Lincoln, where just last year Raegen Reilly sat in the bleachers at the Devaney Sports Center and watched her sister setting one of the best teams in the country as a freshman.
When they played for the first time this season, there were about 15 family members there. For Raegen Reilly, the match was “surreal.”
“I never thought that I would have the opportunity to be playing for Illinois. And then get to play my sister too,” Raegen Reilly said “It’s never something that I even thought of, so then to have it happen was an amazing experience.”
Raegen played as a serving specialist that night, finishing with four digs and five set assists. In the second set, she served a 4-0 run that put Illinois in position to win the set before Nebraska’s late comeback.
As the teams met at the net after the match ended, the sisters stopped to hug through the net.
When Raegen enters the match, starting setter Brooke Mosher remains in the match but also hits so that Raegen can set. Raegen has four ace serves, 70 assists and 39 digs this season.
Raegen was the starting setter for South Dakota State last year. After the season, she put her name in the NCAA transfer portal, which allowed other schools to recruit her. She also visited Duke.
“I was just looking for a new experience,” Raegen Reilly said. “I graduated in May, so I knew that I wanted to try something different and just put myself out there. I really had no expectations of what was going to happen. I just wanted to see what would happen.”
Once Raegen chose a school in the Big Ten, Bergen Reilly was excited for her sister to get to experience what she had while playing in the Big Ten, a league where there are many good teams and big-time atmospheres.
Seven teams in the league are ranked in the Top 20 this week. Five Big Ten schools are ranked in the top 10 for attendance — Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Purdue.
“The level of play is insane,” Raegen said. “We have so many great athletes here in the Big Ten, and to get to play against great teams has been such a cool experience. I’m an extremely competitive person.”
Illinois (13-5, 5-3 Big Ten) has won all five matches since losing to Nebraska.
Earlier this month, Bergen Reilly said she owes a lot of her success and where she is at now to her older sister. It was special to her when Raegen saw that.
“It made me feel very happy,” she said. “And it made me kind of tear up, too. I just appreciate that she thinks of me that way. I didn’t do anything special. I just played volleyball first, I guess. I appreciate that she has learned so much from me, and I continue to learn from her as well.”
It was when Bergen was still in junior high and filled in for her sister at a club tournament that Raegen knew her younger sister was talented as a setter.
“I played 18s when I was 16 for our club, and I played varsity basketball as well so I couldn’t make it to one of the tournaments because we had a basketball game,” she said. “But since Bergen was in junior high still, she could make it to the tournament. So she was a 13-year-old set for our 18s team. That’s really when I figured out that she might be able to do this.”
Last season, the schedule worked for Raegen to attend one of Nebraska’s matches. South Dakota State played in Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday afternoon, and then she came to Lincoln for the Huskers’ match against Minnesota on Sunday.
College volleyball players usually only get one day off each week and Raegen used hers to watch her sister.
“I love watching her play. I love being there for her,” Raegen said. “Our family is super close, so when I got the opportunity to come, I knew I wanted to see my parents and see her. I just love cheering her on and being there for her.”
Last December, Raegen attended each of Nebraska’s four home matches in the NCAA Tournament. Raegen also went to Florida for the NCAA Final Four, where she attended the banquet when Bergen was honored as a second-team All-American.
For Friday’s match, about 15 family members from South Dakota will be attending, along with some of Raegen’s friends.
Following this semester, Raegen plans to move back to Sioux Falls and will coach at their old club, Kairos Volleyball. Raegen plans to start law school next fall.
Huskers.com
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