The faces have changed, but the rivalry remains.

The last time Nebraska and Texas shared a volleyball court — the 2023 national championship — only a handful of players on the current roster were involved in the match.

All four of the Huskers’ seniors played significant roles in that match, while the Longhorns only have one player still on its roster — Ella Swindle, who was the starting setter in the title match, but didn’t get on the court during UT’s first two matches this season.

Nebraska’s four seniors aren’t the wide-eyed freshmen they were three years ago. Setter Bergen Reilly said they aren’t focused on getting revenge for the last time she played the Longhorns, rather focusing on starting the 2026 season off strong.”

“They had a different team. We had a different team. We’re just really excited to renew that rivalry,” Reilly said. “It’s a big rivalry in all sports, and it’ll be really fun to get to do it in Vegas right at the beginning of the season. It’s going to be pretty special.”

No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Texas will meet on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Central in the marquee matchup of the Players Era Showcase. On Saturday night, Nebraska will officially open up the season with its first ever match against UNLV on Saturday night at 7. Both matches will be played at T-Mobile Arena, the home of NHL’s Golden Knights.

The matches on Saturday night, which also include Texas playing No. 18 TCU, will be shown on FS1 as will Sunday’s match between TCU and UNLV. The Nebraska-Texas showdown will air on FOX.

“We want to take every game, game by game,” senior middle blocker Andi Jackson said. “We also don’t want to overhype it in our heads, but we do know what the history is with them, and we want to get it done. But we also have a game the night before that we have to get done too.”

Players Era CEO Seth Berger said they’ve been working to add volleyball to their portfolio at the right time. MGM Resorts International started the conversation with Nebraska and Texas and then brought in Players Era to bring it all together.

“Being able to enter the women’s volleyball space with Nebraska is basically the top of the top, and so I couldn’t be more excited for the game this weekend,” Berger said. “Without Nebraska committing, the event doesn’t happen for sure. Nebraska putting its name on the first Players Era Women’s Volleyball Showcase kind of gave the event life.”

See you in Sin City 🎰
The Huskers will face UNLV and Texas in a double header weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the Players Era - Elite Volleyball Championship! pic.twitter.com/OmLH9VfdJZ

— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) May 8, 2026

The event is Players Era’s first foray into the volleyball world. The group has put on a men’s basketball tournament in Vegas twice and added a women’s tournament last year. Nebraska signed a three-year contract with Players Era that will provide $400,000 in NIL compensation each year.

“When we enter a partnership with a team, we compensate players meaningfully for that value,” Berger said. “When teams partner with players there, they should expect their players to get paid. Simple as that.”

The Huskers enter the match already well compensated after taking home $350,000 for winning the title at the Spikes Under the Lights tournament in Arlington, Texas, Thursday night.

Initially, the event was going to be a showdown between Nebraska and Texas, but they added two more teams to make it a multi-team event. It will be a quick turnaround for all the participants playing their first match Saturday evening before turning around Sunday afternoon.

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said she is looking forward to playing Texas again, who was a frequent Big 12 foe when she played for the Huskers. Since NU joined the Big Ten, they’ve met 10 times, with UT holding a 7-3 advantage in those matches. Of the 10 meetings, four were during the regular season, most recently in 2016 – eight months after the Huskers swept Texas in the national championship match. Nebraska leads the overall series 33-25.

“Renewing the rivalry with Texas is really exciting for me. I grew up in the Big 12 and played here in the Big 12, and so that Texas rivalry runs pretty deep,” Busboom Kelly said. “I thought it was a great call by both myself and (UT coach) Jerritt (Elliott) to renew that and showcase the sport even more. They have everybody returning. We have most everybody returning, so it should be a really fun match.”

Texas played a pair of matches last weekend in the AVCA First Serve, falling in four sets to No. 12 Arizona State and pulling out a five-set win over Marquette in Milwaukee. Its offense struggled at times with a two-setter system, hitting .065 and .258 in the two matches. UT also missed 41 serves while recording 13 aces.

The Longhorns feature a pair of returning All-Americans in outside hitter Torrey Stafford and opposite Cari Spears. UT also added the No. 1 recruiting class according to PrepVolleyball, which includes outside hitter Henley Anderson and setter Genevieve Harris, who both saw extensive playing time in the opening weekend.

Busboom Kelly said she isn’t putting too much stock in Texas’s struggles during the opening weekend.

“I don’t know what Texas we’re going to be playing on Sunday,” she said.

A kills machine 💪💪💪
Get to know freshman outside hitter, Tia Traudt! pic.twitter.com/xWalhDBJKr

— UNLV Volleyball (@UNLVvball) August 26, 2025

Rebel Connections

UNLV sophomore middle blocker Tia Traudt is a Grand Island High graduate. Her older brother, Isaac, played basketball at Creighton, and her mother, Christy, played volleyball at Nebraska-Kearney.

Fourth-year coach Malia Shoji was an assistant coach at Utah when they upset the Huskers in five sets at the Devaney Center in 2021. She is the daughter of longtime coach Tom, whose 46-year career included stops at New Mexico State and Indiana. Shoji is also the niece of Hall of Fame coach Dave Shoji, who won three NCAA titles and more than 1,100 matches at Hawaii.