Nebraska volleyball middle blocker Andi Jackson earned both Big Ten Player of the Week and AVCA National Player of the Week honors following a three-win stretch for the top-ranked Huskers. Jackson averaged 3.33 kills per set on .578 hitting alongside 1.56 blocks per set, elevating her season attacking percentage to .490 through 13 matches.
Nebraska Senior Claims National and Conference Honors
Senior middle blocker Andi Jackson added two major weekly awards to her resume after helping lead the No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team to a 3-0 record. The Big Ten named Jackson its player of the week on Monday, marking the second conference honor of her career. The American Volleyball Coaches Association followed on Tuesday by selecting her as the national player of the week.
During the three-match span, Jackson recorded two performances with double-digit kills while hitting above .600. Head coach Dani Busboom Kelly pointed to Jackson’s emotional control and leadership as the primary drivers behind her success on the court.
“She’s always been a great player, and statistically, blocking, she’s doing much better,” Busboom Kelly said. “But just the way she’s leading and playing with joy, and, I think, letting mistakes bounce off her a little bit easier and quicker than she used to, I think those are probably the biggest changes.”
Offensive Versatility and Defensive Impact
Jackson opened the week on Wednesday by leading Nebraska with 10 kills on .667 hitting and matching a season high with six blocks in a win against Missouri. She followed on Friday with a season-best 14 kills on .632 hitting and four blocks against Rutgers, concluding the week with six kills and four blocks against Ohio State.
Libero Olivia Mauch noted that facing Jackson’s attacking arsenal in practice presents a consistent challenge for defenders. “She’s just so good at moving the balls and hitting different shots every time, so it makes it really hard to read her, and she just hits the ball so hard,” Mauch said.
Setter Bergen Reilly and Jackson continue to refine their connection after four seasons of playing together. Reilly routinely sets Jackson out of system and on transition right-side balls, expanding the range of the team’s offense.
“It’s super freeing, just knowing all of our middles have been working really hard to be able to hit right side balls just in transition,” Reilly said.
Season Statistics and Team Performance
Through 13 matches, Jackson ranks third nationally with a .490 hitting percentage while averaging 2.56 kills and 1.28 blocks per set, alongside 11 service aces. Her production builds on a 2025 campaign where she led the nation with a .467 attack percentage and earned AVCA Middle Blocker of the Year recognition.
Busboom Kelly emphasized that Jackson’s efficiency stands out because of the high volume and difficult locations from which she attacks compared to middles in other systems. Nebraska enters the next stretch of its schedule maintaining the nation’s second-best team hitting percentage at .319.
“Middles typically do have high hitting percentages, but we force the ball to Andi from all over, and no matter where Bergen’s at, we try to find Andi the ball,” Busboom Kelly said.
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