When Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly sent Ryan Hunter into the match against Michigan State, she didn’t know if the sophomore opposite would get any attacks. 

The Huskers’ game plan called for a heavy dose of middle blockers, so she wanted Hunter to focus on getting good touches with her block and bringing the energy. 

Hunter entered the match with Nebraska tied 5-5 in the third set, and it took only six rallies for her first kill. It didn’t stop there. The Charlotte, North Carolina native needed just seven swings to tie her career-best of seven kills. She added two blocks in NU’s four-set win against the Spartans on Saturday. 

Bubsoom Kelly said the Huskers were playing a little flat and wanted to see Hunter provide some joy when she entered the match. Because she wasn’t expected to carry the offense, Hunter could just have a different mindset.

“She wasn’t worried about killing the ball, or I have to do this to prove myself,” Busboom Kelly said. “She was worried about giving joy to her teammates, and that’s typically when things go really well for players. When you stop worrying about yourself or your stats or your role, it’s just like, how can I help this team win?”

Hunter said her mindset when she comes in is to be useful to her teammates in whatever way necessary. 

THE RYRY SHOWWWW 😤@Ryanmatea on the kill to give us S3! #GBR pic.twitter.com/jWtJ8XxV6o

— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) October 31, 2026

“If my need was to kill the ball, then that was what I was going to do,” she said. “But if me getting set wasn’t the priority, and maybe defense was, then I was ready to just play my part in that. I’m really big on doing my job and focusing on what I need to do. In that moment, whatever was needed from me was where my head was at to complete. ”

Hunter recorded four kills in the third set, including one to close it out, and then added three more in the fourth. Each time she swung, the ball found the court, and she celebrated with energy and passion. 

Manaia Ogbechie called Hunter “a phenomenal energy boost.”

“You can see it immediately on all of our faces, all the cheers, all of the enthusiasm,” the sophomore middle blocker said. “She really brings all the energy. “

The Michigan State match was the third time this season Hunter came on in relief and terminated at a high percentage. Against DePaul, she appeared in all three sets and recorded five kills on seven swings. Hunter played the final two sets against North Carolina and finished with six kills on seven swings after committing an error on her first attack against her home-state Tar Heels. 

In her lone start this season, Hunter finished with six kills and six errors on 18 attacks against Maryland. Busboom Kelly said it can be challenging for a player to play at such a high level of intensity and emotion for a whole match, but Hunter is quite effective when she enters midway and can change the energy. 

“It’s very hard to maintain that level of emotion for the entirety of a match,” she said. “When she can go in and do that, I think that’s an advantage. I never want to rein somebody in, but on Saturday I was really pushing her to do that. I don’t know if she’d do as much in the future, but that was her role, and that’s what we needed, and she executed.”

How can you not love @Ryanmatea??? 🥰

Media TO on the floor! #GBR pic.twitter.com/CRaWuW9ANV

— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) October 31, 2026

Even though she’s in her second year in the program, Hunter has appeared in just 17 sets over 10 matches this season. She redshirted last year while working her way back from a major knee surgery in the spring of 2024. While Hunter is still working on her footwork and technique, she said she’s seen the gains over the past two seasons. Busboom Kelly called Hunter’s growth “crazy, in a positive way.”

“Translating everything that I’m doing in practice into a game-like situation, and that’s something that I’ve been working on recently,” Hunter said. “I think that has really improved, and I’m starting to get a lot more confidence within that.”

State Watching

With Nebraska not traveling until Thursday evening, Busboom Kelly was hoping to make it to a couple of Nebraska state tournament matches. However, because of the Huskers’ practice schedule, she will only get to attend the morning session. 

First-round matches for all classes will be Wednesday and Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. All semifinals are Friday at PBA, while the championship matches will be on Saturday at John Cook Arena. 

Husker recruit Malorie Boesiger, in her final home match at Norris, dishes out 33 assists as the Titans sweep Scottsbluff for the District B-1 championship. pic.twitter.com/6jbMGDV2zh

— Kevin Sjuts (@kevinsjuts) October 31, 2026

Two future Huskers will try to help their teams defend state championships on Wednesday. In Class B, senior setter Malorie Boesiger and Norris (36-1) face No. 8 seed York at 9 a.m. Junior Shayla Rautenberg leads the No. 3 seed Milford (29-3) against Kearney Catholic at 3 p.m.

Service Reception Exception

Nebraska finished with its worst passing performance of the year against Michigan State. The Huskers posted a 1.86 grade out of 3, two hundredths lower than against DePaul, with a good passing percentage of 37.3. 

The Spartans recorded six aces in the first two sets, the second most by an NU opponent, trailing only Georgia Tech’s 7. 

Busboom Kelly said she wasn’t too concerned by the performance, crediting the miscues to mental mistakes. She also put sophomore defensive specialist Keri Leimbach in a tough spot by subbing her in as the immediate target of a really tough serve.

Nebraska eventually settled down and recorded a perfect passing grade during the fourth set. 

“Some of those servers just got hot, like (Madi Andrews). Those were some of the craziest serves I’ve seen,” Busboom Kelly said. “We weathered the storm really well. Sometimes serve receive is a lot more mental than physical, and I thought that’s kind of what happened to us as we started getting in our heads, but we got out of it, and kind of relied on each other.”