Dani Busboom Kelly Ends Big Ten Scheduling Worries Amid College Volleyball’s Rise: “Small Price to Pay”

“The Big Ten schedule is a battle every single weekend. The one thing it teaches your players is that they have to come to play every single night,” said George Mason Head Coach Pat Kendrick back in 2002. Those words from over two decades not only hold true today, but some would even argue that things have become more intense than ever before. However, Dani Busboom Kelly is all about being open to new opportunities, no matter how rigorous.

Last Saturday, the Huskers defeated Arizona 3-0 to maintain their unblemished record this season, and will play the first Big Ten match of 2025 by hosting Michigan on September 24. Ahead of match day, Busboom Kelly, the Nebraska head coach, talked to reporters about the road ahead. During the presser, the topic of closely-stacked Big Ten scheduling came up, and Dani admitted that it’s a tall ask to keep up with the pace.

“Well, luckily our non-conference schedule is like that, so I felt like we played all over the place when it came to days, so we’re prepared for that,” the coach said. However, in the YouTube upload by HuskerOnline, Busboom Kelly could also be heard saying how she thinks such hectic scheduling ultimately benefits the bigger picture. “I think it is huge for the game, it just means more TV games, and that networks are looking for ways to put volleyball on TV, so I think it’s great,” DBK stated how the BIG Ten matches help the sport in the long run.

But, still, she had to admit that keeping up with both ends of the stick can become a tricky thing, even if the benefits outweigh the cons. “It does make it hard, you know, to prep and to balance rest time, but it’s a small price to pay for more exposure,” the Huskers’ boss concluded her opinion on the matter. Dani isn’t wrong, though. College volleyball is undergoing one of the most significant boom periods in recent years. Spearheaded by Nebraska, NCAA volleyball has more TV coverage than ever before.

However, truth be told, this year, the number of Big Ten matches that will receive national coverage is lower compared to last year’s. And yet, considering the fact that recent collegiate matches are seeing a surge in attendance numbers as well as record view times (in 2024, a total of 635 million minutes of volleyball were watched across 38 regular-season matches on various networks), it’s understandable that Busboom Kelly wishes to capitalize on the momentum.

But how far is too far?

Dani Busboom Kelly understands that there are two sides to every story

While the ex-Louisville head coach seems to believe that players need to do their part to help the sport reach newer heights, she also knows that the crumbling pressure can take a serious toll. When Penn State’s Izzy Starck announced earlier this month that she will be sitting out the 2025 volleyball season to focus on her mental health, Busboom Kelly backed the rising star’s words by drawing attention to how the NCAA structure often prompts burnout.

“I just think that college sports are such a big deal now, especially with media, social media, these players are put on pedestals; at the end of the day, they’re college students. They’re working to get their degrees,” Dani Busboom Kelly said, “Meeting new people, they’re living away from home for the first time. So it’s a lot, and then on top of that, to be such a public figure in their sports, it’s really, really hard,” underscoring that the high demands of college sports can be a difficult thing to work with for too long.

And still, being a true lover of the sport, DBK just can’t help but keep reiterating just how exciting it is to see the wide variety of options that volleyball athletes can choose from today. With multiple pro volleyball leagues making the sport more exciting than ever before, the Huskers’ alum-turned-head-coach firmly believes this is truly the best time to pursue your passion for volleyball.

Do you think so, too? Weigh in on the exposure-burnout debate!

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