Nebraska Volleyball vs. Lipscomb: Preview, Breakdown

Lipscomb

Head Coach 

Brandon Rosenthal | Entering 23rd Season at Lipscomb and as Head Coach | 401-256 (.610) Career Record | 8x NCAA Tournament Appearances | 7x ASUN Tournament titles, 6x ASUN Regular Season titles | 1x AVCA South Region Coach OTY, 5x ASUN Coach OTY | Previous assistant at Lipscomb before becoming head coach.

2024 Finish

L, 3-0 to No. 1 seed Florida Gulf Coast in ASUN Tournament Championship 

2024 Record & Awards

19-11 (14-2 ASUN, 2nd) | All-ASUN: 2x First Team, 1x Second Team, 1x Third Team

All-Time Series

Nebraska leads 1-0 (August 26, 2023 last matchup, 3-0 NU) 

Returning Production

Points: 44% | Kills: 43% | Service Aces: 58% | Blocks: 40% | Assists: 92% | Digs: 48%

Key Returners

• Courtney Jones | OH | Sr. | Led the team in points and kills en route to First Team All-ASUN honors in 2024
• Berkley Mischler | MB | Sr. | Takes over as the top middle blocker after posting 182 kills on a .279 hitting percentage last season
• Sophia Hudepohl | S | Sr | ASUN Setter OTY Honors in 2023, followed by a spot on the All-ASUN Second Team in 2024 
• Brooklyn Fuchs | MB | Jr. | After only 14 sets in 2024, the Lincoln East graduate will battle for a starting spot at middle blocker 
• Kelsey Schenck | S | Soph. | Racked up 189 digs while appearing in all 30 matches as a true freshman

Impact Transfers/Newcomers

• Ella Durham | OH | Jr | The only transfer of the six newcomers; Spent her first two seasons at San Diego 
• Anna Claire Brown | RS/MB | Fr. | Will provide depth and battle for a starting job as a true freshman from Texas

Key Departures

• Meg Mersman | MB | Graduated | Left as LUV’s all-time leader in career total blocks, solo blocks, assisted blocks, blocks per set, and sets played 
• Karlie McNabb | OH | Graduated | Third on the team in points (320) in her lone season with the Bison
• Addi Pelham | RS | Graduated | Named to the All-ASUN Third Team in her final season at Lipscomb
• Libby Steinhart | L/DS | Graduated | Averaged 3.28 digs per set (10th in ASUN) as the team’s starting libero in 2024 

Outlook

As one of the most successful and active non-Power Four head coaches in college volleyball, Brandon Rosenthal had Lipscomb on the brink of the program’s ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024, but a loss to Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Championships ended any hopes of that milestone. 

Lipscomb said goodbye to four key contributors, including program great and middle blocker Meg Mersman, who was named an AVCA Honorable Mention in 2023 while setting school career records for most blocking categories and sets played. Karlie McNabb and Addi Pelham leave behind holes at outside hitter and opposite after turning in all-conference campaigns in the past. Plus, starting libero Libby Steinhart graduated after finishing her final season with the 10th most digs in the conference. 

Entering 2025, there are still some questions for this Bison roster, but it wasn’t enough to deter fellow ASUN coaches who voted LUV as the preseason favorite to win the ASUN, grabbing eight of the possible 12 first-place votes. 

That’s because Rosenthal and the Bison have leading attacker Courtney Jones back for her senior season. The Indiana native was named to the All-ASUN First Team last season after leading the team in kills (372) and points (422.5) while posting 34 aces. She was chosen as the conference’s preseason Player of the Year alongside Sophia Hudepohl, who was picked as the unanimous ASUN Setter of the Year entering 2025. She was tabbed as the ASUN Setter of the Year in 2023 and followed up with a Second Team All-ASUN campaign in 2024. 

Junior Berkley Mischler was the second middle behind Mersman last season, and she looks primed to be the MB1 this year. The second middle will have a few names battling for the spot, but Lincoln native Brooklyn Fuchs looks like a contender as she moves into her junior season. Cora ter Kuile only played in 44 sets last season, but should step in as the Bison’s starting opposite. 

Ella Durham was the only transfer of the six newcomers to the 2025 roster, and she’ll likely be given every opportunity to secure the second outside hitter role behind Jones after two seasons at San Diego. Luca Bredenberg appeared in 23 matches as a true freshman last season and will look to become the team’s new libero while trying to fend off incoming freshman Hallie Hendrickx and Kenzie Kucks. 

The cream of the crop in the ASUN, Lipscomb has enjoyed tremendous success under Rosenthal, and there’s no reason to think that’ll change in 2025. He’s been strategic in scheduling tough non-conference matchups with the Bison playing the No. 1 Huskers, No. 7 Kentucky, and Seton Hall in the season-opening LUV Invitational this weekend. That also includes Vanderbilt, No. 11 Minnesota, Pepperdine, and UC Irvine in September. Nebraska should easily sweep the Bison, but it’s likely Lipscomb’s name comes up again when it's time for the NCAA selection show in December.