Earlier this month, Bergen Reilly had a heart-to-heart with the Journal Star, talking about how much her older sister Raegen has shaped her journey in volleyball. She made it clear that she “owes a lot” to Raegen for helping her get to where she is now, and that really hit home for her big sister. Hearing that from Bergen was a pretty special moment for Raegen, knowing her little sister looked up to her so much.

Bergen couldn’t help but share how Raegen’s support made her feel. “It made me feel very happy,” she said, adding with a smile that it even “made me kind of tear up.” It really touched her that Raegen appreciates her influence, even though Bergen feels like she didn’t do anything extraordinary—she just happened to start playing volleyball first.

What’s cool is that their connection is mutual. While Raegen has guided Bergen, she also learns from her sister every day, making their bond even stronger both on and off the court. The Reilly sisters are now gearing up for a volleyball showdown on October 25 at the younger sister’s home base in Nebraska. But here’s a question: how did their previous match play out earlier this season?

The Reilly sisters’ volleyball showdown

On one side, you have Bergen, the younger sister, proving that she’s an excellent setter for the Nebraska Huskers. On the other hand, there is Raegen, the older sister, who is playing her last season for Illinois, backing it up as a setter and serving. And when they met on October 3, it was quite an exciting tussle, especially after Nebraska triumphed over Illinois in straight sets 25-18, 25-22, 25-17 to achieve their tenth consecutive victory of that time.

The Huskers could have been slow at the beginning, but it was a short-lived affair because they soon got their groove on. Illinois started off strong, leading 4-0, the first points coming from a good ace. But once Nebraska got going, they had quite a 9-1 stretch and took over the first set. They traded points for a little while, but the Huskers really stepped up their game towards the end of the first set and took the match 1-0 with a 4-1 run.

The second set started more invigorating, with Nebraska volleyball imposing themselves, but Illinois was equally good and leveled the set to 5-5. The Huskers then stepped up the tempo and took the next five straight points to level the set at 17-all with an ace by Lexi Rodriguez. Bergen was a star in this match. She had 30 assists, three kills, and eight digs. Raegen also chipped in with five assists and four digs for the Illinois team, making it really fun to have a family on the court. Well, now that they have a volleyball rematch, everyone is looking forward to watching the Reilly sisters go head-to-head again!