Dahlgren started her collegiate volleyball career at Nebraska in 1983, playing for Terry Pettit. Between her sophomore and junior years, she participated on the Junior National Team at the World University Games in Japan. She noticed a particular formation run by the team from Korea, called the slide attack, which she brought back to the US. She is credited as the first college player to run this formation in the US which occurred in 1986. When she was a junior, she helped lead the team as a middle blocker to their first NCAA title game in 1986 at the 1986 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament. Nebraska beat Stanford in the national semi-finals, setting up the title match against the reigning national champions, Pacific. However, Pacific would prevail once again. Dahlgren played well enough to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.