Nebraska volleyball heads into season ranked No. 5 nationally
LINCOLN, Neb. (BVM) — It’s been nearly 13 months since the Nebraska volleyball team last played a match. But when the Cornhuskers finally return to the court later this month, they’ll do so with the same high expectations they face every year — and they’ll have the same national ranking that they had at the end of last season.
Nebraska is ranked No. 5 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll which was released Tuesday. The Huskers were also No. 5 in the final poll of 2019 after they reached the NCAA regional finals where Big Ten rival Wisconsin — which reached the Final Four — ended their postseason run.
Every Big Ten school saw its 2020 fall volleyball season postponed to the spring semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the teams will be back in action beginning Jan. 22 with a conference-only schedule that will run 11 weeks long with two games each week against the same opponent. Nebraska will open with a two-match series at Indiana.
The Huskers have won the Big Ten three times since joining the conference in 2011, with their last conference title coming in 2017. Of the 22 matches on their Big Ten-only schedule, eight will be played against teams ranked in the top 25, including two each against No. 7 Minnesota and No. 1 Wisconsin in back-to-back weekends next month.
With three returning All-Americans, the top-ranked Badgers will be a big challenge for Nebraska in the conference race and possibly beyond, but the Huskers are bringing back all of their starters, including All-American seniors Lexi Sun and Lauren Stivrins, and Madi Kubik, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Kubik, who started all 33 matches last season and averaged 2.73 kills per set and 2.52 digs per set, is looking forward to taking the court for her second season with many of the same teammates along with some promising newcomers who have been added to the fold for a team that’s already shown improvement and grown closer in the preseason.
“I think what I like most about this team is how we push each other every day in practice,” Kubik said after the team’s red-white scrimmage in November. “We’re getting better and I think that’s because everyone is raising the level and I think that’s really cool especially with us kind of adding a lot of people, and I think the relationship we have with one another this time has really helped to mold that and make us really close and play really well together.”
While there’s plenty of reason for the Huskers to be excited for the coming season, the same could be said for many future seasons. Nebraska’s 2021 recruiting class is ranked No. 1 in the country by PrepVolleyball.com, and all six of the signees are ranked among the top 70 nationally. Leading that group is Omaha Skutt senior Lindsay Krause, who’s ranked No. 2 overall and just completed one of the most decorated high school volleyball careers in the state’s history, helping the SkyHawks win four straight state titles — part of a state-record six consecutive — and winning a gold medal with the United States youth national team at the 2019 U18 World Championships.
“This group has had a lot of success,” Nebraska head coach John Cook said of the signing class. “Lindsay winning state championships, winning a world championship for the first time ever for USA, I’m not worried about her feeling pressure here. The pressure she’s already been under at Omaha Skutt and making that USA team and performing like they did in the world championships, she’s been through the fires. … They’ve all had success at the highest levels and so I think they’re well equipped to handle the expectations here at Nebraska volleyball.”
Expectations are never higher than they are at Nebraska. The Huskers have more wins all-time than any other program in the country and their five national championships are third-most behind only Stanford (nine) and Penn State (seven). Their 15 Final Four appearances are also second to only Stanford (23). Nebraska has made 38 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, and there’s no doubting the Huskers will be there when this season’s tourney begins April 8.
