Nebraska Cornhuskers2023 Record: 33-2
Conference Record: 19-1 (1st)
NCAA Tournament Placement: National Championship Match (L, 0-3 vs. Texas)
Final AVCA Ranking: 2
Head Coach: John Cook (25th season at Nebraska)
Record at Nebraska: 688-100
| Returning Starters | Departures
* - 2023 Starter
() - Transfer Destination | New Additions
() - Transfer Origin |
Rebekah Allick - JR - 6'4 MB
Merritt Beason - SR - 6'4 RS
Laney Choboy - SO - 5'3 DS/L
Andi Jackson - SO - 6'3 MB
Harper Murray - SO - 6'2 OH
Bergen Reilly - SO - 6'1 S
Lexi Rodriguez - SR - 5'5 DS/L
| Ally Batenhorst* - SR - 6'5 OH (USC)
Caroline Jurevicius - R-FR - 6'2 RS (Penn State)
Hayden Kubik - JR - 6'2 OH (Tennessee)
Maggie Mendelson - JR - 6'5 MB (Penn State) | Leyla Blackwell - SR+ - 6'4 MB (San Diego)
Taylor Landfair - SR - 6'5 OH (Minnesota)
Olivia Mauch - FR - 5'6 DS/L
Skyler Pierce - FR - 6'2 OH |
Nebraska is one of the few programs in America that can say a season that ends in the regional semifinals is a major disappointment. The 2022 Huskers were ousted by Oregon in the Round of 16, marking the first time since 2011 that Nebraska failed to reach the regional finals.
Expectations remained as high as ever as Nebraska headed into 2023. Week 1 started at home with routine sweeps over Utah State, Lipscomb, and SMU.
The Huskers then defeated Omaha in front of a record-setting crowd of 92,003 fans in Memorial Stadium. This was the prelude to Nebraska's first road win over Kansas State as Big Red registered five straight-set wins to open the season.
This sweep streak ended against in-state rival Creighton, but Nebraska finished the job in four. After one more home win against Long Beach State, the Huskers looked ahead to its biggest test of the non-conference slate.
Nebraska's Sept. 12 trip to Stanford was perhaps the first time the Huskers asserted themselves as a national frontrunner. The visitors picked up a massive four-set win in Maples Pavilion--Nebraska's first win over Stanford since 2008. One more win over Kentucky in the Devaney Center completed a 9-0 pre-conference campaign.
The Huskers stayed home for two conference-opening wins over Ohio State. By now, nine of Nebraska's 11 victories were in Lincoln.
Road adversity would soon surface at the start of a four-match travel swing in conference play. Nebraska visited Holloway Gym, where Purdue pushed Nebraska to its first five-set battle of 2023. The Huskers had just enough to prevail in the tiebreaker and preserve its unblemished record.
Nebraska survived close bouts with Indiana and Michigan State during this travel stint. The Huskers were glad to return home, where they delivered a rousing victory over Penn State.
Oct. 21 brought the match of the year as second-ranked Nebraska welcomed No. 1 and undefeated Wisconsin to Lincoln. This showdown for the Big Ten's top spot was set against the backdrop of Nebraska's highly publicized losing skid to the Badgers dating back to 2017.
The curse was broken with late-match magic which gave Nebraska a five-set win. This gave the Huskers sole possession of No. 1 in the Big Ten standings and the national rankings.
Nebraska's next marquee moment of conference play came in the road rematch against Penn State. The Nittany Lions dominated the early portion of the match, giving the Huskers their first 0-2 deficit of the year. But, as Nebraska had done so many times against Penn State in the last decade, the Huskers found a way to rally and take the match in five.
Big Red soon grew its Big Ten lead as Wisconsin dropped back-to-back matches to Purdue and Penn State. This allowed the Huskers to clinch its first conference title since 2018 after a road victory against Iowa. Nebraska's Big Ten tally at this point was 18-0.
Perfection eluded Nebraska as the aforementioned Badgers got revenge in Madison. Despite suffering its first loss of the season, the Huskers tidied up at Minnesota and assured its spot as the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska took care of the postseason's opening weekend against Long Island and Missouri. The regional semifinals would not trip up the Huskers this time as Nebraska dismantled Georgia Tech.
Big Red advanced to the national championship after defeating Pitt in the national semifinals for the second time in three years. The top-overall seed was one step away from the title.
And it all fell apart from there. Nebraska was served off the court by Texas in the title bout, relegating the Huskers to a runner-up finish. This was Nebraska's third loss in the national championship match since last hoisting the trophy in 2017 (2018, 2021).
2023 Lineup:The 6-2 of 2022 was scrapped in favor of a one-setter offense with many new faces.
True freshman setter Bergen Reilly led the way. The South Dakota native, who earned Senior National Team experience as a high schooler, had a positional battle with returning junior Kennedi Orr for the starting spot. Even with Orr's incumbency, Reilly was widely expected to take the job. She met or exceeded any reasonable expectations by dishing out the Big Ten's best assist-per-set average. Reilly was named the 2023 Big Ten Setter of the Year--the first time a freshman was given the honor since the award's inception in 2012.
Harper Murray was another first-year player to immediately seize a six-rotation role with the Huskers. The top-ranked outside hitter recruit was initially slated to be the L2 but settled in as the terminal L1. Murray was Nebraska's second-leading scorer with 394 kills on a 0.237 percentage. She also passed a large percentage of opposing serves.
Nebraska's freshman influence carries into the middle, where Andi Jackson quickly became the team's M1. The first-year athlete's dynamic slide attacks made her an easy choice for the position, even with sophomore Rebekah Allick returning as the 2022 M1. Jackson finished the season with a 0.399 hitting percentage, placing herself third in the Big Ten and 19th nationally. Allick was the conference's second-most productive blocker with 1.5 stuffs per set. She occasionally shared time with fellow sophomore Maggie Mendelson.
The Huskers found their go-to attacker from the transfer portal. Junior opposite Merritt Beason logged all-SEC honors in her two seasons at Florida but had a career-best season in Lincoln. She ranked eighth among Big Ten attackers in kills per set and played across the dial for Big Red. Beason was also a conditional passer. Her 2023 efforts earned first-team all-American honors.
Another perennial all-American returned at libero. Junior Lexi Rodriguez joined Beason on the first-team list, matching her freshman feat in 2021. The tenured defender also earned the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year nod despite modest dig stats. Rodriguez was more impactful through her passing.
Rodriguez was accompanied in the backcourt by freshman defensive specialist Laney Choboy. Choboy was the last addition to Nebraska's 2023 signing class after she flipped her commitment from Minnesota. She was used as the substitute for whichever left-side attacker played across the rotation from Murray.
And that outside hitter spot became the biggest source of flux in Nebraska's 2023 lineup. Initially, the Huskers deployed junior Lindsay Krause as its starter. The Omaha native had spent her first two seasons on the right side before making the anticipated shift to the left.
Returning starter Ally Batenhorst still saw court time after some up-and-down early-season performances from Krause. Then, injuries became the deciding factor at L2.
Krause missed three mid-September matches due to injury. She returned to the lineup at Purdue and put together some of her best matches of the season. Unfortunately, an ankle injury before Nebraska's road match with Northwestern kept Krause out of the lineup indefinitely.
Batenhorst closed out the season and hit 0.189. Krause was at a 0.285 clip after appearing in 14 matches.
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2024 Projected Lineup:It's no secret that Nebraska can cause positional upheavals even when returning starters are in the mix.
The Big Ten has seen numerous intra-conference transfers lately. Nebraska got the headliner of the offseason with Minnesota outside hitter Taylor Landfair moving to Lincoln. Landfair was the 2022 Big Ten Player of the Year but saw diminished productivity during Minnesota's tough 2023 season. The former No. 1 recruit joins a position group that loses Batenhorst to USC and backup Hayden Kubik to Tennessee. Skyler Pierce is a high-profile freshman signee. Murray is entrenched in her L1 spot unless Nebraska decides to flip the lineup.
Landfair will therefore compete with Krause, who is hoping to make an injury comeback. A backcourt role for either player seems unlikely, but that might say more about Nebraska's insistence on keeping Choboy in the lineup.
Choboy will operate next to Rodriguez again. The libero room gains in-state recruit Olivia Mauch, who could see situational reps in her debut season.
Nebraska's other high-profile transfer was fifth-year middle blocker Leyla Blackwell. Blackwell began her career at Indiana and spent the last three seasons at San Diego. Her blocking has stood out most in box scores, especially during San Diego's 2022 run to the national semifinals. Blackwell's averages ranked sixth nationally during that historic season.
Jackson is the immovable object at M1, leaving Blackwell and Allick to decide the hierarchy at M2. A timeshare akin to Allick-Mendelson is possible. Otherwise, this is an open position for either player to seize.
Reilly is still the setter. Beason occupies the spot across from her at opposite. The right-side hitter spot is thinner this year with 2023 signee Caroline Jurvecius departing for Penn State alongside Mendelson.
2024 Schedule:Nebraska participates in the first match of the Division I volleyball season. The Huskers will face Kentucky in Louisville as part of the AVCA First Serve Showcase.
The Huskers return home the same weekend to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and TCU.
Week 2 starts with a road trip to SMU, reciprocating the Mustangs's visit in 2023. SMU is in the ACC now, so that's fun.
Home matches against The Citadel and Montana State are next. That might be less fun. Nebraska and The Citadel were the last two undefeated D1 teams left last season before The Citadel fell on Oct. 28.
Creighton returns to the Devaney Center for the second year in a row. Arizona State and Wichita State close out the week.
The Nebraska-Stanford home-and-home series continues. The Huskers then make a return trip to Louisville to face the Cardinals.
The Final Four is there:
2024 Outlook:Surely you don't need some cornhead to tell you that Nebraska's 2024 goal is a national championship.
I could weave an ornate narrative about how this team's best asset will be its motivation to atone for last year's dud in the finale. Frankly, Nebraska doesn't need it. The roster is good enough.
The Huskers bring back almost all of the 2023 team, all while seemingly upgrading depth L2, middle blocker, and DS. Nebraska has the unique "problem" of intermixing its deep talent reserves into the best lineup possible. The outside hitter spot remains in the spotlight as Landfair and Krause vie for starting time. Landfair is looking for her 2022 form, and Krause just needs to get healthy. Which one of these things will materialize? How much does Blackwell play?
Even if Nebraska tosses chess pieces around for a while, the Huskers still have a ceiling to compete with anyone in the country. That's not news to anyone, either.
This is the Big Ten title favorite and a national frontrunner.
