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Nebraska Volleyball continues to be dominating force

By Leigh Oleszczak

KANSAS CITY, MO - DECEMBER 16: The University of Nebraska celebrates a point against the University of Florida during the Division I Women's Volleyball Championship held at Sprint Center on December 16, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. Nebraska defeated Florida 3-1 for the national title. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - DECEMBER 16: The University of Nebraska celebrates a point against the University of Florida during the Division I Women's Volleyball Championship held at Sprint Center on December 16, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. Nebraska defeated Florida 3-1 for the national title. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
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Nebraska volleyball swept their way through the 2018 NCAA Tournament and made it to their fourth consecutive Final Four. This program truly is one of a kind.

Let’s talk a little college volleyball! It’s tournament season in the sport and once again, Nebraska volleyball is in the running for a National Championship. What a surprise, right?

The Cornhuskers have won two of the last three national titles and very well could make it three out of the last four. This Final Four appearance didn’t come easy for the Huskers despite them sweeping their way through the tournament.

The Big Ten is ridiculously good in volleyball and Nebraska lost five matches over three weeks in the month of October (all against ranked opponents to be fair). For those of you who are unfamiliar with Husker volleyball, it’s a program that doesn’t lose very often, so losing five games in a month was a weird feeling.

The losing was a combination of the conference being so tough and the Huskers being a young team. They lost seven players from their 2017 National Championship team with five of them graduating and two others transferring. Eight newcomers joined Nebraska this year with four of them being big time contributors for the Huskers.

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Having eight new players seemed to be a big enough reason as to why Nebraska couldn’t win it all this year, but here we are. Another Final Four appearance and another chance for the Cornhuskers to hoist the trophy next weekend.

Head coach John Cook continues to lead this program to great things and seniors Mikaela Foecke and Kenzie Maloney will go down as the best duo to ever play for Nebraska. The two have gone 20-1 in the NCAA Tournament throughout their four year careers and have embraced the role as captains this year.

Maloney’s insane play last month where she ran into the chairs on the sideline to keep a ball in play turned things around for this team after their rough October. She was willing to go the extra mile for her team and her teammates took notice. That’s a true leader.

After that crazy play, Nebraska has yet to lose a match. They’ve swept their opponents throughout the NCAA Tournament and have absolutely peaked at the right time. Nebraska volleyball fans are certainly spoiled, but even they probably weren’t predicting a Final Four appearance during that brutal October.

Nebraska heads to Minneapolis for the semifinals where they’ll play Illinois on Thursday. These two met twice in 2018 with the series split 1-1, but Nebraska has gotten hot and when they’re rolling, they’re nearly impossible to stop. A third championship in four years is absolutely possible for this young Husker team and that shows what a great coach John Cook is.

Go Big Red!

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