Nebraska volleyball fans are seeing how competitive freshman setter Nicklin Hames is now, but coach John Cook saw it about four years ago while on the recruiting trail.
There were several good setters in the 2018 recruiting class, but Hames is the one Cook wanted. While watching her play in club volleyball tournaments, he could see how much Hames hated to lose, and that's one of the things he liked most about her.
“She took average talent and won and got those kids to play hard,†Cook said. “She won five state championships (for high school volleyball). So last year on the state championship point she sets her sister out of the back row and says, 'Hit it.' Stuff like that. She’s just one of those players if you’re picking doubles teams you’d want her on your team because she does everything well and she’s going to talk and fire you up and make you believe.â€
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During the first five weeks of the season, Nebraska fans have got to see how competitive Hames was, with her long serving runs, and getting some big blocks, even though she’s only 5-foot-10.
Her competitive fire got Hames into a little trouble during last week’s match against Michigan, when she got a warning from the referee for taunting a Michigan player after winning a joust at the net.
“We don’t encourage that, but it’s a good sign,†Cook said. “I’d rather have that than not getting fired up. That’s a sign that she’s taking ownership of this team, and she’s competing.â€
Hames leads Nebraska with 20 ace serves. The decision to have Hames serve first in the rotation is based on making the Huskers’ offense the strongest, but her serving has also been a weapon.
At the start of the match against Michigan, she served two aces in the first three rallies of the match. She also served an ace to start the Michigan State match on Sunday. Later, she served a 6-0 run for a big lead in the fourth set.
In the win against Michigan, Hames had three kills, 10 digs, 44 assists and set the Huskers to a .314 hitting percentage.
“That girl is a gamer, for sure,†Nebraska’s Lauren Stivrins said of Hames. “You know whenever the ball goes to her she’s going to make a great play.â€
Foecke, Hames earn league honors: Outside hitter Mikaela Foecke and Hames earned weekly awards from the Big Ten Conference. Foecke is the Big Ten co-player of the week. She had 21 kills, nine digs and six blocks in a win against Michigan. Against Michigan State she had 12 kills with a .417 hitting percentage. Hames was the co-freshmen of the week.
Cook working for offensive rhythm: Nebraska’s defense is better than Cook expected. Now he wants to get the Huskers operating more smoothly on offense, which hasn’t been as good as Cook thought it might be.
“We got to get our middle attack going a little more, and to do that we got to pass more,†Cook said. “That’s one thing. Out-of-system, we should be better. We hit .000 out-of-system against Michigan State. We’ve got to make that a strength for us. … Probably the main thing is being in a consistent rhythm, and you got to pass the ball to do that. We were in a great rhythm last year, and we’re still sputtering on that a little bit.â€
Huskers stay at No. 3: Nebraska stayed at the No. 3 in the new AVCA poll, after the top two teams, BYU and Stanford, also went 2-0 last week. Five Big Ten teams are still in the top-10, but Penn State dropped five spots to No. 9 after an 0-2 start to Big Ten play, with losses against Minnesota and Ohio State. This week the Huskers will leave the state for the first time this season. Nebraska plays at Northwestern on Friday and No. 7 Illinois on Saturday.