You’ve done it, Nebraska volleyball fans.
You’ve made it through a stretch of about 2½ weeks without getting to watch the Huskers play. And really, that isn’t bad considering you waited 13 months between the end of the 2019 season and the start of the delayed 2020-21 season.
And now things could really pick up if things go the way the Huskers hope they do, because Nebraska could play as many as five matches in the next 10 days at the one-site NCAA Tournament in Omaha.
One match at a time though, of course, and that starts when Nebraska plays Texas State in the second round at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday at the CHI Health Center Omaha.
Nebraska received a one-round bye in the tourney, while Texas State beat Utah Valley 3-1 in the first round Wednesday.
Nebraska will have gone 19 days between matches. That’s because Nebraska’s final matches of the season were canceled due to COVID-19 cases for Penn State, and the start of the tournament was a few days later than normal to allow for COVID-19 testing.
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Nebraska coach John Cook really loves to get in the gym and train a volleyball team. He likes the normal spring season, when you’re not always getting ready for a match, and you can really train.
But 19 days without a match was even too much for Cook.
“It’s not something that I would say, ‘We need to do that every year,’†Cook said.
Each day Cook spent time trying to figure out what was the best thing the Huskers could do that day. Some days that was rest, and some days that was a lot of drills designed to keep the players' competitive fire going.
“When you’re not playing for 19 days it’s hard to have something to shoot for. That’s a long ways out,†Cook said. “We’re just trying to be really creative and manage these guys and keep them sharp.â€
Cook won’t know until Thursday, and possibly after, how Nebraska comes back from the long stretch without matches, but he feels good about it.
“I feel like they’ve done an awesome job of coming to the practices and weights and really working hard and being focused,†Cook said. “It’s really hard to do, especially for that age group. I think our team has done an amazing job of it.â€
In the past three weeks, the Huskers got in a few more sessions in the weight room than they would have otherwise. They took more days off than just the one that’s required by the NCAA each week.
And Cook came up with new ways to keep score on some drills so the players had to really compete and play at a high level.
Really high.
“It was probably a higher level than what we need in this tournament, but we had to try somehow to stay at a high level, or go to another place,†Cook said.
Husker senior middle blocker Lauren Stivrins said it’s been hard to have matches canceled.
“It’s such a different energy when you’re playing, as opposed to coming in and practicing,†Stivrins said. “But I think that our team has done a really good job of staying focused and staying ready. But just getting out on the court and competing is something that we’ve really missed, and something that I’m really looking forward to.â€
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