KEARNEY – For the Nebraska volleyball team the spring season is now over and in about three months one of the more interesting seasons in the recent memory of the program will begin.
The Huskers finished the four-week spring season Saturday with it’s only spring match, a 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 victory against Colorado State in front of a sellout crowd of 2,040 at the new Kearney High gym.
When the Huskers open the season on Aug. 25 against Oregon the team will look quite different from last season. The Huskers lost four seniors, including three-All-Americans in Amber Rolfzen, Kadie Rolfzen and Justine Wong-Orantes.
That group helped the Huskers get back to the program’s high standards by winning the national title in 2015, and the Big Ten Conference title in 2016. Now what will happen to the Huskers?
NU will have returning players with bigger roles now — probably outside hitters Annika Albrecht and Olivia Boender and libero Kenzie Maloney — and may have to rely on a few freshmen.
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“I think we’re going to surprise some people because we know how to fight and we know how to work our butts off,†said setter Kelly Hunter. “I think we’ve had a lot of talent in the past so we could not play great and win some games, and I think this year we’re going to have to play great volleyball for a majority of our games. I think we can do it though. I think these girls are excited and we’re all pumped up and we love our new coaching staff.â€
Nebraska fans — and the rest of the country — will be watching to see at what level the Huskers play this season.
“We’re really excited, honestly,†Albrecht said. “With all of the changes we’ve had with our team and our coaching staff I think we have a really great opportunity to prove to a lot of people that we still can be a great team, and we’re going to bring it in different ways like with our team chemistry and energy, because those are things we can control.â€
Nebraska coach John Cook said it will be important that a few of the freshmen come in and push for playing time, but he likes how the Huskers trained during the spring season.
“They’ve given great effort. I like our new staff, so I’m excited,†Cook said. “They know they’ve got a lot to prove, and they’re going to have to go out and prove it and we’re going to be in a lot of tough battles. Our schedule is tough.â€
Saturday, Albrecht led the Huskers with 11 kills on a .250 hitting percentage. Boender added eight kills and hit .222. NU middle blockers Briana Holman and Lauren Stivrins each had five kills.
Nebraska had 11 ace serves. Mikaela Foecke and Albrecht had three ace serves apiece.
The Huskers have been practicing running their attack with a faster tempo this season, hoping that could help NU best utilize the players on the roster right now. Albrecht is undersized for a Big Ten outside hitter at 6-foot, but can be very effective if Hunter quickly gets her a chance to attack before the blockers are in good position.
“That’s one of the big things for Anni that has kind of held her back is we ran a slower offense, and Anni has a super-fast arm. I mean as fast as anybody we’ve had,†Cook said. “By going faster it allows her to really use her arm as a weapon. It speeds up her arm, instead of slowing it down."
Boender spent the start of her college career on the Huskers’ scout team.
“For two years she’s been on the B side and we simulate teams that go really fast and she lights us up and we can’t stop her, and we’re just like, ‘OK, someday we got to go fast to Liv,’†Cook said.
Nebraska did an OK job Saturday at trying to operate at a faster tempo, Cook said. The Huskers got better in the match once Hunter settled in after a shaky start to the match, Cook said.
“There were a couple of really nice plays, but we misfired on a few, so we’ll have to evaluate that,†he said. “But I think this team needs to be able to stress teams with our tempo, because it’s not like we’re going to out-physical a lot of Big Ten teams. So we got to be able to stress them with tempo.â€
For several years the Huskers have left Lincoln for its only spring match to share the program with fans across the state. The line for autographs after the match was so long that the players stayed and signed for about one hour. Hunter said being back in a high school gym was fun.
“Everyone in the locker room was like, ‘Oh, my, God, this is better than Devaney because everyone is right on top of you, and they’re all so engaged,’†Hunter said. “They were awesome.â€