“When I came in, we were at a certain level and competing every single year in Final Fours, and we just haven’t been that in the last few years. So I just wanted to come back and make sure that from here on this team knows what they’re capable of and has the confidence to do so. So that’s my mission.” — Nebraska's Lauren Stivrins, on Oct. 6, 2021.
***
COLUMBUS, Ohio — She’s back.
And Lauren Stivrins brought a new group of Nebraska volleyball players with her to the NCAA Final Four, along with a few repeats.
When the Husker senior middle blocker made her celebrated return to the court earlier this season she said she’d accomplished what she’d wanted as a player, with several spots on the program’s all-time charts and three All-America awards.
People are also reading…
Stivrins was determined to get the Huskers back to the national level she’d experienced early in her collegiate career.
The Huskers accomplished that last weekend when they upset No. 2 Texas in the Elite Eight. A good season turned great over 2½ hours in Austin, Texas, and now the Huskers are back at the Final Four for the first time since 2018.
The 10th-ranked Huskers play No. 3 Pittsburgh in the national semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Nationwide Arena.
Most players would love to experience one Final Four. Stivrins is at her fourth. She’s been around so long that this is actually her second Final Four in Columbus. Stivrins was a true freshman in 2016 when the Final Four also was at Nationwide Arena.
In 2017, Stivrins started as a redshirt freshman on the team that won the national championship in Kansas City, Missouri. Nebraska made it back to the championship match again in 2018, losing against Stanford in Minneapolis.
Nebraska came up one match short of the Final Four the past two seasons with losses in the Elite Eight. Stivrins was able to return this season due to the COVID-19 eligibility waiver for last season. Even so, she says she wouldn’t have come back if not for the offseason back surgery she had. She would be playing professional volleyball now instead.
But Stivrins was able to return from the injury 11 matches into the season, and along with four other seniors helped get the Huskers back to another Final Four.
“We really haven’t been there in a while and I’m just so happy that I get to be a part of this for my final season and to be here with this group,” Stivrins said. “It’s a fun group of girls to be around, and clearly we’re on to something great.”
Nebraska’s defense had been good most of the season, as was its serving. Then the offense came along, and the Huskers put it all together when it mattered most last week at Texas.
“This team is some of the most talented individuals and team I’ve ever been a part of and seen,” Stivrins said. “We got to see that every day in practice, but sometimes it didn’t translate over to games. And I feel like (against Texas) is one of those games where it finally came to fruition, and everyone was able to see how talented we can be and how good we are.”
Nebraska’s five seniors have each had a very different journey at Nebraska.
Lexi Sun and Stivrins will have their college careers end this week. Seniors Nicklin Hames, Kayla Caffey and Callie Schwarzenbach could return with one more season of eligibility, but it’s expected that they won’t each be back.
Stivrins will have started for the Huskers in five seasons. Sun started her career at Texas but will still play four seasons at Nebraska. She was a two-time All-American. This season didn’t go as well, with Sun being in and out of the lineup because she wasn’t as successful hitting as she was earlier in her career. Before the season, coach John Cook thought Sun would have a great season. It just didn’t happen, and that happens in sports sometimes.
Hames set a team to the Final Four as a freshman and then did it again as a senior. She’s one of Nebraska’s best defensive players ever at the setter position.
Schwarzenbach started this season when Stivrins was injured, but since then hasn’t played much.
Caffey transferred from Missouri and has started the past two seasons. She’s wowed the fans with her athleticism, leaping ability and smashing down kills. By athletic performance testing metrics, she’s the best athlete on the team — and top 10 all-time for the program.
“That group, one of them has won a national championship, the rest of them played for a national championship and came within three points,” Cook said of the seniors. “They’ve won a lot of matches. They produced our highest GPA ever last year as a team. They’ve also encountered challenges that no other seniors have ever had to do with the pandemic and the spring season and dealing with all of that and playing with no fans.”
Asked about Stivrins’ legacy in the program, Cook said he could talk about the progress she’s made since she was a freshman who had some maturing still to do.
Instead, Cook says her legacy is what he felt from the Nebraska fans the night she returned to the starting lineup on Oct. 1.
“It’s probably the loudest time I’ve ever heard Devaney,” Cook said. “And I think that’s her legacy right there. Her connection with our fans, the Husker Nation. The respect they have for her, who she is and what she’s accomplished and the great competitor she is.”
Sun was an All-American last season but has only played in one match this NCAA Tournament.
But when Nebraska beat Texas last week, and the players rolled on the court celebrating, the TV cameras showed Sun with a big smile and telling teammate Madi Kubik she was proud of her.
A photo of that moment made the rounds on social media this week. One person said that scene was the kind of beautiful human stuff he wants his daughters to know exists.
“We have this thing we call we over me, and it’s part of our culture,” Cook said. “Whether they’re starters, not starters, whatever, this team has really, really embraced that and I think that (moment) is probably a pretty dramatic example. Because Lexi has played in the past, and has played this year, and they’re all in it for each other. That’s probably one of the reasons we’re here. You’ve got to have that to get to this point. You can’t be a fake team and get here.”