Huskers spring into summer with excitement, plenty ahead
Nebraska volleyball's spring practices came to an end on Saturday with an exhibition match in Kearney against Denver.
The official attendance for the Huskers’ spring match at the Health & Sports Center on Nebraska at Kearney’s campus was 5,094. With first serve between Nebraska and Denver scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the doors set to open 90 minutes prior, the line to get in the door wrapped around the building and down a couple of blocks by noon. Fans started lining up earlier that morning in hopes to get the best seats possible.
General admission tickets will do that. The Huskers being in town will too.
Skylar Pierce — the freshman outside hitter from Lenexa, Kansas — called it insane.
“I’ve never seen a line like that sitting outside of any sport, let alone women’s sports,” Pierce said post-match “Seeing that coming into this spring match was really exciting and very encouraging for sure.”
Nebraska volleyball has been in the driver’s seat of history for women’s sports over the past year. From Volleyball Day at Nebraska to making it to the national title game with a roster that featured no seniors, the Huskers have found themselves both making history and defying odds over and over.
For that, it was no surprise to find out that ESPN has embedded itself with the Nebraska volleyball team for an E:60 feature that will debut in September.
“They have been with us all year,” coach John Cook said on Saturday. “They’re doing a documentary, so they have been in and out. They’ve been to a lot of hometowns. They were here in March for three days and then they wanted to come out and see this because until you see it, you don’t believe it. They were on the bus with us. There are cameras (in the team’s) face all the time. I’m mic’d up all the time at practice, so they do a very thorough job with getting their video.
“I don’t know how they’ll get this down to a documentary but we’ll see.”
For a player like senior outside hitter Lindsay Krause, she’s seen it all build to this point. While a sold-out spring game 135 miles west of the University of Nebraska — Lincoln campus might surprise someone like Pierce, it doesn’t shock Krause.
That doesn’t mean she — or any of the players who have seen this before — take the support for granted.
“I think it’s really special and it really shows how many people all over the state of Nebraska care about this university,” Krause said. “And not just in the metro areas of Omaha or Lincoln. It’s the whole state and I feel like sometimes people forget about that, especially because of the way the population works.
“I think it’s really cool to go — even if it’s not western Nebraska but closer to central Nebraska — and just see the environment. Everybody cares so much and to play in a setting that isn’t the (Bob Devaney Sports Center) but they try to make it seem like Bob as much as possible … Like, we bring out the court, we do everything. We have refs to make it feel as game-like as possible and as real as possible so people get that experience.”
As for the E:60 documentary, Krause sees it as a moment to immortalize Nebraska volleyball. Things like this “go down in the record books” and are “never forgetting,” as she noted, so there’s something about having the opportunity to document this team that means a lot to her.
Plus, it only continues to bring attention and a light to women’s volleyball — and women’s athletics in general. For that, Nebraska’s coaches and players are thrilled with the opportunity to be involved.
And ESPN captured a good one on Saturday too. The Huskers swept the Denver Pioneers, 25-13, 25-12, 25-15, and outhit .446 to .120. Not a bad day to document.
Other news and notes:
>> Speaking of Krause, Cook said during the broadcast on Nebraska Public Media that she is about 75% back to where she was prior to the ankle injury that forced her to miss 22 matches in 2023. After Saturday’s match, he added that she’ll get to 100% by August.
Krause feels good — she said as much post-match — but said there is always more to work and improve on. For her first match back, Krause hit .417 and has a team-high 12 kills.
>> Cook feels really good about this Nebraska team. Like, really good.
“I just think they now know what they are capable of,” Cook said. “Last year, we weren’t sure and we had this great run and we’re playing really well. Of course the way the season ended was not good and everyone remembers that. I keep reminding them that we won the Big Ten and it isn’t easy to win the Big Ten.
“I just think now they know what they’re capable of and they know what they want and we’ve got really good leadership and they work really, really hard. I think they’re enjoying playing with each other.”
>> Speaking of winning the Big Ten, Cook is also excited to have Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington join the conference officially before this fall. From Cook’s perspective, adding those teams are good for both competition and for TV, radio and media interest.
“I think everybody is feeding off of something new,” Cook said. “It’s going to be fun and they get to be part of the first time those teams come in. I’m excited.
“I think it’s going to create more interest (in volleyball).”
>> Harper Murray did not make the trip to Kearney on Saturday after news broke that she had been accused of shoplifting at a Lincoln-area Scheels. This follows Murray's recent citation for DUI in April.
A Nebraska spokesperson said pre-match that the decision to suspend Murray from Saturday’s match was made prior to the shoplifting accusation. Post-match, Cook said Murray’s status is out of his control at this point and that he — and Nebraska — will now wait to see how the legal system plays out.
"Hopefully she's gonna finish her finals,” Cook said. “That's the main goal right now."
As a note, this week is considered “dead week” for Nebraska. Finals are scheduled to begin next Monday.
>> Nebraska will have a break before returning to Lincoln on July 4. However, several are slated to depart in June to participate in USA Volleyball’s training camp ahead of the 2024 Women’s U21 NORCECA Continental Championship.
Hope she does well in her finals.