No. 2 Nebraska Volleyball has been having a great week. They won dominantly in their match against Michigan State, sweeping them 25-15, 25-19, 25-15. It was an absolutely impressive display by the team as they controlled the game through their left-side attack. They combined for 24 kills with .373 hitting to pave the way for the Nebraska victory.

Coach John Cook was heavily impressed by the performance. He praised the team, especially the dominant side of the attack, in the post-match press conference. He said, “We worked really hard on it this week, and I thought we got into a pretty good rhythm. I always want more, but they did some nice things tonight, especially out of system. Harper [Murray] had some monster kills; that was fun to watch.” Harper Murray got 12 kills on .333 hitting. Thus, it was a great game overall. However, it was not the end of good news for them.

In the initial draft of the AVCA National Player of the Year watch list, there were only four Nebraska Huskers. Back then, it was a list of 36 players. However, on October 18th, the AVCA added 16 additional names to the list. One of them was middle blocker Andi Jackson, who has been increasingly impressive this season.

This news elated the team as their official handle on X uploaded a post celebrating it. The post read, “Achievement Unlocked: NEW WATCH LIST MEMBER @aandijackson joins four other Huskers in being named to @AVCAVolleyball’s National POTY Watch List! #GBR.” Thus, overall, it was a great week.

Andi Jackson, who is currently in her sophomore season, has been in great touch lately. The middle blocker places third on the team in kills and second in blocks and hitting percentage. Not only that, her hitting percentage is also fifth among all the Big Ten Conference players. Thus, she clearly is one of the finest players in Nebraska Volleyball right now.

It seems that she has built on her great debut season, where she earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors. Now, her second season gives her a solid chance of being named among the finalists to win the award for Player of the Year on December 20th. This would be a great achievement for Nebraska, who are already flying high in the second position as per the Power 10 rankings chart.

Nebraska Volleyball’s stay at second place on the ranking chart seems to continue

Despite their brilliant victories against Purdue and Rutgers, Nebraska stayed on the second spot in the Power 10 rankings chart after game week 7. The first place is still occupied by Pittsburgh despite suffering their first loss this season to SMU 2-3 on October 12th. On the other hand, Nebraska is flying right now with a 17-1 overall record and a 7-0 Big Ten conference record. This was what led to many fans scratching their heads when they couldn’t topple Pittsburgh in the rankings. Many believe that it is now time for the Huskers to take over.

There were 41 votes for the Panthers being in first place in Game Week 7. This was a sharp fall compared to their 61 last week. But they still retained the first spot. This has been the reason why the list has been attracting quite a bit of criticism, as Nebraska has beaten many more top sides than Pittsburgh.

They have defeated Louisville, who are placed fourth, Stanford, who are 5th, and Creighton, who are 6th. But the Panthers have only won two matches against the top 10 sides, against Oregon and Penn State. Thus, it is natural for Huskers fans to feel agitated. However, their victory against Michigan might have improved their claim to the spot next week. With upcoming matches against Penn State and Wisconsin, they have a chance to further solidify their claim. For now, though, Pittsburgh holds on to that coveted number-one position.