Will Ex-Nebraska Huskers Volleyball Player Maggie Mendelson Be Able to Achieve What She Couldn’t With Nebraska at Penn State?

NCAA women’s volleyball fans just received the latest and the hottest news update on a big transfer news. Maggie Mendelson of the Nebraska Huskers has been locked by the Penn State Nittany Lions for the upcoming seasons. Mendelson had turned a lot of heads when she decided to enter the trade portal as well. 

She had also turned a lot of heads when she joined the Nebraska Huskers. But, that was all she could achieve there: mere headlines. Maggie Mendelson was one of the top recruits when she started her collegiate career under John Cook. However, neither party could benefit much from each other. What went wrong and will her Penn State transfer do her any good?

The top Nebraska Huskers recruit who couldn’t shine

Maggie Mendelson started her collegiate career with the Nebraska Huskers in 2022. This was the biggest pick for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that year and drowned its volleyball program with several headlines. After all, Mendelssohn was a U-19 Team USA volleyball player. The middle blocker showed an upward trajectory in her growth and constantly surpassed her own self.

In 2021, she bagged the Utah Gatorade Player of the Year honor and was also part of the U-18 national team. Mendelson then upgraded her status, and straightaway became the captain of the 2022 U-19 team that won the Pan American Cup. Her stats were nothing short of promising. She had racked up over 1000 kills in just two and a half years of high school career. Moreover, 417 of those came in just a single season.

The situation couldn’t have been better for the Nebraska Huskers. The team needed a high-caliber recruit for their lineup after their harsh final loss in 2021 against the Wisconsin Badgers. Mendelson could have very easily been the medicine, the Huskers needed to cope with the 2021 finals. But sadly, this didn’t happen.

Maggie Mendelson played just 14 matches throughout the 2022 season for the Nebraska Huskers. While she wasn’t given as many matches, the matches she did play in didn’t bring good results. She scored just 47 kills in the season with an average of 1.119 kills per set, with a hit rate of 0.182 percent. 

As the star recruit of the Nebraska Huskers failed, the team followed suit and made its postseason exit in the regional finals. So what went wrong with Mendelson, and why did she play just a few matches?

The internal and external factors of Maggie Mendelson’s downfall

Maggie Mendelson had a lackluster 2022 season with the Nebraska Huskers. However, 2023 did not come like the breath of fresh air she needed. In fact, her stats dipped even further in 2023. Mendelson scored just 27 points in 13 matches, averaging 1.038 kills per set. Her hit rate inflated to 0.317 percent, but this was only because she only attempted 63 kills in 2023, compared to 137 attempts in 2022.

Do you know what this means? This means that the setter of the team didn’t trust Mendelson enough to set the ball for her. Do you know who was the setter for the Nebraska Huskers in 2023? Bergen Reilly. The breakout star of Nebraska who won the Big Ten Setter of the Year title and earned a spot in the All-American second team. What is more notable is the fact that Reilly achieved all this as a freshman, something which Mendelson failed to do.

While Maggie Mendelson could not become what the Nebraska Huskers fans expected from her, her own inability was just part of the problem. Several seeds for Mendelson’s failure were already sown right from the day she arrived in Nebraska. For instance, she had to shift her focus to basketball as well. While it’s true that many athletes play multiple sports and ace in their primary one, the case was a little tricky for the 2022 recruit.

Mendelson had joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on an athletic scholarship. However, this scholarship was granted to Mendelson, the basketball player, not the volleyball player. Why? Because the Nebraska Huskers don’t have a scholarship program for volleyball yet. Mendelson was recruited as an opposite hitter despite being a middle blocker.

Will she be able to relaunch her career as a Nittany Lion?

As mentioned earlier, Maggie Mendelson was a monster when it came to offense in her high school career. Perhaps, the glow of the 1000+ kills HS career might have made the Nebraska Huskers appoint her as an opposite hitter. Fortunately, however, her middle blocker position was restored. But, this still didn’t make much of a difference, since basketball still whittled her focus down.

Maggie Mendelson was ranked at number four overall, and number one for the middle blocker position in the recruitment class of 2022. On the other hand, she was the 32nd ranker when it came to basketball. Thus, she must have had to work extra hard to keep her basketball skills sharp as well. 

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Maggie Mendelson will now enter her junior year, but this time, she will be a Nittany Lion. Fortunately, she will solely focus on volleyball at Penn State and is finally free from her inescapable ordeal. But, two years have passed since she was the number one middle blocker in the country. Will she be able to pick up her progress from her glory days and redeem herself and her collegiate career with Penn State? The answers will be revealed this year when the NCAA Volleyball Championship will start a new season in August.

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