Coach John Cook Reveals Inside Secret Factoring Nebraska Volleyball’s Successful Season: “We’ve Developed That“

John Cook’s Nebraska Huskers are on fire, crushing it in both the Big Ten and NCAA seasons! Since they clinched a piece of the Big Ten title, they have come barreling into the Sweet 16 and are ready to face Dayton on December 13, 2024. After a victory against Miami in straight sets 3-0, the Huskers played out of their socks in front of their home crowd of 8,684 people at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. They didn’t just win—they dominated Miami, limiting it to fewer than 20 points in all three sets (25-19, 25-14, 25-18). Oh, and Miami’s hitting percentage? Their lowest of the season is at .058.

With 24 straight NCAA home wins and 43 home victories in a row, Nebraska’s got their house on lock! But now as they prepare for the semifinal round, Coach Cook is just enjoying what has been a fantastic season. From breaking records to making Big Red fans happy, John Cook looks back at the successful year.

In a recent YouTube video shared by the Nebraska Huskers, Coach John Cook, along with Lexi Rodriguez and Merritt Beason, sat down for a pre-Dayton press conference. A journalist asked Cook, “Merritt was talking about the communication improving. Obviously, you and Jaylen do a lot of coaching in matches, but just where have you seen the team make those adjustments during the matches?”

Cook responded, “Well, it’s something you are doing all the time. We do it in practice. We do it in matches, so it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, everybody’s. It’s the same every week, every match, so it just becomes habit and routine for us. We have our own language that we’ve developed that if we’re playing somebody, we can pull something out that reminds them of an adjustment we have to make.”

John Cook went on to explain how these code words work perfectly in high-pressure situations. “It’s just kind of code words that we have,” Cook said. “We can say that word, and they know exactly what they need to do, so we’re not sitting there and having to explain it and, you know, go over it.” It’s all about building those seamless, on-the-fly adjustments that help the team thrive, making communication quick and effective.

The Nebraska Huskers had a 25-game winning streak during the Big Ten season. However, a twist was in the offing for the No. 2 Huskers as their run was halted by No. 4 Penn State with a 3-1 (21-25, 25-14, 22-25, 23-25) set loss in front of 6,597 fans at Rec Hall. Despite the setback, the Huskers still managed to claim a share of the title—a testament to their resilience and strength throughout the season. And now, as they prepare for the next battle with Dayton, John Cook has spoken about the significance of this match and complimented Dayton’s coach.

John Cook reflects on the semis!

With only a day left before John Cook’s Nebraska takes on Tim Horsmon’s Dayton, the excitement is palpable. Both coaches have their unique approaches to success—Cook with his secret code words for adjustments and Horsmon leading Dayton to impressive achievements. After all, Dayton is in the semifinals, right?

When asked about Horsmon, Cook shared, “Yeah, he’s one of the Warriors that’s been around for a long time. He’s done a great job. You know, he was in Maryland for a while, and um, but he’s just done a great job with Dayton. He kind of flies under the radar because they’re not, you know, in a big conference, but you just look at him year to year. He’s done a heck of a job there, and yeah, we’ve been. I just feel like he’s one of the old guys, so along with me.”

Well, coming to Tim Horsmon, he rejoined as head coach of Dayton on December 18, 2013, and has been coaching the Flyers for 15 seasons. He has 372 wins to his tally, which makes him the winningest coach in the program’s history. With a perfect 18-0 Atlantic 10 regular season record in 2023 and 12 consecutive weeks ranked in the AVCA Top 25 coaches’ poll, Horsmon has built a legacy of success. He has guided Dayton to 10 A-10 regular season championships and 11 A-10 championships, so this semifinal matchup against Nebraska is one to watch!