Last week, everything fell into place for Nebraska volleyball. Rather, whatever coach John Cook and his mentees touched turned into gold. Have to bottle Sarah Franklin in the arena—checked. Have to fulfill revenge against the Wisconsin Have to give a proper farewell to the seniors in the last home game—checked. What could have been better than these? A better position in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) maybe! After all, since the emergence of the season, the defending Big Ten volleyball champion has been just chasing the Pittsburgh Panthers. 

Throughout the season, the Huskers failed to gain the highest number of top votes in the AVCA poll. For match after match, Lexi Rodriguez and her teammates kept on giving fine performances. But the needle never shifted to Nebraska, leaving the Panthers all alone. Before moving to the last week, both squads had almost the same walks in the season, facing only defeat to SMU. Meanwhile, the last week came as a blessing for Nebraska volleyball. 

Last week, the Big Red defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City and the Wisconsin Badgers in the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Both victories came through a full sweep. Meanwhile, the squad completed its 41st victory in a stretch and 25th on the home turf. Almost a legacy is on the way! Yet the calculations did not work. 

On November 25, Lincoln Arneal, the sports journalist, revealed that the Huskers are still at No. 2, while the Panthers have settled on the top rank. Any special reason? The Huskers are at 28-1, 18-0 B1G, while the Panthers are at 27-1, 17-1 ACC. Much like the Huskers, Pittsburgh concluded last week with two trademark victories earned against Wake Forest and NC State. 

Just like the Huskers, they earned the joy with a full sweep. But the only difference was that the results came in the away games for the Panthers. So did it contribute to the voting process? Perhaps. The final standing, however, shows Pittsburgh claiming 47 top-spot votes. Nebraska volleyball, on the other hand, has claimed 14 top spot votes. Based on these votes, there are no changes in the standings on the list. Nonetheless, there’s a glimmer for the Lincoln-based volleyball team. Do you want to know what that is? 

In the past two weeks, the Huskers received 12 first-place votes. But this time, two more votes have been added to the list. Moreover, it is the highest number of votes Nebraska has claimed this season. Does this change hint at seeing something better in the coming days? Remember, the Big Red has two more matches to go in this season. After that, the team will enter the NCAA volleyball season. So a lot of things can change based on the slight improvement in the support. But hasn’t the team already made a position among the daredevils? 

The Nebraska volleyball has earned the respect 

On Saturday, Sarah Franklin ended the match against the Huskers with 10 kills and a hitting percentage of.175. You don’t see Frank the Tank in that meek avatar often. But this season against Nebraska, this has been her story. She found it hard to score freely against one team only. The reason? The Huskers didn’t allow her to breathe on her own. Rather, Merritt Beason made things difficult for her. So it is all about individual marking. Strategies like these have worked for John Cook’s team. Not only that, the veteran coach has employed tactics to turn the rides for his team. The result?

Nebraska volleyball has a place at least in the top ten of the kills per set and hitting percentage. Additionally, the volleyball team has not sniffed a loss in the last 25 home games. But it has handed thrashing to 10 ranked opponents. Five of them are from the top 10. Yet the squad hasn’t had to face a nervous moment. The victories are a full sweep, mostly. Wouldn’t such elements motivate the team before moving to the bigger contests? Seasoned sports analysts like Emily Ehman are already backing Nebraska for the NCAA volleyball season. What team are you supporting?