John Cook and his Nebraska Volleyball squad were among the crowd favorites throughout the Big Ten Conference season, riding high with a dominant 25-match win streak. But that streak was finally snapped on Friday night at Penn State, where the No. 2 Huskers suffered a 3-1 defeat (21-25, 25-14, 22-25, 23-25) in a fierce battle at Rec Hall before 6,597 fans. Penn State improved to 29-2 overall and 19-1 in the Big Ten, and secured at least a share of the Big Ten title, ending a 6-year drought against Nebraska. Afterward, it was left to the Huskers (28-2, 18-1 B1G) to rely on a victory over Maryland on Saturday that would have given both teams the co-championship with the Nittany Lions. And on Saturday they did just that!

The Huskers came up with a dramatic 3-1 win over Maryland to make the final and gain a share of the Big Ten championship before the final regular season match. The problems did not end there, though. By Sunday, they were back on the road, entering this high-stakes NCAA selection process. With the number of shows increasing, John Cook decided to share his thoughts regarding the exhausting schedule, especially during the holiday season.

In a recent YouTube video shared by the Nebraska Huskers, Coach John Cook sat down for a press conference where he reflected on his team’s journey in the Big Ten. When asked by a journalist about the big win that stood out to him before the week’s events, Cook responded with a nod to their victory at Wisconsin. “I think winning at Wisconsin was okay because that, you know, we’ve lost there a lot, right?” Cook explained, acknowledging the tough history the team had there.

John Cook also pointed out that the Huskers had faced several setbacks in the past, particularly during their road games on Thanksgiving weekend, adding, “In fact, Nate pointed out, you know, we’ve lost three of the last four of the last Black Fridays. We’ve lost three of them have been on the road, so we got to get that fixed with a Big Ten that three of the last four years have been on the road Thanksgiving.”

Cook was not afraid to admit the strenuous schedule had taken its toll on the team. After a very demanding schedule in November, the players were challenged with a difficult trip back to their homes. “We got back at 2:30 in the morning last night,” he said and said that it is very difficult to come home after such a long journey at such a late hour. But in all this, he could only express how proud he was of his team and particularly said, “I mean, our players did a fantastic job.” Speaking of the match against Penn State, Cook said that it was a great game, but they were quite troubled at some point before steadying themselves. “But it ain’t easy,” he said, pointing out how challenging the Big Ten season had been to his team.

Nebraska’s No. 2 volleyball team claimed a share of the Big Ten crown with a 3-1 (25-27, 25-14, 25-8, 25-12) triumph over Maryland. The Huskers have 29 wins and 2 losses overall and 19-1 in the Big Ten to finish tied with Penn State at the top of the conference for the second straight year and the 36th time in the program’s history. This win also made it five that they have had since they started their Big Ten tenure in 2011. Nebraska was trailing for only a portion of the first set before they took the lead and won the following three sets.

The Huskers followed up a 16-block effort against fourth-ranked Penn State the night before with a season-best 20 blocks against Maryland (14-17, 5-15 Big Ten), matching their performance only three other times since 2006. Defensively, the Big Red played incredibly well, limiting the Terps to a -.059 hitting percentage, the lowest of any Big Ten team this year. But here’s the twist—this isn’t the first time John Cook has publicly talked about the struggles of the holiday season and the grueling fixture list.

John Cook opens up on the holiday season games!

Yes, you heard that right! John Cook has shown himself to be very frank when it comes to the issue of handling the festive season, especially with the tough calendar of the Big Ten games. When the last week of the Big Ten matches was ending, the Nebraska volleyball team faced the challenges of their away matches and Thanksgiving preparation. Before their final league games, Coach Cook said how the Huskers were preparing for the game. “The schedule will be different because of Thanksgiving a little bit,” he said.

Since the team has been traveling to Penn State, the major concern was the time required by the team to prepare for a Thanksgiving dinner. But Cook had a solution. Instead of waiting until Thursday, the Huskers decided to indulge in the “Thanksgiving feast” on Wednesday evening. The veteran coach laid out the reason behind the early celebration: “The problem is, we’re trying to get food on a Thursday, and we get there… And nothing’s open.” They realized that looking for Thanksgiving dinner on the day itself could disrupt their recovery strategies.

Therefore, in order not to lose a probable feast, the team preferred to have an early dinner and enjoy it in advance. The focus? No interruption of the recovery time. Coach Cook also pointed to the issue of rest, admitting that there are always quite a lot of health and fatigue issues during this period of the season. “It’s just the time of year,” he said, acknowledging the fact that his players had been going through a difficult schedule. And, finally, the Huskers kept on ruling the court, not to mention the Thanksgiving hustle.