Guess Nebraska Volleyball wasn’t fated to win it all! And both times, the team that made them sweat was Penn State! After handing them their first Big Ten Conference loss earlier this season and grabbing a share of their Big Ten title, the Nittany Lions snatched their NCAA finals chance too!

Restricting the Huskers over 5 sets, Penn State ensured they knock them out of the final four. This reverse sweep was the first for the Huskers since 1982! But that meant bringing the collegiate careers of all seniors to an abrupt end. Including co-captain Merritt Beason.

Nebraska Volleyball senior happily embracing the transition

For Merritt Beason, it looks like she is eager to embrace this side of life—the one where she moves a step ahead of her collegiate career. Thus, in a TikTok video she recently posted, the outside hitter was seen gleefully posing with her best friend in a video that read, “One day you are playing in the final four and the next you are home with your best friend talking about y’alls next stage of life.”

It appeared that the Nebraska volleyball senior is thrilled about what life holds for her next. But deep down, it’s surely hitting her—both the Huskers’ loss and that it drew the final curtain on her NCAA career. No wonder her caption says, “Crazy how quickly life changes. So sad & so excited at the same time.”

Clearly she is going through a whirlwind of emotions! Ever since Beason shifted from Florida, she spent her two final years with the Huskers. And needless to say, they’d become one big family. So much that Beason remarked, “It’s really hard to put it into words. There’s truly not another group of girls that I’d want to go out with.” Truly, she loves that she’s exiting the NCAA along with fellow Huskers Lexie Rodriguez, Taylor Landfair, Lindsay Krause, Kennedi Orr, and Leyla Blackwell.

But now that she is moving to the next leg of her career, she’s not alone. She has a few Huskers girls accompanying her in the very endeavor she is embarking on.

Nebraska fame Merritt Beason gets ready to join the PVF league

What’s next for the Nebraska volleyball seniors? Well, the Pro Volleyball Federation held their draft recently, and three Nebraska Huskers have made it to the PVF, including Merritt Beason, who was the overall first pick of the 2024 draft. She was selected by the Atlanta Vibe. This only seems normal as the Vibes have a deep Husker connection since Kayla Banwarth, a former Husker, is their head coach.

However, Beason couldn’t help but get emotional about her time spent with Nebraska Volleyball. She got teary-eyed in the past game press conference as she reflected on her post-game journey. She talked about her younger self, for whom this journey was a dream: “Little Merritt hoped to go to community college right down the road… volleyball wasn’t a big thing.” In fact, she says, “I didn’t even know you could play volleyball at a young age.”

But Nebraska Volleyball changed it all for her. “It’s just something you don’t really dream of,” she said, recalling about a sport that wasn’t anywhere near on her radar. Yet, she is now both—grateful for the phase that has passed, and excited about what the future holds! What do you think of this? Let us know below!