The Nebraska volleyball team had an impressive week, with a sweeping win over Oregon and another dominant performance against Washington. Just days ago, they took the court in front of a record-breaking 8,500 fans at Matthew Knight Arena, sweeping Oregon in three sets (25-12, 26-24, 25-18). Then, they headed north for a late-night clash with the Washington Huskies. But nothing slowed the Huskers down — another sweep followed (25-17, 25-11, 25-21), extending their winning streak to 21 and their record to an impressive 24-1, with a perfect 14-0 conference mark.

In the Washington game, outside hitters Harper Murray and Taylor Landfair were on fire, combining for 22 of the team’s 44 kills. Murray finished with 12 kills and a .360 hitting percentage, and it wasn’t until her eighth attempt in the second set that she missed a kill. Landfair, who has been on a roll lately, added 10 kills, hitting a solid .471, and contributed three blocks. But despite all the victories and standout performances by Nebraska Volleyball, Nebraska’s head coach, John Cook, wasn’t satisfied, and he couldn’t shake his frustration with the team’s play last week.

Nebraska Volleyball’s coach shows frustration!

In a recent video shared by Husker Online, John Cook sat down at a press conference after one of Nebraska Volleyball’s games, and when a journalist asked what helped Harper and Taylor rack up such impressive numbers last week, Cook gave a candid response. He said, “Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, our middles weren’t great, so I’d like to have everybody up there, but you know Andy’s taking a lot of blockers with her, which is opening things up. Merritt takes a lot of blockers with her, which opens things up.”

He pointed out that while some areas weren’t quite up to par, especially on the left side, the players could capitalize on the openings created by others. “Our left sides haven’t been that good, and they took advantage of it,” Cook acknowledged, emphasizing how the team could still make the most of the situation. He ended by hinting at what’s coming, saying, “We’ll see what happens this week when we’re playing our matches, how they defend us.” It’s clear Cook’s got his eyes on making adjustments to stay ahead and keep the momentum going.

Nebraska Volleyball now returns home after four straight road matches to host No. 14 Minnesota on Thursday at 8 p.m. and Indiana on Saturday at Bob Devaney Sports Center. And while John Cook remains unhappy even with Nebraska’s continuous victories, there’s something else too that’s not going in their favor, even with these wins!

2nd place curse haunts the Huskers!

Yep, you heard it right! There’s that one thing that Nebraska Volleyball just can’t seem to crack, no matter how many victories they stack up—and that’s the elusive AVCA rankings! It all started last month when, for the first time this season, those rankings took a dip. The Huskers, despite their fierce momentum, landed in the second spot, just trailing behind Pittsburgh.

But hold on, this story isn’t quite over yet! When the rankings came back around on November 4, Nebraska remained steadfast in second place, while the Pitt Panthers, once again, sat pretty at the top. Even though Nebraska earned 11 first-place votes—gaining two more than in the October poll—it still wasn’t enough to capture that shining top spot.

And for the seventh week in a row, despite racking up 12 first-place votes, the Huskers are still locked out of that number-one position, with Pittsburgh cozy and secure in the lead. The chase continues, but that elusive top spot still seems just out of reach.