New Facilities to Keep NU at the Cutting Edge

With three All-Americans and a roster that returns all but one starter, the Nebraska volleyball program enters the 2005 season with talent, experience and momentum. 

The Nebraska Athletic Department is contributing even more excitement to the anticipation of the upcoming season with the addition of a state-of-the-art indoor facility for volleyball. 

The Memorial Stadium Expansion Project will benefit all of Nebraska athletics, and volleyball will be a huge benefactor of the sparkling new facilities being constructed near the volleyball team’s home court at the NU Coliseum. 

Making the Right Move
When Athletic Director Steve Pederson began the $50 million Memorial Stadium Expansion Project, he did not just want to simply provide facilities.  He wanted to create championship facilities for championship teams.

Pederson and Associate Athletic Director Boyd Epley want each of Nebraska’s facilities to create championship opportunities.  When student-athletes come to Nebraska, it is apparent they have the support and means necessary to win championships during their college career

“Our facilities are designed to allow us to practice smarter, longer, and better,” Epley said.  The facility needs to help us improve, educate and recruit with the purpose of winning in mind.  If we didn’t do that, we would miss the mark.”   
Beach Patrol

The biggest benefit the Husker volleyball program will receive from the new facility is the international-sized sand volleyball court, which is 8 by 16 meters, and is nearly complete inside of the Championship Wing of the Indoor Championship Center.

“We want to still be able to train in the off-season,” Head Coach John Cook said, “but we want to train in the sand so it reduces the amount of pounding on their bodies.  We can still train them and condition them, but if we make it easier on their joints, they will have longer careers.”

Not only does playing in the sand help strengthen ankles, but it helps reduce injury because sand provides more cushion and is easier on the legs, back and joints. 

According to Volleyball Strength Coach Laura Pilakowski, a former two-time All-American outside hitter at Nebraska, playing sand volleyball doesn’t just help with conditioning.  It also helps improve a player’s all-around game.   

“To play well in the sand, you have to be able to read the court, communicate with the other person, and really have smart shots,” Pilakowski said.  “You can’t just hit it hard in the sand and expect shots to drop, and that’s one thing that really helped me to see the other side of the court more.”

The indoor sand court will be the first one installed at a university-owned facility.  With this court being the only one of its kind, Coach Cook and Epley are setting the standards as high as possible.  Initially Coach Cook wanted a sand pit, but the new facility will provide the Huskers with a full-size court.

“I think one of the greatest things about this is that Boyd Epley always thinks on the cutting edge, he thinks outside the box,” Cook said.  

Epley and Cook didn’t stop with just putting in the Olympic-sized court.  They took the extra step to make sure that even the sand inside the court was worthy of the impressive new complex. 

“Boyd often says we are building championship facilities for championship teams,” Cook said.  “We’re going to put a special kind of sand in there, which has actually been washed and polished, so it doesn’t have dust.  It’ll be like the Bahamas.”

Much like the sand used in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the court was filled with a remarkable surface so the team didn’t have to deal with the haziness of dust that Midwest sand can create. 

Thanks to a generous contribution of washed and polished sand from NEBCO, the only haze coming from the sand court will be from the smoke of volleyballs blasted from the cannon-armed Husker hitters. 

Since polished sand was brought to the forefront by the 2004 Olympics, it’s only fitting that 2004 beach volleyball gold medal Misty May will help dedicate the new, innovative court when it’s ready for play. 

The Quest for a Championship
For proof of the level of commitment that Nebraska is taking with their student-athletes, one needs to look no further than the Charles and Romona Myers Performance Center. 

The University of Nebraska is committed to creating championship opportunities for their student-athletes, and the Myers Center is an example of that.  As part of the Osborne Athletic Complex, the Myers Center includes 63,500 square feet devoted to the excellence of student-athletes. 

As Pederson said when the facilities plans were unveiled, “Athletes are made when no one is watching.”  The Myers Center will allow Nebraska athletes to prepare like champions so they can become champions. 

The Myers Center will house three important aspects of performance, including the strength complex, athletic medicine facility, and nutrition centers. 

“Strengths” of the Osborne Complex
Nebraska developed the original strength and conditioning program called Husker Power, and the new strength complex located in the Charles and Romona Myers Performance Center for Student-Athletes will give the program a sparkling new home. 

Husker Power has played a big role in Nebraska’s historic success in all sports, and the new strength complex will enhance the performance of student-athletes as they strive to win championships. 

With the new strength complex, Nebraska will get a new facility for its already state-of-the-art equipment.  The new strength complex will include equipment such as transformers, which is a special squat rack developed by Epley that is currently in use in the present strength complex. 

Transformers are mechanical squat racks that controls the height of the bar rack, as well as the height of the safety spot that will catch the load should an athlete not be able to complete the lift.  Nebraska is the only place in the world you’ll find these incredible transformers.      

“I know volleyball is respected and embraced by Husker Power,” Cook said.  “I think that is something that makes Nebraska unique, that our athletes are considered on the same level as any other athlete here at the university.”

Health and Nutrition
Another luxurious feature of the new Osborne Complex is the state-of-the-art athletic medicine facility. 

According to Head Athletic Trainer Jerry Weber, the services that athletic training provides are as important as any other an athlete would receive at Nebraska.

“If you get injured on the college level, you only have a finite amount of time to play,” Weber said.  “You only have five years to play four, and you can’t afford to sit out for a couple years to rehabilitate, so the quality of health care you receive is very important.”

The athletic medicine area will more than triple in size.  The crown jewel of the new athletic training facility is the beautiful new water rehabilitation area. 

“The water rehab area is going to be second-to-none in the country,” Weber said. 

The reason for such an extensive water rehabilitation area is because it is a more effective method of rehab, which will put Husker athletes back in competition quicker.

“The sooner you get student-athletes back doing functional activities that are closely related to what they’re going to be doing as an athlete, the better you are,” Weber said. 

Along with separate hot and cold therapy pools, the athletic medicine area will feature a 60 by 12 feet lap pool that has three 4-foot-wide lanes.  Each lane will be at a different depth to accommodate a gymnast who is 5-feet tall while simultaneously rehabilitating a 7-foot tall basketball player. 

Another separate pool will be equipped with an integrated treadmill and resistance jets to provide the athletic medicine staff with a full array of water rehabilitation options. 

Water rehab is not the only bonus to the new athletic training facility.  To help with issues like muscle pulls, there will be an office for a massage therapist in the athletic medicine area. 

Weber said that the new facility will be arranged like a medical clinic.  There will be separate rehabilitation and taping areas, a pharmacy, doctors’ offices, and X-ray and emergency room suites.

“It’s just going to make it more efficient.  It is going to be the top facility in the country,” Weber said. 

Another vital aspect of an athlete’s performance is their nutrition.  Nebraska is one of only a handful of universities in the country to have a full-time nutritionist on staff. 

James Harris is Nebraska’s coordinator of sports nutrition, and the new facility will provide him with new amenities that he can pass on to student-athletes as well. 

Three hydration stations and two supplement distribution locations will be installed throughout the Myers Performance Center so that regardless of the athletes’ workout location, they will have immediate access to the provisions they need. 

“When you work out, you tear your body down,” Harris said.  “You push yourself harder and harder to tear your body down and then nutrition helps you recover.”

As well as being able to nourish athletes more efficiently, Harris’ central location in the Myers Performance Center will allow him to serve the athletes’ individual nutritional needs more effectively. 

“With the new facility I will be able to estimate calories.  What that mean is I can go to a practice, monitor their activity, and determine how many calories burning, so I can better advise them as to what kind of calories they should be taking in.”

A winning combination
With the new facilities being built at Nebraska, the final ingredients are being mixed in to create a recipe of success for Husker volleyball that will help keep the program at the top. 

With the brand new Osborne Complex and the Indoor Championship Center, Nebraska will have all the tools necessary to add another national championship banner to the already crowded rafters at the NU Coliseum.

The team will need to train hard, but the new facilities will allow the volleyball team to maximize their performance by addressing all of the team’s performance needs.  In addition to training, the Huskers will uphold a higher level of wellness with the new athletic medicine area, as well as a healthy diet with the nutrition department. 

The new state-of-the-art facilities are just another example of why “There is no Place Like Nebraska.”