Huskers Meet Media at Coliseum

Lincoln- Nebraska volleyball head coach John Cook and the team's three captains met the media on Friday afternoon to discuss the upcoming 2012 season.

Coach Cook answered questions for nearly one-half hour, before senior captains Hannah Werth, Lauren Cook and Paige Hubl took their turns at the podium.

The Huskers captured the Big Ten Championship in their first year as a member of the conference in 2011. Since the end of last season, the team has selected the theme of "unfinished business" to carry them through the upcoming year.

"Our theme is unfinished business and the girls came up with that," Cook said. "We won the Big Ten Championship last year and were the first team in eight years besides Penn State to win the Big Ten Championship in the sport of volleyball. It was our first year in and we're very proud of that. It was the first Big Ten Championship for the University of Nebraska in any sport and it was very gratifying to win that championship. However on our home floor we didn't like how the season ended in the NCAA tournament, which is where our players feel we left a lot out there."

Cook also reflected on the Huskers' last year in the NU Coliseum. To honor the current and former Huskers who have played there, Nebraska will host an alumni match on October 26 when the Huskers take on Ohio State.

"We've invited all of the alumni to come back and we're going to do a presentation after the match," Cook said. "Right now there are over 50 alumni who are coming back. That will be the last chance for these former players to see a match in the Coliseum this fall."

Cook also commented on the expectations he has for this year's team.

"I think we have a chance to be a special team," Cook said. "We learned some great lessons last year on what has to happen for us to be great. I thought at times last year we were the best team in the country. We also learned some lessons on how fragile that is."

The Huskers, who return four AVCA All-Americans in Gina Mancuso, Werth, Cook and Morgan Broekhuis, will open the 2012 campaign with matches against Saint Louis and defending National Champion UCLA at the Coliseum on Aug. 24 and 25. Nebraska will then travel to the CenturyLink Center in Omaha for a matchup with Notre Dame on Aug. 26 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets for the Huskers' match against the Fighting Irish are available through Ticketmaster.

Fans will have their first opportunity to see the Huskers at the Red/White Scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available online at Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8BIGRED.