Huskers Tangle with Toreros in Sweet Sixteen

SAN DIEGO at NEBRASKA
Date: Friday, Dec. 13
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Lincoln, Neb.
Arena: Devaney Center
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Live Radio: B107.3 (Lincoln), 93.3 (Omaha), Husker Sports Network, Huskers.com
Web Stream: ESPN3.com

Following sweeps of Fairfield and No. 25 Oregon in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the eighth-seeded Nebraska volleyball team returns to the Bob Devaney Sports Center for regional play. The Huskers will meet the ninth-seeded San Diego Toreros on Friday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. (CT) at the Devaney Center. The winner between Nebraska and San Diego will advance to Saturday’s 8 p.m. (CT) regional final against Texas or American.
 
The Huskers have been playing some of their best volleyball of late as they have posted four sweeps in the last five matches. In the first two NCAA tournament matches of the year, the Huskers were active at the net as Nebraska tallied 13 blocks against Oregon and 11 against Fairfield. Nebraska is making its 29th appearance in the regional round.

San Diego is making its 17th NCAA tournament appearance and its fourth consecutive trip. The Toreros have produced sweeps in both matches of the NCAA Tournament, topping UC Santa Barbara in the first round and Arizona in the second round.

Friday night’s match will be the fifth meeting between Nebraska and San Diego. Nebraska leads the all-time series at 4-0. The last time the two teams met was on Dec. 8, 2006 in the NCAA Regional Semifinals in  Gainesville, Fla. The Huskers topped USD in three sets.

Nebraska’s match with San Diego will be streamed on ESPN3.com. Fans can also listen to all the action on B107.3 in Lincoln, 93.3 in Omaha, select Husker Sports Network affiliates and on Huskers.com.

The Devaney Center will open at 5:30 p.m., on Saturday, Dec. 14 as fans are encouraged to come early and watch the Regional Final from Champaign, Ill., on the big screens in the arena. Fans will be able to buy concessions, get priority general admission parking and watch one of the teams advance to the National Semifinal match.

Last time Out: vs. Oregon - Dec. 7, 2013 (Lincoln)
An outstanding night from Kadie Rolfzen and the Husker block powered the eighth-seeded Nebraska volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep over 25th-ranked Oregon in a second-round NCAA Tournament match Saturday night in front of 8,012 fans at the Devaney Center.

With the 25-22, 25-19, 25-22 win, Nebraska (25-6) advances to next Friday’s NCAA Regional Semifinal at the Devaney Center against either No. 9 seed San Diego or Arizona.

The Huskers, who swept a ranked opponent for the fifth time this season, stuffed the Ducks 13 times on Saturday, holding the fast-paced Oregon offense to a .144 attack percentage. Nebraska hit .291 as four players hit .333 or better and six Huskers had at least five kills.

Kadie Rolfzen, essentially making her postseason debut after playing only the back row in Friday’s win over Fairfield, produced match-high totals of 15 kills and 17 digs. Rolfzen hit .333 on the match while recording her 12th double-double of the year. Her twin sister Amber produced five kills and Kelsey Robinson totaled eight kills. Middle blockers Meghan Haggerty and Cecilia Hall combined for 11 kills on only 20 swings, highlighted by five kills on eight error-free swings from Hall, who hit .625. Haggerty and Hall also contributed six blocks apiece. Setter Mary Pollmiller recorded five kills and dished out 36 kills, just missing a double-double with nine digs.

Scouting the San Diego
• San Diego is 26-3 on the year and has a 16-2 record in West Coast Conference play. The Toreros are ranked eighth in the latest AVCA Poll and received a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• In the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, USD swept UC Santa Barbara and Arizona. The Toreros are on a 17-match winning streak.
• San Diego is making just its third appearance in the Sweet 16. Against Arizona, the Toreros offense was paced by both Chloe Ferrari and Alaysia Brown, as both players had 13 kills apiece, with Ferrari hitting for a .526 clip and Brown hitting .500.
• San Diego is making its 17th appearance in the NCAA tournament and fourth consecutive trip. The Toreros are 13-16 all-time in the tournament and have advanced to the Sweet 16 three times, having also done it in 2004 and 2006.
• Middle Hitter Chloe Ferrari was voted the 2013 WCC player of the Year in 2013. She has tallied 325 kills and a conference-leading .447 hitting percentage, as well as 98 blocks.
• Ferrari, Katie Hoekman and Alaysia Brown all earned first-team All-WCC honors, while C’era Oliveira claimed honorable-mention accolades and Hunter Jennings was named to the All-Freshman team.
• Jennifer Petrie is in her 12th season as head coach at San Diego.

Noting the Nebraska Cornhuskers
The information below provides a quick glimpse of a few statistics and brief notes heading into this tonight’s match.
• Nebraska enters this Friday’s match with a 25-6 record and as a No. 8 national seed. The Huskers are 16-4 in Big Ten play.
• Nebraska is ranked No. 9 in the latest AVCA poll.
• The Huskers have produced 25 wins for the 21st straight season, including all 14 seasons under Head Coach John Cook
• The Huskers, who are making their 32nd all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and 32nd straight appearance, improved to 88-28 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Nebraska ranks second in NCAA history in postseason wins.
• NU won its first-round NCAA Tournament match for the 16th straight season, dating back to 1997 when NU received a first-round bye.
• Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional for the 18th time in the last 19 seasons.
• Nebraska improved to 65-7 in home matches during the NCAA Tournament, including a 7-1 record at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
• The Huskers picked up their 11th victory over a ranked team by defeating No. 25 Oregon last Saturday. NU improved to 11-5 vs. ranked opponents this season.
• The Huskers are 19-0 this season when holding opponents below .200 hitting.
• Nebraska has lost 12 Big Ten matches all-time, but has only lost three Big Ten Conference matches at home.
• The Huskers rank in the top 30 nationally in four categories. NU is 18th in assists per set with an average of 13.39, 11th in blocks per set with an average of 2.88, 19th in kills per set with 14.33 and are also 15th in hitting percentage with an average of .274. NU ranks first in assists per set and kills per set in the Big Ten Conference.
• The Huskers return AVCA Honorable-Mention All-Americans Morgan Broekhuis and Meghan Haggerty in 2013. They also welcomed 2011 AVCA Second-Team All-American Kelsey Robinson and 2011 AVCA Honorable-Mention All-American Mary Pollmiller to the 2013 roster after both transferred from Tennessee.
• Nebraska is the second-winningest program in Division I history with 1,191 wins and trails only UCLA (1,195) on the all-time list.
 • The Huskers finished second in the Big Ten in 2013. They were picked to finish fourth in the league in the Big Ten Coaches’ preseason poll in 2013.
 • Nebraska carries a streak of 198 consecutive sellouts into tonight’s match, the longest sellout streak across all NCAA women’s athletics. The Huskers averaged 4,287 fans per home contest last season at the NU Coliseum.
 • Nebraska has seven players on its 2013 roster who were Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selections, representing the top-50 players in that year’s recruiting class. Six of the Huskers’ last nine recruiting classes have ranked in the top five nationally, including the 2009 class that was ranked second and the 2013 class that was ranked first by Prepvolleyball.com.
• Nebraska continued its string of All-America success in 2012, as Lauren Cook was named an AVCA All-American. Cook upped Nebraska’s NCAA-leading totals to 36 players and 74 certificates. Nebraska has had at least one All-American every season since 1983, a total of 31 straight seasons, including 39 All-America awards in Cook’s 13 years at Nebraska.

AVCA All-America Certificates
No.     School        Awards
1.        Nebraska        74
2.        Stanford           66
3.        Penn State      58
4.        Hawaii             53
5.        UCLA               45

• Head Coach John Cook welcomes a young team, including 10 newcomers, to the 2013 squad. The 2012 team finished 26-7 last season, while Cook has won over 90 percent (412-47) of his matches in 13 years as the Huskers’ leader.

The Last Time Nebraska...
•    Won a match 3-0: vs. Oregon, Dec. 7, 2013
•     Won a match 3-1: vs. Michigan, Nov. 16, 2013
•    Won a match 3-2: at Minnesota, Nov. 10, 2013
•    Lost a match 0-3: at Purdue, Nov. 22, 2013
•     Lost a match 1-3: vs. Penn State, Nov. 30, 2013
•    Lost a match 2-3: at Texas, Sept. 22, 2013
•    Had 100 kills in a match: vs. Texas Tech, Oct. 26, 1996
•    Had 200 attacks in a match: vs. Iowa State (200), Oct. 21, 2009
•     Had .500-or-more hitting pct.: vs. Kansas (.523), Oct. 10, 2001
•    Had 10-or-more service aces: at Iowa (11), Nov. 27, 2013
•    Had 40-or-more total blocks: vs. UCLA (41), Sept. 14, 1991
•    Had 100-or-more digs: vs. USC (109), Dec. 11, 2004

The Last Time a Husker...
•    Had 30-or-more kills: Sarah Pavan (31) at Kansas State, Nov. 3, 2007
•    Had 10-or-more blocks: Meghan Haggerty (11) vs. Michigan, Nov. 16, 2013
•    Had 25-or-more digs: Lauren Cook (25) vs. Purdue, Nov. 10, 2012
•    Had two players with 20-or-more kills: Kelsey Robinson (21) and Kadie Rolfzen (20) vs. Michigan, Nov. 16, 2013
•    Had a triple-double: Greichaly Cepero (10 kills, 38 assists, 12 digs) vs. Texas Tech, Sept. 25, 2002

Nebraska...
•    Is 363-14 (.963) when winning a first set under John Cook and 49-33 (.598) when it loses the opening set
•     Has spent 416 weeks in the top 10 and were ranked in the top 10 for 115 consecutive weeks (2004-Sept. 5, 2011)
•    Is 224-0 under John Cook when hitting .300 or better

Robinson Heads All-Big Ten Team
Nebraska senior Kelsey Robinson leads three Husker volleyball players who earned All-Big Ten honors from the league’s coaches on Tuesday. A native of Bartlett, Ill., Robinson became the first Husker to earn Big Ten Player-of-the-Year accolades.

Robinson paces a Husker contingent that also includes freshman Kadie Rolfzen and junior Mary Pollmiller. Nebraska saw Robinson and Rolfzen earn All-Big Ten honors, while Pollmiller earned honorable-mention accolades. Kadie Rolfzen was also named to the All-Freshman Team as a unanimous pick. In addition, senior Morgan Broekhuis was selected as Nebraska’s Sportsmanship Award honoree.

Robinson Selected as National Player of the Week
Nebraska senior Kelsey Robinson was honored on Oct. 8 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week.

Robinson received the honor after leading the Huskers to wins over then-No. 8 Minnesota (3-0) and No. 19 Wisconsin (3-2) on Oct 4 and 5. She totaled 50 kills and 29 digs on the weekend, averaging 6.3 kills per set and 3.6 digs per set, with a .417 hitting percentage for the Huskers.

Robinson recorded a double-double against the Badgers, tallying a career-high 29 kills, a team-high 22 digs and four blocks. She notched 21 kills and hit at a clip of .450 against the Gophers. Robinson was also named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week.

The honor marks the 13th time a Husker has received the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week award, with the most recent coming on No. 22, 2011 when Hannah Werth received the honor.

Sweet Success
After a pair of sweeps in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the Nebraska volleyball team advanced to the NCAA Regional for the 18th time in the last 19 seasons. Overall The Huskers have qualified for regionals in 30 of their 32 all-time trips to the postseason. The last time the Huskers didn’t advance to a regional was in 2011 when Kansas State knocked off the Huskers in five sets, prior to that it was 1983 when they were bounced in the first round by Western Michigan (1-3).

It’s Routine
A trip to the NCAA Tournament goes along with breathing at Nebraska and this year is no different as the Huskers are making their 32nd straight trip to the national tournament as the No. 8 overall seed.

The 2013 season also marks the 10th straight season that the Huskers have opened the NCAA Tournament at home. In 30 previous appearances, the Huskers have started the postseason on the road just twice, as they played in Kalamazoo, Mich. in 1983 and were sent to East Lansing, Mich. in 2003.

Nebraska and Hawaii are all making their 32nd trip this season, while only Stanford and Penn State have longer resumes with 33 appearances each.

Tournament Tough
The Huskers have been hard to beat in the NCAA Tournament and their 88-28 (.756) record proves it.

Huskers Earn Big Ten Weekly Honors
Nebraska outside hitters Kelsey Robinson, Amber Rolfzen, Kadie Rolfzen, middle blockers Meghan Haggerty and Cecilia Hall and setter Mary Pollmiller have all been honored by the Big Ten Conference this season. Amber Rolfzen was selected as the league’s Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday, Sept. 16 and Freshman of the Week on Oct. 7, Kadie Rolfzen was named the Freshman of the Week on Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, while Pollmiller was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week on Monday, Sept. 30, Oct. 28, Nov. 11 and Nov. 18. Robinson earned Co-Player of the Week honors on Oct. 7 and Player of the Week accolades on Nov. 4, Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, while Meghan Haggerty was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7 and Cecilia Hall was named Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 4.

Pollmiller guided the Huskers to road wins over Northwestern (3-1) and Illinois (3-0) during the opening weekend of Big Ten play. She led the Husker offense with 81 assists, averaging 11.6 assists per set. Pollmiller paced the Husker offense against Iowa and Ohio State, averaging 12.3 assists per set and helped Nebraska to a .345 team hitting percentage. She recorded a double-double against the Buckeyes, with 53 assists and 11 digs. Pollmiller earned the honor again after helping Nebraska top Wisconsin and Minnesota. She paced the Husker offense, averaging 12.3 assists per set. Pollmiller also recorded 50 assists against the Badgers and 61 assists against the Gophers. She totaled 12 digs, six kills and three blocks on the weekend. She was named Setter of the Week for the second consecutive week on Nov. 18 after pacing the Husker offense with 12.1 assists per set and leading Nebraska to a season-high team hitting percentage of .402 against Michigan State. She also totaled 20 digs, three blocks, three kills and an ace on the weekend.

Robinson earned her first honor of the season after leading the Huskers to wins over No. 8 Minnesota (3-0) and No. 23 Wisconsin (3-2) on Oct. 4 and 5. She averaged 6.3 kills per set and posted a .417 hitting percentage. She recorded a double-double against the Badgers, tallying a career-high 29 kills and a team-high 22 digs. Robinson posted 29 digs on the weekend, averaging 3.6 digs per set. She shared the accolade with Lauren Wicinski of Michigan State. Robinson earned another honor after leading the Huskers to wins over Illinois (3-0) and Northwestern (3-2) on Oct. 30 and Nov. 2. She averaged 4.5 kills per set, 3.0 digs per set and 1.1 blocks per set. Robinson also notched a double-double (21 kills, 16 digs) against the Wildcats. She recorded a .349 hitting clip and added five assists on the week. She earned her second consecutive honor this week in helping Nebraska top Wisconsin and Minnesota. She averaged 4.9 kills, 3.4 digs and 0.6 digs per set. Robinson notched double-doubles against both the Badgers (21 kills, 13 digs) and Gophers (23 kills, 19 digs). She recorded a .330 hitting percentage and added three assists and an ace. Robinson took home Player of the Week accolades on Nov. 18 after leading the Huskers to wins over No. 16 Michigan State (3-0) and No. 19 Michigan (3-1). She averaged 5.0 kills, 3.3 digs and 1.1 blocks per set. She also notched double-doubles against both the Spartans (14 kills, 11 digs) and Wolverines (21 kills, 12 digs). Robinson recorded a hitting percentage of .329 and added four aces and an assist on the weekend.

Haggerty also helped the Huskers post a 2-0 record against Minnesota (10/4) and Wisconsin (10/5) on with 12 total blocks and an average of 1.5 blocks per set. She recorded a season-high 13 kills against Wisconsin and posted a .389 hitting percentage on the weekend. The honor marked her fifth career Big Ten weekly award and her first Defensive Player of the Week honor.

Cecilia Hall earned accolades for her defensive efforts against Illinois (10/30) and Northwestern (11/2), pacing the Huskers at the net with a total of 21 blocks and an average of 2.6 blocks per set. She tallied a career-high 11 blocks against the Illini and 10 against Northwestern, while also chipping in nine kills on the week. The honor marked her first career Big Ten weekly award.

Amber Rolfzen tallied 12 total blocks and averaged 1.5 blocks per set in helping Nebraska take down Minnesota (10/4) and Wisconsin (10/5). She recorded a team-high eight blocks against the Badgers and added 20 digs and 11 kills on the weekend. Rolfzen collected her second Freshman of the Week honor as she last earned the award

on Sept. 16, 2013 as she led Nebraska to victories over Saint Mary’s (3-1), Dayton (3-0) and Iowa State (3-0) in the Ameritas Players Challenge. She produced double-doubles in all three matches, averaging 3.6 kills and 3.5 digs per set.

Kadie Rolfzen posted a .449 hitting percentage against Iowa (10/23) and Ohio State (10/25), totaling 27 kills and 21 digs and averaging 3.9 kills and 3 digs per set. She recorded the fifth double-double of her career against the Hawkeyes with 11 kills and 12 digs. Rolfzen earned her second consecutive Freshman of the Week honor on Nov. 4 in posting a team-high 31 kills and averaging 3.9 kills per set against Northwestern and Illinois. She also averaged 3.5 digs and 1.0 blocks per set. Rolfzen recorded double-doubles against both the Fighting Illini (13 kills, 11 digs) and Wildcats (18 kills, 17 digs).

Broekhuis Earns Academic All-District Honor
Nebraska senior Morgan Broekhuis was named to the Capital One Academic All-District 7 volleyball team, as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Broekhuis earned second-team honors and is a repeat all-district selection.

Broekhuis is a captain on the 2013 squad and has a 3.58 GPA in nutrition, exercise and health science. She has played in 13 matches as a senior. Broekhuis was named an AVCA Honorable-Mention All-American in 2011, is a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and has been named academic All-Big Ten twice.

Cook Reaches Milestone
Nebraska head coach John Cook has earned his 400th career win at Nebraska as the Huskers swept Indiana 3-0 on Friday, Oct. 18. During his 14 seasons with the Huskers he has  guided Nebraska to two NCAA titles (2000, 2006) and five NCAA semifinal appearances (2000-01-05-06-08). He is also a two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year (2000, 2005).

Tough Competition
With a match-up against San Diego on Friday, Nebraska will take on its 17th top-25 team this season. The Huskers hold a 11-5 record against top-25 teams, with losses coming to No. 1 Texas (9/22), No. 10 Michigan State (10/12), No. 21 Purdue (10/19, 11/22) and No. 1 Penn State (11/30). Nebraska’s previous record for matches against ranked opponents is 16 in 1998, 1999 and 2012.

Robinson Sets Herself Apart
Kelsey Robinson has totaled 495 kills, 375 digs and 32 aces so far in 2013. She is the only player in the Big Ten Conference to lead her team in both kills and digs. Only one Husker has ever notched over 400 kills and digs in a season, as Jordan Larson tallied 475 kills and 402 digs in 2006.

No Husker has ever led a Nebraska team in kills, digs and aces at the end of the season. Other Huskers to lead a team in kills and digs for the season were Jennifer Saleaumua (2003), Eileen Shannon (1992), Kathi DeBoer (1987) and Cathy Noth (1984).

Robinson is hitting at a clip of .321 for the season and has a .349 hitting percentage during conference play. She recorded only one hitting error in both matches against Illinois this season.

Among the 81 teams in the seven “major” conferences (American, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC), Robinson was one of only two players to lead her team in both kills and digs and the only player to lead her team in kills, digs and service aces. Below are the two “major” conference players leading their teams in both kills and digs at the start of this week:

Player, School                                   Kills       Digs
Kelsey Robinson, Nebraska         495         375
Erin Fairs, South Florida                 429         507

Huskers Tough in Five Sets
In deciding fifth sets, the Huskers have proven to have the edge. NU has won four five-set matches in five attempts in 2013. NU’s only five set loss came at Texas on Sept. 22.

Hall Leading Husker Block
Cecilia Hall leads the Husker blocking charge on the year with 136 total blocks and an average of 1.35 blocks per set.  She earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week accolades on Nov. 4.

The Husker block has come alive down the stretch as the Huskers have posted over 10 team blocks in five of the last seven matches. Nebraska notched 18 blocks against Michigan in both matches this season and NU has notched over 10 team blocks 14 times in 2013.

Husker Freshmen record Double-Doubles
Nebraska freshmen Kadie Rolfzen and Amber Rolfzen rank 10th and 22nd, respectively, among freshmen in the nation with double-doubles. Kadie has 12 on the year, while Amber has five. Kelly Hunter posted a double-double against Louisiana-Monroe.

Huskers Earn All-Tournament Honors
Amber Rolfzen honored as the 2013 Ameritas Players Challenge MVP two weeks ago. Kelsey Robinson and Mary Pollmiller were also selected to the all-tournament team. Kelsey Robinson and freshman Justine Wong-Orantes were honored as they were selected to the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic All-Tournament Team on Aug. 31.

How the Huskers Rank
Nebraska ranks first in the Big Ten in assists (13.39) and kills (14.33) and third in hitting percentage (.274). NU is also third in blocks (2.88), fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.179) and ninth in digs (14.16). Individually, Kelsey Robinson is third in kills (4.38) and seventh in hitting percentage (.321), while Mary Pollmiller is sixth in assists (10.70). Cecilia Hall is third in blocks (1.35), while Kadie Rolfzen is eighth in kills (3.46).

The Huskers rank 18th nationally in assists per set (13.39), 19th in kills per set (14.33), 15th in hitting percentage (.274) and 11th in blocks per set (2.88). Individually, Robinson is 19th in kills per set (4.38) and is 14th in points per set (5.05). Hall ranks 22nd in blocks per set (1.35), while Pollmiller is 62nd in assists per set (10.70).

In Big Ten play, Kelsey Robinson is first in kills (4.69), sixth in hitting percentage (.349) and first points (5.41), while Mary Pollmiller is third in assists (11.09). Kadie Rolfzen ranks sixth in kills (3.56). Robinson is the only outside hitter to rank in the top 10 in both categories.

Newcomers Make Immediate Impact
Husker newcomers have played a pivotal role for the Huskers during the 2013 season.

Freshmen Amber Rolfzen and Justine Wong-Orantes became just the ninth and 10th true freshmen, respectively, to start a season opener during Coach John Cook’s career at Nebraska. Wong-Orantes became Nebraska’s first true-freshman libero to start a match since Lara Dykstra in 2011.

Nebraska has 13 underclassmen on its roster this season, marking one of the highest totals in program history. The Huskers’ underclassman contingent ties Minnesota as the most in the Big Ten in 2013. NU had 14 underclassmen on its roster in 1977 and 1978, 11 underclassmen in 1997 and 1996 and 10 in 2009 and 2010.

Dominant Effort Against Louisiana-Monroe
The Huskers produced one of the more dominant showings in program history on Friday, Aug. 30 as they swept Louisiana-Monroe in three sets. The 36 points scored by ULM was the fewest points allowed by a Husker opponent in a three-set match during the rally-scoring era. The Huskers also held ULM to just four points in the third set, which is a school record low for a Husker opponent in the rally scoring era. The previous low had been seven points, most recently against Duquesne in 2012. The Huskers also held ULM to an NCAA record zero kills in the third set.

Huskers Call the Devaney Center Home
The Nebraska volleyball program opened a new era in its storied tradition by moving into a new permanent home court for the first time in almost 40 years. When Nebraska played its preseason Red-White Match on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013, the Bob Devaney Sports Center became the official home of Husker volleyball. The Devaney Center, which received $20 million in renovations designed to create the nation’s premier home court advantage for volleyball, will allow nearly 4,000 more Nebraska fans per game to watch their beloved Huskers.

Nebraska volleyball, which carried the nation’s longest home sellout streak in the history of any NCAA women’s sport with 181 consecutive sellouts (2001-12) at the historic NU Coliseum, has guaranteed another season of sellouts in its first year at the Devaney Center. Not only did the Huskers quickly sell out the new 7,907-seat capacity at the Devaney Center long before the season began, they also have room for nearly 400 standing-room seats at each game and a season-ticket waiting list of well over 1,000.

During the last two decades, Nebraska has ranked among the nation’s top three volleyball programs in average home attendance every season. In 2012, the Huskers finished second nationally by averaging 4,287 fans per match. Hawaii, the NCAA’s annual attendance leader for many years, drew 6,675 per home match in 2012. As the Huskers’ new home in 2013, the Devaney Center will put Nebraska in position to lead the nation in volleyball attendance on an annual basis.

The renovations to the Devaney Center have done much more than change the capacity. Massive red ceiling trusses helped create a similar environment in the arena to the Huskers’ former home in the Coliseum. A great wall, which replicates the old Coliseum entry, adds to an atmosphere steeped in tradition. While the new Devaney Center pays homage to the history of the Coliseum, which served as the home to Husker NCAA Championship teams in 1995, 2000 and 2006, the innovative design and technological advances inside also symbolize the visionary contributions of AVCA All-Time Great Coaches Terry Pettit and John Cook.

The Nebraska Athletic Department honored Terry Pettit on Friday, Sept. 6  by naming the court at the Bob Devaney Sports Center “Terry Pettit Court.” The naming is the result of a generous gift given by Bill and Ruth Scott in honor of former Nebraska head coach Terry Pettit.

Cook Selects Team Captains
Coach Cook selected team captains for the 2013 season prior to the Red/White Match. He selected Morgan Broekhuis, Kelsey Robinson and Hayley Thramer.