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OMAHA, Neb. - The Nebraska volleyball team officially made the journey to Omaha on Wednesday to prepare for its NCAA Semifinal match on Thursday.
The Huskers met with the media before holding their open practice in the afternoon. Nebraska capped the day with a photo shoot and interviews with ESPN in preparation for its first NCAA Semifinals appearance since 2008.
"I'm just really proud to be the Nebraska coach for a couple reasons," Head Coach John Cook said. "One, to have our team in this event. It's been a long journey since January for us to set the goal to get here, knowing that Nebraska is hosting the Final Four is a big accomplishment. It's been a long journey. I'm also really proud that the state of Nebraska is putting out their best foot forward. It's a sellout, great arena, great environment for an NCAA National Championship. The people running this, I've already heard several compliments from other people about how well organized and how well taken care of everybody is. So Omaha rocks. They know how to do it right. It's an honor and privilege to be here."
The Huskers will face ninth-seeded Kansas at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday at the CenturyLink Center. All-session tickets for the event sold out early in the week.
Sophomore setter Kelly Hunter, a Papillion, Neb., native, is excited to be playing the final four in her hometown.
"This place is sold out. That's ridiculous, and I think everyone should be excited to be here no matter if they're from there or not," Hunter said. "Obviously, this for me is huge because in 2006, when the Huskers were here and they won, that's when I kind of realized I wanted to be a Husker. So it's been my dream ever since then, and I know we're all super excited to be close to home to play in front of basically a home crowd. It's just really exciting to be in this facility and just have a lot of fun out there."
Nebraska and Kansas will be televised on ESPN2 and streamed on the WatchESPN app. Husker Sports Network will provide radio coverage on its affiliate stations, including 107.3 FM and AM 590. The broadcast will also be streamed on Huskers.com and on the TuneIn app.