Huskers Begin Season at VERT Challenge in Oregon

The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team begins its 2016 season at the VERT Challenge in Eugene, Ore., where a pair of top-10 opponents await the Huskers on opening weekend. Nebraska will face No. 10 Florida in the tournament opener at Matthew Knight Arena at 6 p.m. (CT) on Friday. Saturday will feature a rematch of last year’s national title match as the Huskers play No. 2 Texas at 5:30 p.m. (CT). Both matches will be streamed live for free at pac-12.com/live/university-oregon. The Husker IMG Sports Network will carry all the action as well on HSN affiliates and on the Huskers.com online audio stream.

The Huskers have won four national titles in program history, but no team has been able to repeat as champions. The 2016 squad returns a plethora of talent and now has the experience to go with it. NU returns first-team All-American Kadie Rolfzen at outside hitter, second-team All-American Amber Rolfzen at middle blocker, and third-team All-American and reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Justine Wong-Orantes at libero.

In addition, the Huskers welcome middle blocker Briana Holman to the mix. Holman was a first-team All-American at LSU in 2014 before sitting out last season at NU as a transfer. Sophomore Mikaela Foecke was the third player ever to be named the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player as a freshman, and junior Kelly Hunter is set for her second season as the Huskers’ starting setter and captain after receiving All-America honorable mention last year. In all, the Huskers have six players who have achieved All-America or honorable-mention status.

The Rolfzen twins and Wong-Orantes make up the core of the senior class that has been together since 2013. But Nebraska added one more talent to the class this offseason in Baylor graduate transfer Andie Malloy, who was a two-time All-Big 12 outside hitter for the Bears. Malloy had an impressive Husker debut in the team’s Red/White Scrimmage on Aug. 20, tallying a match-high 16 kills with 11 digs. She was error-free on her first 12 kills in leading the White team.

Huskers Earn Preseason No. 1 Ranking
• The defending national champion Nebraska volleyball team will begin the 2016 season at No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Nebraska received 60 of 64 first-place votes in the poll and totaled 1,594 points. Texas (1,517 points) was second and received three first-place votes. Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas rounded out the top five.
• The Huskers have been ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll four other times (2001, 2005, 2006 and 2007). The 2006 squad went wire-to-wire to win the national title. This year’s Husker team is aiming to become the first in program history to repeat as champions.
• NU’s No. 1 ranking marks the 87th poll all-time in which they’ve earned the top spot, just one behind Penn State (88) for most in the nation.
• The Huskers have been ranked in the top ten 442 times, which is tied with Stanford for the most ever.
• Nebraska has appeared in all 495 AVCA Coaches Polls since it was established in 1982. Nebraska and Stanford are the only two programs to be ranked in every poll all-time.

Huskers Tabbed Big Ten Favorites
• The 14 Big Ten head coaches selected Nebraska as the unanimous favorite in the Big Ten Conference Preseason Poll. The Huskers finished second in the Big Ten in 2015 with a 17-3 record and are trying to win the conference crown for the first time since 2011. That will be no easy feat, however, as seven Big Ten teams are ranked in the preseason poll. Nebraska has 13 matches scheduled against preseason top-25 teams.
• Seniors Amber Rolfzen, Kadie Rolfzen and Justine Wong-Orantes were picked to the All-Big Ten Preseason Team. The Rolfzen twins were All-Big Ten selections last year, while Wong-Orantes earned honorable mention but was selected as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Kadie Rolfzen was one of four unanimous selections to the preseason team.

Up Next
• The Huskers host the Nebraska Invite next Friday (Iowa State, 6 p.m.) and Saturday (Oregon State, 2:30 p.m.)
Huskers On Television
• The Nebraska volleyball team is set to receive extensive television coverage in 2016. The Huskers will make at least 14 regular-season TV appearances, including an ESPN2 showdown with Purdue on Sunday, Oct. 9 at the Devaney Center.
• The Huskers will have eight broadcasts on Big Ten Network and at least five more on NET. In all, eight of the Huskers’ 10 Big Ten home matches are set to be televised, while the remaining two (Iowa on Nov. 9 and Michigan on Nov. 26) are to be determined.
• Any match on BTN or NET will also be streamed online at BTN2GO.com. For non-televised Big Ten matches, an online stream is available for purchase through BTN Plus at BTN2GO.com.

Three-Time All-American Kadie Rolfzen Leads the Attack
• Senior outside hitter Kadie Rolfzen was named a first-team AVCA All-American in 2015, her third career All-America honor but first selection to the first team. Rolfzen was also a unanimous All-Big Ten selection, her third straight season on the team.
• Rolfzen led the Huskers with 3.30 kills per set and added 2.82 digs per set last season. She had 16 double-doubles to extend her career total to 41.
• Rolfzen was the most valuable player at the Lexington (Ky.) Regional, as she recorded 20 kills and 15 digs in the regional final win over No. 1 Washington.
• Rolfzen was not only productive on the court, she excelled off of it. The graphic design major posted a perfect 4.0 GPA in 2015-16 to earn Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors.
• Rolfzen ranks 14th in school history with 1,194 career kills. She has 953 career digs and is closing in on becoming the fifth Husker all-time with 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.

Amber Rolfzen Ready to Build On Second-Team All-America Honors
• Senior Amber Rolfzen made a position switch from outside hitter to middle blocker before the 2015 season, and the switch resulted in second-team AVCA All-America honors and the Big Ten blocks title for the Papillion, Neb., native.
• Rolfzen was named to the All-America second team and the All-Big Ten Team after posting 1.58 blocks per set, which led the Big Ten and ranked fourth nationally. Her block average was the best by a Husker since Melissa Elmer’s school-record 2.17 in 2005.
• Rolfzen was named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team after 10 kills and four blocks with a .625 hitting percentage in the championship win over Texas.
• Rolfzen accumulated three Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors in 2015.

Wong-Orantes Enjoys Breakout Season
• Senior libero Justine Wong-Orantes burst onto the national scene in 2015 with third-team AVCA All-America honors and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award. The Cypress, Calif., native averaged 4.55 digs per set with a total of 555 digs, the third most by a Husker in school history.
• Wong-Orantes ranks fourth in school history with 1,408 career digs and is chasing Kayla Banwarth’s career record of 1,706. Banwarth is the starting libero for the U.S. Women’s National Team, and Wong-Orantes is trending on that path. Wong-Orantes played with the U.S. Women’s National Team at the Pan American Cup over the summer, averaging 4.8 digs per set while helping the Americans to the bronze medal.

Experienced Hunter to Lead Huskers as Captain Again
• Despite being in her first season as the Huskers’ starting setter last year, Kelly Hunter was picked as one of the team captains. Now a junior, Hunter is the Huskers’ lone captain as selected by head coach John Cook. The Papillion, Neb., native guided the Huskers to the national title in 2015 and received AVCA All-America honorable mention. She was named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team after posting 42 assists, four digs and three blocks in the championship match.
• Hunter averaged 11.64 assists per set last season and totaled 1,501, the third most in the nation. She had 10 double-doubles and was the Big Ten Setter of the Week twice.

Foecke In Rare Company
• Mikaela Foecke was the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player last season, becoming just the third freshman to earn the honor, after 19 kills on .385 hitting in the championship win against Texas.
• Foecke also received AVCA All-America honorable mention and was a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten Freshman team.
• Following her freshman season, Foecke was a finalist for the AAU Sullivan Award, presented annually to the top amateur athlete in the United States.

Holman Ready for Long-Awaited Return
• Junior middle blocker Briana Holman will make her first official appearance in a collegiate match since December 2014 when she takes the court with the Huskers this weekend. Holman transferred from LSU to Nebraska but did not receive her scholarship release, so she was forced to sit out the 2015 season.
• Holman was a first-team AVCA All-American at LSU in 2014 with 3.94 kills and 1.47 blocks per set. She was a two-time All-SEC performer for the Tigers and represented the U.S. Collegiate National Team at the World University Games in South Korea in July 2015.

Malloy Brings More Experience to Husker Roster
• Senior transfer Andie Malloy gives the Huskers more depth and experience at outside hitter. A two-time All-Big 12 performer at Baylor, Malloy earned her degree in 2015 and had one season of eligibility remaining. She comes to Nebraska after ranking second in the Big 12 in kills per set (3.89) and double-doubles (17) in 2015.
• Malloy led all players with 16 kills and had 11 digs in the Red/White Scrimmage on Aug. 20. She recorded 12 kills without an error in the first two sets.

Road Warriors
• Nebraska completed the road portion of its Big Ten schedule last season with a 9-1 record, the best by the Huskers since joining the Big Ten. The Huskers’ only road loss of the Big Ten season was in five sets at Ohio State on Oct. 3.

Cook Adds to Legacy
• Nebraska head coach John Cook is in his 17th season as the Nebraska volleyball head coach in 2016. He has led the Huskers to three national championships, six final fours, 10 conference championships and 14 top-10 final rankings since 2000. Cook has 629 career wins and is the sixth-winningest coach in NCAA history.
• Under Cook, the Huskers have achieved 45 All-Americans and 18 Academic All-Americans, both among the best in the nation. He is a two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, earning the prestigious honor in 2000 and 2005, and a four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year.
• Cook is one of only four active coaches - and one of six all-time - to be a two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year and was honored in 2008 by USA Volleyball, receiving its All-Time Great Coach Award.

Busboom Kelly Celebrates Second National Title - One as Coach, One as Player
• Regarded as one of the best recruiters in the nation, assistant coach Dani Busboom Kelly has helped Nebraska’s resurgence to the forefront of college volleyball over the last four seasons, as the Huskers captured the 2015 NCAA National Championship at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, the same place Busboom Kelly won the national title as a player for the Huskers in 2006.
• Busboom Kelly coached two AVCA All-Americans and two honorable-mention selections in 2015. Kadie Rolfzen was a first-team AVCA All-American, while Justine Wong-Orantes was a third-team selection for the first time, as well as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year after a sparkling season at libero. Setter Kelly Hunter and outside hitter Mikaela Foecke earned All-American honorable mention, and Foecke was the NCAA National Championship most outstanding player, just the third freshman in NCAA Division I Volleyball history to earn the honor.
• In her four seasons at Nebraska, Busboom Kelly has helped the Huskers to a 107-28 record and four NCAA regional final appearances. In 2015, Nebraska setter Kelly Hunter was third in the nation in assists (1,501), while Justine Wong-Orantes was second in the Big Ten in digs per set (4.57) and moved to No. 4 in school history in career digs.

Tamas’ Bring Instant Impact
• Chris Tamas is in his second season as a Husker assistant coach, while his wife, Jennifer (Joines) Tamas, is a volunteer assistant. The two came to NU in May from Cal Poly, where they spent two seasons in the same roles. Both Chris and Jen are former U.S. National Team captains. Chris was a first-team AVCA All-American in 2003 at Pacific, while Jen was the Big West Conference Player of the Year in 2003 at Pacific.
• Chris Tamas’ impact on the program was felt immediately, as the Huskers won the 2015 NCAA Division I National Championship in his first season on the bench. With Tamas guiding the Huskers’ block and defense, Amber Rolfzen was an AVCA second-team All-American and an All-Big Ten middle blocker. The Huskers posted the top opponent hitting percentage in the Big Ten (.167) and were second in blocks per set (2.94). Rolfzen’s 1.58 blocks per set ranked fourth in the nation and was the highest block total by a Husker since 2005.

Husker Fans Set Attendance Standard Once Again
• For the third straight season, the Huskers led the nation in attendance in 2015, this time with a new NCAA attendance record of 8,206. NU’s average was 1,301 more than runner-up Hawaii.
• In 2013, the Huskers led the nation in attendance (8,175) for the first time since 1992, ending Hawaii’s 21-year reign as the national leader.
• The Huskers repeated as attendance champions in 2014 with 8,083 fans per match, which included a school-record 8,585 fans at the Oct. 3 win against Penn State.
• Nebraska has ranked in the top three nationally in attendance every season since 1990 (26 straight seasons).
• The Huskers have sold out every regular-season match since 2001, a streak of 204 consecutive matches, the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s athletics.
• The Devaney Center has hosted the three largest regular-season crowds in NCAA history and seven of the 10 largest.

Former Huskers Shine at Olympics
• The U.S. Women’s Volleyball team had a distinct “Nebraska” feel at the Olympics this summer. Libero Kayla Banwarth and outside hitters Jordan Larson and Kelsey Robinson all started or played big minutes for Team USA, as they earned the bronze medal. The Huskers’ three representatives on the Olympic team were more than any other school. Additionally, former Husker National Player of the Year Sarah Pavan earned a fifth-place finish in beach volleyball for Canada.