Cook Asks New-Look Huskers: 'Why Not Us?'

Longtime Nebraska volleyball fans will know veteran head coach John Cook is never short on team slogans.

The self-produced bulletin board material is meant to inspire and motivate. This year, the Huskers have no fewer than five such themes.

The latest one Cook shared with the media is “Why Not Us?” He had it printed on T-Shirts, too.

“I think a lot of people overlook us and lower the expectations,” Cook said. “They’re pretty determined to show we’ve got a great team even after losing four great players.”

The public’s first eye on these new-look Huskers will be Saturday at 7 p.m., when Nebraska holds its annual Red-White Scrimmage at the Devaney Sports Center.

Cook wasn’t yet sure if he would split the teams even or put a possible starting team together.

Whatever the scenario, he promises a competitive match.

“It’s going to be a great show for the fans,” Cook said. “We’ve got a lot of people who can play, and play at a high level. Our intensity level and our level of play has been really high for the second week of the season.

“You can feel the energy in here, the level of athleticism, how hard the ball’s being hit,” he said. “The level of play is really high.”

That’s a very encouraging report, given Cook has two new assistant coaches and eight players who’ve yet to play a set for Nebraska.

Nebraska must replace three-time All-America outside hitter Kadie Rolfzen and two-time All-Americans Amber Rolfzen at middle blocker and Justine Wong-Orantes at libero. NU also relied heavily on senior grad transfer Andie Malloy for kills in 2016. The Huskers lost 52 percent of their kills from last season, 51 percent of their total digs and 54 percent of their blocks. 

Senior Kelly Hunter, who’s led Nebraska to a national championship and a Big Ten Conference championship, returns at setter. Whether she plays Saturday, Cook isn’t certain. Hunter has been limited in practice.

“She’s been dinged up and we’re being very careful with her,” Cook said. “She can play, but we may just be really safe. I don’t know. She doesn’t need to be a hero right now. We need her to be a hero in November.”

New assistant coach Kayla Banwarth, a former player and United States Olympian, would serve as a player-coach in the scrimmage if Hunter doesn’t play.

Speaking of coaches, Cook and Tyler Hildebrand will coach one team together.

“Tyler and I, we have to learn how to work together in a match,” Cook said. “We’ve only done it once, at Colorado State, and that match was … over in about an hour. We need to get in a good situation where we’re battling and have to make some plays and have to make some calls and adjustments and things like that.”

Cook has been very impressed with four true freshmen and two redshirted freshmen. One of them, 6-foot-4 Lauren Stivrins, will team with senior Briana Holman to form a formidable middle blocking duo.

“You can never tell they’re freshmen out here. I’m really, really pleased with that,” Cook said. “Our whole team did a really good job starting in June of acclimating. Now, I never know how it’s going to go until we start, but they’ve done a really good job. The freshmen are really comfortable.”

Keep an eye on the veterans, too, notably Annika Albrecht, who’s in line for a starting job at outside hitter. Similar to former Husker hitter Gina Mancuso and Hannah Werth, the 6-foot Albrecht has a big arm but not a big frame.

“If she hits it cross-court, she’s going to get dug, so she has to learn to attack the edges of the court and use the block and be a really, really smart hitter,” Cook said.

“That (opposing) team has to worry about defending every part of the court and the edges of the block. If we put here in the right spot, she’s great at it. She’s going to be one of those players who frustrates the hell out of teams.”

Nebraska, preseason ranked No. 5, has now appeared in all 511 AVCA Coaches Polls since the poll was established in 1982. The Huskers are picked to finish second, behind Penn State, in the Big Ten, according to league coaches.

“Week One was definitely a lot of teaching, and kind of like I said, putting on our socks, and this is how we do it. And they’ve really progressed fast,” said Cook, whose team plays Oregon in the season opener in Florida on Aug. 25. “Now, we’re starting to coach ‘em. They’re all involved, they all have a chance to play."

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.