Huskers Begin Season at VERT Challenge

The Nebraska volleyball team begins the 2017 season at the VERT Challenge with a pair of matches against top-25 teams this weekend inside the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. The fifth-ranked Huskers open the season against No. 18 Oregon at 4 p.m. (CT) on Friday. The match will be streamed on ESPN3.com. On Saturday, NU will face No. 12 Florida at 4 p.m. (CT). That match will be televised on the SEC Network and will be streamed online at ESPN3.com with a cable package that includes the SEC Network. The SEC Network can be found on DirecTV (Channel 611), DISH (Channel 408), Spectrum – Time Warner Cable (Channel 384) in the Lincoln area and Cox Communications (Channel 214) in the Omaha area.

Husker Sports Network will broadcast all the action on Husker Sports Network affiliates including 107.3 FM in Lincoln, and in Omaha on 105.9 FM on Friday and AM 590 on Saturday. A live audio stream will be provided at Huskers.com, on the official Huskers app, and on the TuneIn Radio app (Saturday only). John Baylor is in his 24th season doing play-by-play for the Husker volleyball program. Lauren Cook, a former All-America setter for the Huskers, will provide color commentary.

Huskers Ready to Reinvent in 2017
• The Huskers’ slogan for 2017 is “Reinvent.” With two new assistant coaches and eight players who have not played a set for Nebraska entering the season, the Huskers will have a vastly different look than the teams that won an NCAA Championship in 2015 and a Big Ten Championship in 2016.
• 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.
• Both new and returning players are poised to step into the vacated roles. Junior Kenzie Maloney has played in all but one match in her Husker career and is set to wear the libero jersey. Senior Annika Albrecht and junior Olivia Boender have experience in the outside hitter role, and three middle blockers - Lauren Stivrins, Chesney McClellan and Allie Havers (a former NU women’s basketball player) - will join returning starter Briana Holman in solidifying NU’s middle. Two left-handed hitting freshmen - Jazz Sweet and Anezka Szabo - as well as Sami Slaughter could all contribute on the pins as well. Freshman defensive specialist Hayley Densberger will add depth in the back row.

Coaches
• John Cook, Nebraska: 18th year at Nebraska (499-65); 25th year overall (660-138)
• Matt Ulmer, Oregon: first year at Oregon. A 2007 graduate of Carthage College, Ulmer was the associate head coach at Oregon in 2016 and was an assistant coach for two years before that.
• Mary Wise, Florida: 27th year at Florida (794-99); 31st year overall (875-162)

Series History with Oregon
• Nebraska leads Oregon, 4-1
• Last meeting: Nebraska won 3-1 on Sept. 5, 2015 at the VERT Challenge in Austin, Texas.
• Last time Oregon beat Nebraska: Dec. 8, 2012 (3-1)

Series History with Florida
• Nebraska leads Florida, 8-2
• Last meeting: Nebraska won 3-1, on Aug. 26, 2016 at the VERT Challenge in Eugene, Oregon.
• Last time Florida beat Nebraska: Aug. 29, 2010 (3-2)

Scouting the Opponents
• Oregon finished 21-10 in 2016 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Ducks return every starter from that squad except their libero, Amanda Benson, who is now a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team along with former Husker libero Justine Wong-Orantes. A total of 12 letterwinners return from last year’s team, led by third-team AVCA All-America outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weide. The 6-3 junior averaged 3.24 kills and 2.71 digs per set last year.
• Florida went 27-4 last year and won the SEC title. The Gators were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Gators return 15 of their 16 letterwinners from their SEC Championship-winning squad. Middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan is a three-time AVCA All-American, while libero Caroline Knop and setter Allie Monserez received honorable mention last year. Florida’s class of six seniors is the largest in program history.

Cook Adds to Legacy; Will Join AVCA Hall of Fame in December
• Nebraska head coach John Cook is in his 18th season as the Nebraska volleyball head coach in 2017. He has led the Huskers to three national championships, seven final fours, 11 conference championships and 15 top-10 final rankings since 2000. Cook has 660 career wins and is one of the all-time winningest coaches in NCAA history.
• Since taking over the program in 2000, Cook has led the Huskers to a nation-leading .885 win percentage in that time (499-65).
• Under Cook, the Huskers have achieved 49 AVCA All-Americans and 19 CoSIDA 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 six-time conference coach of the year, including Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2016, his first Big Ten honor with the Huskers in their Big Ten era (2011-present).
• Cook was named the AVCA North Region Coach of the Year this season, his fifth career regional coaching honor and fourth while at Nebraska.
• 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.
• Cook will be inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in December in Kansas City, Missouri. Cook will join former Husker volleyball coach Terry Pettit in the hall.

Challenging Schedule Awaits Huskers
• The VERT Challenge is in its third year of a four-year cycle, and this year’s tournament will be hosted by Florida. The Huskers will host the tournament in 2018. Nebraska will face Oregon and Florida this season.
• Instead of hosting a second tournament, Nebraska will play UCLA at the Devaney Center on back-to-back nights on Sept. 8-9. The Bruins reached an NCAA regional final last year and enter the season ranked 13th.
• Nebraska will play in the Omaha Showcase, hosted by UNO, on Sept. 15-16 at Baxter Arena. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Husker setter Kelly Hunter, who grew up in Papillion, just a few minutes down the road from the UNO campus. Nebraska’s match against Omaha will be the first against the Mavericks since their transition to Division I began in 2011. NU is 15-1 all-time against the Mavs, but they haven’t met since 1990.
• The Big Ten was hands-down the toughest conference in 2016 with eight NCAA Tournament teams, two NCAA semifinalists (Nebraska and Minnesota) and six teams in an NCAA regional. Nebraska’s Big Ten schedule will again be 20 matches with home-and-home meetings with seven teams and six single plays. The Huskers’ single plays in 2017 are Penn State (away), Minnesota (home), Illinois (home), Michigan (away), Indiana (home) and Ohio State (away).
• Nebraska will run the gauntlet right away in the Big Ten schedule. The Huskers will play five of their first seven matches against teams that advanced to an NCAA regional last year. In the first month of the Big Ten season, NU will visit Penn State and Wisconsin, and will host Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan State.
• Nebraska has 14 matches scheduled against preseason top-25 teams, and 10 of its first 18 matches are against teams ranked in the preseason poll.
• For the second straight year, the top 16 seeds will host the NCAA Tournament first and second rounds, and the top remaining seed in each quadrant of the bracket after the second round will have the chance to host one of the four regionals. The Huskers were one of the four teams to host a regional in 2016, as they beat Penn State and Washington to advance to the NCAA semifinals for the second straight year.
• The 2017 NCAA Championship will be played Dec. 14-16 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. It will be the second appearance of the finals in Kansas City, as UMKC hosted the finals in 2010. Tickets are on sale at www.sprintcenter.com.

Hunter Guides Young Husker Squad
• All-America setter Kelly Hunter is set for her senior season after leading NU to a national championship and a Big Ten championship the past two seasons as team captain and starting setter.
• Hunter was a second-team AVCA All-American in 2016 and an All-Big Ten setter, becoming the first Husker setter since Lauren Cook in 2012 to make the All-Big Ten team. She is a preseason All-Big Ten selection.
• Hunter was named Big Ten Setter of the Week four times last season, giving her six career awards. She set a career high with 61 assists at Penn State. She posted 11.24 assists per set to rank third in the Big Ten.
• Hunter is eighth on NU’s career assists chart with 2,881.

Foecke Poised for Bigger Role
• Junior outside hitter Mikaela Foecke is set for a huge role in the Husker attack this season and worked to become a six-rotation player in the offseason.
• Foecke is NU’s top returning hitter with 2.93 kills per set last season on .304 hitting. She received All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2016 and was an AVCA All-Region honoree.
• Foecke was a unanimous preseason All-Big Ten selection and was one of just two players to earn a unanimous selection (Minnesota setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson).
• Foecke was the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player in 2015 - becoming just the third freshman to earn the honor - after 19 kills on .385 hitting in the championship win against Texas. The other freshmen to win the award were Deja McClendon (Penn State, 2010) and Kerri Walsh (Stanford, 1996).

Holman Leads Husker Middle Blockers
• Senior Briana Holman guides a relatively inexperienced group of Husker middle blockers. In 2016, Holman averaged 2.42 kills and 1.18 blocks per set with a team-high .350 hitting percentage.
• Holman earned AVCA All-Region honors for the third time in her career last season and received All-Big Ten honorable mention.
• 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.

Huskers Get Depth From Former Husker Women’s Basketball Player Allie Havers
• The Huskers gained some depth at middle blocker when former Husker women’s basketball player Allie Havers joined the team in the spring.
• Havers, a 6-5 native of Mattawan, Michigan, has one season of eligibility to play volleyball, a sport she excelled at in high school. Havers was a first-team Class A all-state player in Michigan in 2012 and a finalist for Michigan’s Miss Volleyball in 2013.
• On the Nebraska women’s basketball team, Havers closed her career having played in 125 games with 50 starts. She ranked among the top 50 career scorers (720 points) and top 25 career rebounders (541) in Husker history.

Huskers Ranked No. 5 in AVCA Coaches Poll
• Nebraska is ranked No. 5 in the preseason AVCA Coaches Poll.
• The Huskers have been ranked No. 1 in 98 all-time polls, the most in NCAA history.
• The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 458 times, which is also the most in NCAA history.
• Nebraska has been ranked in the top 10 in the last 34 polls dating back to December of 2014.
• Nebraska has appeared in all 511 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 Picked Second in Big Ten Preseason Poll
• The Nebraska volleyball team was picked to finish second in the Big Ten Preseason Poll selected by the conference’s 14 head coaches. After winning the Big Ten Championship last year, the Huskers were picked behind only Penn State.
• Behind Penn State and Nebraska in the poll, Minnesota, Michigan State and Wisconsin rounded out the top five. Purdue was sixth and Michigan was seventh.
• Nebraska plays six of its first eight Big Ten matches against teams picked to finish in the top six in the conference.

Husker Fans Set Attendance Standard Once Again
• Nebraska fans led the nation in attendance for a fourth straight season as their 8,210 average per match in 2016 established a new NCAA attendance record, topping its 2015 average of 8,206.
• The Huskers’ total attendance of 155,986 in 19 home matches also set a school record.
• 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 (27 straight seasons).
• The Huskers have sold out every regular-season match since 2001, a streak of 219 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.

Cook’s Coaching Tree Continues to Grow
• Nebraska head coach John Cook’s assistant coaches have a great track record of moving on to become head coaches.
• After the 2016 season, Nebraska assistants Chris Tamas and Dani Busboom Kelly both accepted high-level Division I head coaching jobs. Busboom Kelly became the head coach at Louisville, while Tamas accepted the head coaching job at Big Ten foe Illinois.
• Seven assistants under Cook have become head coaches following their time on Cook’s Nebraska staff: Craig Skinner (Kentucky), Lee Maes (Virginia), Lizzy Stemke (Georgia), Dan Conners (UC Davis), Dan Meske (Augustana, Associate Head Coach at Louisville), Busboom Kelly and Tamas.
• In the last seven years, five of Cook’s Husker assistants have become head coaches.

New Players, New Coaches
• Not only are six of the 15 Husker players new to the program, so are the two Husker assistant coaches. Former Husker and U.S. Olympic libero Kayla Banwarth, and former Long Beach State men’s associate head coach Tyler Hildebrand are on the Husker bench this year.
• Hildebrand joined the Nebraska coaching staff as an assistant in February of 2017. Hildebrand came to Nebraska after five seasons on the coaching staff of the Long Beach State men’s volleyball program, including two seasons as associate head coach. In 2017, he was the AVCA Division I-II Men’s National Assistant Coach of the Year. A former All-American at Long Beach State, Hildebrand was the top assistant there from 2013-15 after a decorated playing career on the U.S. Men’s National Team. He is a former setter who coordinated both the offense and the blocking defense at Long Beach State at one point in his career.
• Banwarth joined the Nebraska volleyball coaching staff as an assistant in January of 2017. Banwarth completed an illustrious playing career for the Huskers in 2010 before embarking on a professional playing career that saw her win an Olympic bronze medal with the U.S. National Team, as well as an FIVB World Championship. Banwarth is relatively new to the coaching profession after finishing her professional career with the U.S. National Team at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. A U.S. National Team libero since 2011, Banwarth spent two years as a volunteer assistant coach for the Pepperdine men’s volleyball team.