Nebraska Volleyball Announces Four Signees

LINCOLN, Neb. - The Nebraska volleyball program and Head Coach John Cook received National Letters of Intent from four highly-touted high school seniors on Wednesday, the first day of the NLI fall signing period.

Three of the signees received high school Under Armour All-America honors last week, and three players rank among the top-25 recruits nationally according to PrepVolleyball.com. Capri Davis, a 6-1 outside hitter from Mansfield, Texas, was an Under Armour All-America first-team honoree, as was Nicklin Hames, a 5-11 setter from Knoxville, Tennessee. Libero Megan Miller, from Alexandria, Indiana, received honorable-mention accolades and is one of the top-ranked libero recruits in the nation. Middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach – a 6-4 senior at Kearney High School in Kearney, Missouri – is a top-10 recruit nationally.

“This will be a highly-rated class,” Cook said. “All four players have played for high-level club teams. They all fill needs that we will have after our seniors graduate. Each player has the ability to play as a freshman. Most importantly, they all come from great families and will be great fits in our program.”

Capri Davis, Outside Hitter, 6-1, Mansfield, Texas (Lake Ridge)
Davis is a senior at Lake Ridge High School in Mansfield, Texas. She is ranked the No. 21 overall prospect by PrepVolleyball.com. This season, Davis averaged 4.6 kills per set and 3.1 digs per set with a .308 hitting percentage, and she served 55 aces and had 85 blocks in 107 sets played. The Eagles reached the Texas 5A regional quarterfinals with a 35-10 overall record. In her high school career, Davis totaled 1,371 kills and 512 blocks with 136 aces. Davis was named an Under Armour first-team All-American this month. She has played both middle blocker and outside hitter but will focus on the outside at Nebraska. Davis played club volleyball for Texas Image.

Coach Cook: “Capri is a former middle blocker who we are converting to an outside hitter. She is a great blocker and a very physical player. Capri will add a lot of athleticism to our team at the outside hitter position.”

Nicklin Hames, Setter, 5-11, Knoxville, Tenn. (Webb School)
Hames is ranked the No. 4 overall prospect and the top setter recruit in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com. Hames led Webb School – coached by her mother, Chris – to five Division II-A state championships in her career, as she played on the varsity squad as an eighth grader. She was named the most valuable player of the state tournament four times. Hames, who played as both a hitter and a setter at Webb School, was named to the All-USA Volleyball first team after her junior season in 2016. Hames played club volleyball for K2, which is ranked sixth in the national club team rankings, and is close friends with current Husker freshman Chesney McClellan, from nearby Maryville. Hames began her prep career by earning PrepVolleyball.com’s national freshman of the year accolade in 2014. Hames set for the U.S. Youth National Team in Argentina at the U-18 Junior World Championships this past summer.

Coach Cook: “Nicklin is a great all-around player and an elite setter with strong leadership skills. She competes really hard and we have been impressed with her ability to take average hitters and make them great. Nicklin’s mom, Chris, is from Australia and is her high school coach, and her dad, Jason, runs the K2 club, so she comes from a significant volleyball background.”

Megan Miller, Libero, 5-7, Alexandra, Ind. (Alexandria-Monroe)
Miller is ranked the No. 55 overall prospect by PrepVolleyball.com and is the fourth-ranked recruit at the libero position. Miller starred at Alexandria-Monroe High School, where she played outside hitter and led the school to sectional championships as a junior and senior. This past season, Miller guided the Tigers to the Class 2A state semifinals, and she has twice been named The Herald Bulletin’s Indiana Player of the Year. Miller averaged 6.4 kills per set as a senior and had 3.6 digs per set. She finished her prep career with 2,600 kills and 1,620 digs, along with 455 aces. Miller’s club team, Munciana Samurai, won the AAU U18 national championship this past summer and earned the No. 1 club team ranking in the nation from PrepVolleyball.com.

Coach Cook: “Megan has been a hitter most of her career even though she’s about 5-7. She will play libero at Nebraska. Megan is a great jumper and holds all the kill records for her high school. She also plays on the tennis team and shows cows at the state fair. The Munciana program is known for producing great ball handlers, and Megan is exactly that.”

Callie Schwarzenbach, Middle Blocker, 6-4, Kearney, Mo. (Kearney)
Schwarzenbach is the No. 10 overall high school prospect according to PrepVolleyball.com. As a senior at Kearney High School in Kearney, Missouri this season, Schwarzenbach averaged 4.2 kills per set and 1.3 blocks per set while hitting .383 and was a Class 4 all-state selection. The Bulldogs finished second in their district in 2017 with a 19-10-3 record. Schwarzenbach played club volleyball for KC Power, which won the USA Volleyball U18 national championship last April and is ranked as the No. 2 club team in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com. Schwarzenbach is also a standout in basketball and track and field at Kearney High School.

Coach Cook: “Callie is a talented three-sport athlete. She is a big middle blocker who played for a KC Power team that won a U18 national championship. Her dad, David, is the principal at her high school. We first found out about Callie from (former Husker assistant coach) Dani Busboom Kelly’s dad, who was talking to farmers over coffee in Cortland one day. Callie is a very smooth athlete for her size.”