Huskers Host Illinois on Weekend of Champions

• The ninth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team returns home for the first time since Oct. 10 when it hosts No. 6 Illinois at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday. Nebraska will be hosting the “Weekend of Champions” this weekend. NU will be honoring the 1998 and 2008 Big 12 Championship teams between sets two and three. Both teams reached the NCAA Semifinals.
• Saturday’s match will be televised on the Big Ten Network and will be streamed at BTN2GO.com. It will also air on Husker Sports Network radio affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and 105.9 FM in Omaha. A live audio stream will be provided at Huskers.com. John Baylor is in his 25th season doing play-by-play for the Husker volleyball program. Lauren West, a former All-America setter for the Huskers, will provide color commentary.

About the Huskers
• The Huskers (16-5, 7-4 Big Ten) are coming off a stretch of four straight road matches, three of which were against top-10 teams. NU went 1-3 during the road swing, culminating with a 3-1 win at Ohio State on Wednesday.
• Nebraska leads the nation in opponent hitting percentage at .132.
• Nebraska leads the Big Ten and ranks 11th nationally with 1.72 aces per set.
• Nebraska’s 2.72 blocks per set ranks 18th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten.
• Senior co-captain Mikaela Foecke, who has twice been named Big Ten Player of the Week this season, leads the Huskers with 3.62 kills per set and adds 2.53 digs per set and has 29 service aces this season. The AVCA second-team All-American is hitting .301 and is the only active player in NCAA Division I with at least 1,000 career kills, 200 career blocks, 500 career digs and 100 career aces.
• Fellow senior captain Kenzie Maloney is averaging 4.00 digs per set to lead the Husker defense.
• Freshman middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach ranks ninth in the nation and second in the Big Ten with 1.49 blocks per set. Schwarzenbach had 13 blocks in a 3-1 win over New Mexico on Sept. 14, the most in the NCAA in a four-set match this season.
• Since debuting for the Huskers on Sept. 14, Lexi Sun has put up 2.98 kills per set and 2.53 digs per set.
• Freshman setter Nicklin Hames has 15 double-doubles through 21 matches and is averaging 10.05 assists and 3.11 digs per set.
• Sophomore opposite hitter Jazz Sweet is second on the team in total kills and is producing 2.67 kills per set.
• Sophomore middle blocker Lauren Stivrins is averaging 2.10 kills on a team-best .404 hitting percentage to go with 1.03 blocks per set.

Coaches
• John Cook, Nebraska: 19th year at Nebraska (547-74); 26th year overall (708-147)
• Chris Tamas, Illinois: 2nd year at Illinois (42-14)

Series History
• Nebraska is 25-7-1 all-time against Illinois, including a 3-1 win in Champaign on Sept. 29. NU held Illinois to .157 hitting in the match, and Mikaela Foecke had 13 kills and 11 digs while Callie Schwarzenbach had nine kills and eight blocks. The Huskers have won six straight matches against Illinois. NU is 10-2 against Illinois since joining the Big Ten. Illinois’ last win against the Huskers was Nov. 26, 2014, 3-2 in Champaign. The Huskers won 3-1 last year in Lincoln in a homecoming for former NU assistant coach and current Illini head coach Chris Tamas.

Scouting Illinois
• No. 6 Illinois enters the match with a 19-3 overall record and an 8-3 mark in Big Ten action. The Fighting Illini have won four straight matches, including a 3-1 win at No. 8 Wisconsin and a 3-2 win against No. 13 Michigan. Nebraska topped Illinois, 3-1, in Champaign on Sept. 29.
• All-American setter Jordyn Poulter leads the team with 11.75 assists per set, which leads the Big Ten.
• Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten in aces per set (1.69) and kills per set (14.39) and is third in hitting percentage (.276). The Fighting Illini rank in the top 15 nationally in all three categories.
• Jacqueline Quade leads the attack with 4.20 kills per set, the most in the Big Ten. Megan Cooney adds 2.93 kills per set.
• All-American middle blocker Ali Bastianelli ranks third in the conference in blocks with 1.39 per set and is hitting .391 on the season with 2.39 kills per set.

Foecke, Maloney Captain Young Husker Squad
• Seniors Mikaela Foecke and Kenzie Maloney are co-captaining the 2018 Husker squad. Foecke and Maloney are the lone players on the team who have been part of both the 2015 and 2017 NCAA Championship teams, and the duo will look to become the first in program history to appear in four straight final fours and win three national championships.
• Foecke, an outside hitter from West Point, Iowa, was selected the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championship in both 2015 and 2017 after leading the Huskers to their fourth and fifth NCAA titles all-time.
• Foecke became the fourth player in NCAA history to twice be named the MOP - as she also earned the honor in 2015 - and she was the first to earn the honor in non-consecutive years.
• Foecke was named an AVCA second-team All-American and was unanimously selected to the All-Big Ten team and was an AVCA All-North Region pick for the third straight year in 2017.
• Foecke was a unanimous preseason All-Big Ten selection entering her senior season. She had a career-high 25 kills on .351 hitting with 13 digs at Creighton on Sept. 6, earning Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honors for the first of two times this season.
• Foecke leads the Huskers with 3.62 kills per set on .303 hitting with 2.53 digs per set. She ranks eighth on Nebraska’s career kills list with 1,456, which also ranks fourth in the rally scoring era (2001 to present). Her 118 career aces are 10th-most in school history in the rally scoring era.
• Maloney, a libero from Louisville, Kentucky, was named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team in 2017 and was a PrepVolleyball.com first-team All-American after serving a school-record 13 aces during the NCAA Tournament.
• In her first season as NU’s libero in 2017, Maloney played all 125 sets and averaged 3.62 digs per set and 0.95 aces per set with season totals of 452 digs and 37 aces, second-most on the team.
• Maloney was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team this year. She is averaging a team-high 4.00 digs per set and had a career-high 25 digs in a win at No. 14 Creighton and at No. 3 Minnesota.
• Maloney became the 11th Husker all-time to reach 1,000 career digs when she did so against Missouri State on Sept. 15. She now has 1,186 career digs, eighth-most in school history.

Stivrins, Sweet Stepping Up in Sophomore Seasons
• After earning All-Big Ten Freshman team honors in 2017, middle blocker Lauren Stivrins and opposite hitter Jazz Sweet are both playing bigger roles as sophomores in the program.
• Stivrins is averaging 2.10 kills per set on a team-best .404 hitting percentage to go with 1.03 blocks per set. Her hitting percentage ranks second in the Big Ten. She added serving to her repertoire this season and has 17 aces.
• Stivrins finished the 2017 season with 2.07 kills per set on .309 hitting and 1.02 blocks per set while playing all 125 sets. She tallied nine kills on .316 hitting against Florida in the NCAA Championship match and had seven kills and a career-high nine blocks in the NCAA Semifinal vs. Penn State.
• Stivrins picked up her first-career Big Ten Player of the Week honor after becoming the third Husker in school history to post a 1.000 hitting percentage with at least 10 kills when she went 10-for-10 in a sweep of Northwestern on Sept. 28.
• Sweet also played in all 125 sets last season and had 2.22 kills per set on .273 hitting in her first year as a Husker. Sweet posted 12 kills on .375 hitting against Penn State in the NCAA Semifinal.
• This year, Sweet moved into the starting lineup for the Big Red and is third on the team in kills per set at 2.67. Sweet also has 66 blocks this season, third-most on the team behind only the two middles.

Sun Shining for Huskers
• Nebraska added sophomore outside hitter Lexi Sun to its attack in the offseason. The University of Texas transfer was a 2017 first-team All-Big 12 selection and received All-America honorable mention in her freshman season with the Longhorns. A native of Encinitas, California, Sun was the PrepVolleyball.com National Player of the Year, the Gatorade Player of the Year and the All-USA Volleyball Player of the Year as a senior at Santa Fe Christian.
• Sun made her Husker debut on Sept. 14 against New Mexico. She had 13 kills on .346 hitting with five digs, and she followed that the next day with nine kills on .368 hitting with seven digs against Missouri State.
• Sun is playing all six rotations for the Huskers and is averaging 2.98 kills and 2.53 digs per set.

Young Huskers Making Instant Impact
• Eight of the 15 Huskers on the roster are new to the team this season, and five are freshmen.
• Setter Nicklin Hames has started every match and has 15 double-doubles. The Knoxville, Tennessee native is averaging 10.05 assists and 3.11 digs per set. Her 26 service aces are second-most on the team.
• Middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach has started every match and leads the team in blocks with 1.49 per set.
• Defensive specialist Megan Miller has played in 14 matches and is providing 1.19 digs per set, as well as nine aces from the service line.
• Outside hitter Capri Davis has played in 11 matches and was huge for the Huskers in a 3-2 comeback win at No. 14 Creighton, providing 18 kills.
• Defensive specialist Chen Abramovich made her first collegiate appearance against Wake Forest on Aug. 31.

Smith Makes Return to Huskers
• Senior setter Brooke Smith was part of the Huskers’ 2015 NCAA Championship team and 2016 Big Ten Championship team. She played the 2017 season at Kansas State before transferring back to Nebraska for her senior season this year. Smith was cleared by the NCAA to start playing for the Huskers on Sept. 7 and has played in eight matches, recording six assists and one ace.

Huskers Will Play School-Record 19 Home Matches
• Nebraska will play a school-record 19 regular-season home matches in 2018.
• Nine of the Huskers’ 10 non-conference matches were played at the Devaney Center this season. The only road trip was to Omaha, where NU beat Creighton, 3-2, on Thursday, Sept. 6.
• The 2018 season marked the first time the Huskers didn’t play a non-conference match outside of Nebraska since 2007.

Huskers Aiming for 250th Consecutive Regular-Season Sellout
• Nebraska carries an NCAA women’s record 248 consecutive regular-season sellouts. Should the Huskers continue to sell out, their 250th straight sellout would be on Friday, Nov. 2 against Penn State.

Huskers Ranked No. 9 in AVCA Coaches Poll
• Nebraska is ranked No. 9 in the AVCA Coaches Poll this week.
• The Huskers have been ranked No. 1 in 99 all-time polls, the most in NCAA history.
• The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 480 times, which is also the most in NCAA history.
• Nebraska has appeared in all 535 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.

Cook Adds to Legacy; Joins AVCA Hall of Fame
• Nebraska head coach John Cook is in his 19th season as the Nebraska volleyball head coach in 2018. He has led the Huskers to four national championships, eight final fours, 12 conference championships and 16 top-10 final rankings since 2000. Cook has 708 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 .881 win percentage in that time (547-74).
• Under Cook, the Huskers have achieved 52 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 seven-time conference coach of the year, including Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2017, his first and second Big Ten honors with the Huskers in their Big Ten era (2011-present).
• Cook was named the AVCA North Region Coach of the Year in 2016, 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 was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in 2017, joining former Husker volleyball coach Terry Pettit in the hall.
• Cook became the 10th active Division I head coach to reach 700 career wins with the Huskers’ eighth win of the season on Sept. 14 against New Mexico. Cook is one of 27 Division I coaches all-time to have reached the 700-win mark.
• Cook passed former Husker head coach and AVCA Hall of Famer Terry Pettit on the all-time career wins list earlier this season. Pettit finished his career with 694 career wins, which Cook passed on Aug. 31 when Nebraska beat Wake Forest.

Husker Fans Set Attendance Standard Once Again
• Nebraska fans led the nation in attendance for a fifth straight season in 2017, averaging 8,202 fans per match, nearly 2,000 more than any other school.
• In 2016, the Huskers also led the nation with an average attendance of 8,210 fans per match, a new NCAA attendance 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).

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.
• Following the 2017 season, Husker assistant Tyler Hildebrand was named the Director of Coaching, Beach Volleyball for USA Volleyball in his home state of California.
• 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. Tamas led his Fighting Illini squad to the Sweet 16 in his first year, while Busboom Kelly made the NCAA Tournament with Louisville and was named the AVCA East Region Coach of the Year.
• 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 eight years, five of Cook’s Husker assistants have become head coaches. with her 1.60 blocks per set.

Foecke Named Senior CLASS Award Finalist
• Ten NCAA women’s volleyball student-athletes, including Nebraska senior outside hitter Mikaela Foecke, were selected on Oct. 25 as finalists for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate volleyball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
• A native of West Point, Iowa, Foecke carries a 3.649 GPA majoring in animal science and is a two-time NCAA Championship most outstanding player, making her one of only four volleyball players in NCAA history to accomplish that feat. Foecke was an AVCA second-team All-American in 2017 after leading the Huskers to their second NCAA Championship in three years. Foecke has excelled both on and off the court in her four years at Nebraska, as she is a three-time academic All-Big Ten selection and has received Nebraska’s high honors (silver) academic medallion twice.
• Fans are encouraged to vote at seniorCLASSaward.com through December 5. Fan votes will then be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award recipient will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship in December.

Nebraska Volleyball Retires Jersey of Sarah Pavan
• Nebraska volleyball retired the jersey of one of the most decorated student-athletes in NCAA history, Sarah Pavan, on Sept. 9 after the Huskers’ win over Iowa State. She became the ninth volleyball player in school history to have her jersey retired. Pavan was also inducted into the Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame that weekend.
• The Kitchener, Ontario native is NU’s all-time leader in kills (2,008) and kills per match (4.56). She is one of five players in NCAA history to be named a four-time first-team AVCA All-American, and she helped lead the Huskers win the 2006 NCAA Championship.
• Pavan was the AVCA National Player of the Year, a three-time Big 12 Player of the Year, a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year and the Honda Broderick Cup winner, given to the best female student-athlete in the country. She earned a 4.0 GPA majoring in biochemistry. Pavan went on to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, representing Canada in beach volleyball.