Husker Volleyball in Asia

The Nebraska Volleyball team is on a 17-day trip to Japan and Asia, where they are playing seven matches against top professional teams from the Japanese and Chinese leagues. The Huskers left Lincoln on June 15 and are spending the first week in Japan before leaving for China on June 22. Nebraska will return home on July 2 after touring sites like Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall of China toward the end of the trip. 

Follow along for daily updates from members of the Husker Volleyball team here. 

Nebraska vs. Toray Arrows - Thursday, June 20
Nebraska scrimmaged Toray Arrows in front of Toray's team employees on Thursday, June 20. The Huskers went with a young lineup with true freshman Nicole Drewnick setting. Toray, the runner-up in the Japanese league this season, won both sets of the scrimmage, 25-17, 25-17. Capri Davis had seven kills for the Huskers in the match, and NU combined for 11 blocks. "We did a really good job blocking but struggled with attack and sideout," Head Coach John Cook said. "We'll get another chance to play on Friday and see if we can improve in those areas." 

Nebraska vs. Toray Arrows - Friday, June 21
Nebraska and Toray played again on Friday with the Huskers playing their full lineup this time around. NU dropped the first set, 25-20, but rebounded to tie the match with a 25-21 win in set two. In the best-of-three match, Toray had three match points ahead 24-21 in set three. The Huskers subbed in Anezka Szabo, who proceeded to post three straight blocks to tie the score at 24-24. The Huskers ended up winning the set, 27-25, and the match.

"It was a really, really high-level match," Head Coach John Cook said. "The Huskers did a nice job of competing and playing some really good volleyball. Anezka was huge coming in that third set and stuffing three attempts." 

Lauren Stivrins had 11 kills on .364 hitting, and Jazz Sweet had nine kills on .474 hitting. Kenzie Knuckles had 15 digs, and Lexi Sun had five stuff blocks.

"She did really well," Cook said of Sun. "She was matched up against one of their best players (Mari Horikawa), a lefty who is very good."

The Huskers finished their stay in Japan with a 2-2 record playing against Japan's top two professional teams. The Huskers will depart Japan on Saturday and head to Shanghai, where they will play four more matches. 

Nebraska vs. Shanghai Bright Ubest - Monday, June 24
The Nebraska volleyball team opened its stay in China with a five-set victory over Shanghai Bright Ubest, 25-23, 25-17, 20-25, 21-25, 15-11. Shanghai finished in third place in the Chinese Super League in 2018-19. 

Capri Davis led the Huskers with 14 kills. Madi Kubik had 13 kills. Lauren Stivrins added seven kills on .600 hitting, and Callie Schwarzenbach had five kills while hitting .571. 

"I believe this is the first time we’ve ever won at the Shanghai gym," Head Coach John Cook said. "Everybody played in the match, and it was a great team effort. Nicklin Hames set the first two sets, and then Nicole Drewnick set the last three. We were really solid in every area to win the match."

The Huskers had a 12-6 advantage in blocks. Stivrins had six, Schwarzenbach had five and Riley Zuhn had four. NU also served 10 aces with just seven errors. 

"Kenzie Knuckles and Megan Miller did an exceptional job digging balls," Cook said. "They made several big plays to keep rallies alive, and we won some big rallies."

The teams will play again on Tuesday. 

Nebraska vs. Shanghai Bright Ubest - Tuesday, June 25
The Huskers played Shanghai Bright Ubest on Tuesday for the second straight day. One day after a 3-2 win over Shanghai, the Huskers fell 2-1 this time around (23-25, 25-17, 21-25).

Lexi Sun had 15 kills and hit .400. Capri Davis had nine kills, and Lauren Stivrins posted five blocks. Kenzie Knuckles led all players with 16 digs.

“It was another good match,” Head Coach John Cook said. “We played a lot of players, but we didn’t quite get it done today. It was still a good effort by our team.”

Following the match, the Huskers boarded an overnight train from Shanghai to Tianjin.  NU will tour the city and practice with Chinese league runner-up Tianjin Bohai Bank on Thursday before playing a match against the pro team on June 28. The Big Red will play their last match of the trip on June 29 against reigning Chinese league champion Beijing Baic Motor in Beijing. 

Nebraska vs. Tianjin Bohai Bank - Thursday, June 27 and Friday, June 28
Nebraska traveled to Tianjin and trained with their professional team for two days, which included some unofficial scrimmages with no stats.

"We drilled with Tianjin, and the drills have been competitive drills," Head Coach John Cook said. "The first day, we did our practice drills, and the second day we did their drills. It's been great. We've learned a lot about how teams train in different ways. We also played about 10-12 sets against Tianjin over the last two days and won three or four. I did a coaches clinic here in Tianjin, and that was a neat experience. Now we're taking a bus from Tianjin to Beijing, and we'll play their professional team (Baic Motor) on Sunday morning here, which will be Saturday night in Lincoln."

Nebraska vs. Beijing Baic Motor - Sunday, June 30
The Huskers played their last official match of the trip against reigning Chinese league champion Beijing Baic Motor in Beijing on Sunday.

Nebraska played its starting group in games one and two and cruised to 25-13, 25-14 wins. Head Coach John Cook said the Huskers then went with a young lineup for the final three sets. Beijing won those three sets, 26-24, 25-20, 15-6, to win the match in five.

"It was a good match for us," Cook said. "We had a great chance to win it in three sets, but we just couldn't quite get there."

Madi Kubik had 19 kills and hit .394. Lexi Sun had seven kills, and Jazz Sweet had five kills on .800 hitting. Lauren Stivrins had five kills and hit .700, and Callie Schwarzenbach had five kills and hit .429. "That group had a really good day," Cook said. 

Riley Zuhn and Capri Davis each had three stuff blocks. Kenzie Knuckles added 12 digs.