Huskers Hit the Road to Face Kansas State

MATCH PREVIEW
• The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team hits the road for the first time this season for a 4 p.m. match on Sunday at Kansas State. The Huskers will make the trip to Manhattan, Kan., for the first time since 2010. The Wildcats are opening a brand new arena this weekend, Morgan Family Arena. 
• Sunday’s Nebraska-Kansas State match will be streamed on ESPN+ (Big 12 Now). 
• The Huskers Radio Network will broadcast all the action on their radio affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and AM 590 in Omaha. A live audio stream will be provided at Huskers.com and on the Huskers app. 
• John Baylor is in his 30th season doing play-by-play for the Husker volleyball program. Lauren (Cook) West, a former All-America setter for the Huskers, will provide color commentary.

ABOUT THE HUSKERS
• Nebraska (4-0) has swept all four of its foes this season, including a 3-0 triumph over Omaha in front of a record-breaking crowd of 92,003 at Memorial Stadium, on Volleyball Day in Nebraska on Wednesday night. 
• The Huskers, who led the nation in defense in 2022, have held their opponents this season to a combined .031 hitting percentage, which ranks first nationally. 
• The Big Red is averaging 2.92 blocks per set, which ranks 28th in the country. 
• Two-time All-America junior libero Lexi Rodriguez paces the Husker defense with 4.00 digs per set. 
• Freshman outside hitter Harper Murray leads the Husker attack with 3.25 kills per set on .329 hitting, to go with 1.83 digs per set and a team-best six aces. Murray was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after averaging 3.67 kills per set with a .343 hitting percentage at the Ameritas Players Challenge. 
• Junior opposite hitter Merritt Beason, a Florida transfer, contributes 2.58 kills per set and 2.17 digs per set. 
• Sophomore middle blocker Bekka Allick ranks 15th in the nation with 1.75 blocks per set. 
• Freshman middle blocker Andi Jackson is off to a strong start as a Husker, averaging 2.33 kills per set on a team-high .516 hitting percentage, along with 1.44 blocks per set. 
• Freshman setter Bergen Reilly is putting up 8.58 assists and 2.67 digs per set. Reilly became just the second true freshman setter to be a day one starter under John Cook (Nicklin Hames). 
• Nebraska had a successful opening weekend, going 3-0 with three sweeps at the Ameritas Players Challenge. Murray (most outstanding player), Rodriguez and defensive specialist Laney Choboy were all named to the All-Tournament Team.

SCOUTING REPORT: KANSAS STATE
• The Wildcats went 3-0 to win the Hotel Vance Rose City Showdown last weekend over Portland State, San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton. 
• Aniya Clinton led the Wildcats on the first weekend with 2.86 kills on .375 hitting. Aliyah Carter added 2.78 kills on .227 hitting with 2.11 digs per set, and she surpassed 1,000 career kills last weekend. Shaylee Myers added 2.40 kills on .365 hitting. 
• Setter Izzi Szulczewski averaged 10.30 assists per set while leading the Wildcats to a .319 hitting percentage over the three matches. 
• Libero Mackenzie Morris posted 4.20 digs per set last weekend and has more than 1,300 career digs. 
• Kansas State opens its new 3,000-seat Morgan Family Arena on Friday against Omaha before hosting the Huskers on Sunday. 
• Jason Mansfield is in his first year as head coach at Kansas State. Mansfield was an assistant coach at Washington from 2018-22, at Illinois from 2016-17 and at Stanford from 2004-15. 

SERIES HISTORY
• Nebraska is 82-4 all-time against Kansas State and has won the only two meetings played in the last 10 years, on Sept. 15, 2017 (3-0) and Aug. 28, 2021 (3-1). 
• K-State’s last win against Nebraska, 3-2, was Dec. 2, 2011 in an NCAA second round match in Lincoln. 

HUSKERS RANKED NO. 4 IN AVCA COACHES POLL
• Nebraska is ranked fourth in the AVCA Coaches Poll this week.
• The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 544 times, which is also the most in NCAA history.
• Nebraska has appeared in all 605 AVCA Coaches Polls it has been eligible for since it was established in 1982. Nebraska is the only program to be ranked in every eligible poll all-time.
• Nebraska’s 605 consecutive weeks of being ranked is the longest active streak in Division I for any sport, leading Connecticut women’s basketball and North Carolina women’s soccer.
• Nebraska has been ranked No. 1 in 102 all-time polls, the most in NCAA history. 

AVCA HALL OF FAMER JOHN COOK IN 24TH SEASON AT NEBRASKA
• Nebraska head coach John Cook is in his 24th season as the Nebraska volleyball head coach in 2023. He has led the Huskers to four national championships, 10 final fours, 12 conference championships and 21 top-10 final rankings since 2000. 
• Cook has 821 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 .871 win percentage (660-98). 
• Under Cook, the Huskers have achieved 64 AVCA All-Americans and 20 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 is one of only two 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. 

HUSKER VOLLEYBALL SETS ATTENDANCE RECORDS
• It was a record-breaking night at Memorial Stadium on Aug. 30 when Nebraska hosted Omaha in an outdoor volleyball match. The attendance of 92,003 set a record for the largest crowd to watch a women’s sporting event in the United States. The crowd of more than 92,000 also surpassed what is widely regarded as the world-record attendance for any women’s sporting event.
• The previously recognized world record was 91,648 fans in an UEFA Champions League match between Barcelona and Wolfsburg on April 22, 2022, at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. The previous record for an American women’s sporting event was 90,185 in USA’s FIFA World Cup Final against China on July 10, 1999, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
• Along with the two records mentioned above, the Huskers shattered a pair of NCAA records, exceeding the previous records for any NCAA volleyball match and an NCAA volleyball regular-season match. 
• Entering the match, the largest-ever crowd for any NCAA volleyball match was 18,755 when Nebraska played Wisconsin in the NCAA Final at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 18, 2021. The largest NCAA volleyball regular-season attendance was 16,833 when Wisconsin hosted Florida at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., on Sept 16, 2022.
• The Husker volleyball program has sold out 306 consecutive regular-season matches. Nebraska’s sellout streak is an NCAA women’s record. The Huskers have led the nation in attendance every season since moving into the Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2013.
• Nine of the top 10 crowds in NCAA volleyball history are matches that have involved the Huskers. 
• Of the 15 largest NCAA volleyball regular-season crowds, 14 have been Nebraska matches.

MURRAY NAMED BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
• Nebraska freshman outside hitter Harper Murray was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday by the conference office.
• In her first collegiate matches, Murray led the Huskers to a 3-0 record at the Ameritas Players Challenge. The Ann Arbor, Mich., native averaged 3.67 kills per set with a .343 hitting percentage. She also posted 2.33 digs per set and totaled six blocks, five aces and four set assists. 
• Murray had nine kills on .350 hitting with five blocks and four digs in her collegiate debut against Utah State. She followed with 10 kills on .389 hitting with seven digs and three aces. Murray finished the weekend with 14 kills on .310 hitting with 10 digs for her first collegiate double-double. 

SEASON PREVIEW
• Nebraska is coming off a 26-6 (16-4 Big Ten) season and second-place finish in the Big Ten. The Huskers advanced to an NCAA regional semifinal, where they lost to Oregon in five sets. NU ended the year at No. 9 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, its 11th straight year finishing in the top 10 of the AVCA poll. 
• Nebraska had a nation-leading opponent hitting percentage of .128 this season. Junior libero and co-captain Lexi Rodriguez is back to lead the Huskers defensively once again. Rodriguez is a two-time AVCA All-American and is 12 digs away from reaching 1,000 for her career. 
• Sophomore middle blocker Bekka Allick was named to the AVCA All-Region Team in 2022 after finishing her first season as a Husker with 1.89 kills per set, 1.01 blocks per set and a team-high .326 hitting percentage. Allick was an All-Big Ten Second Team and a unanimous All-Big Ten Freshman Team member. 
• Junior opposite hitter Merritt Beason was an All-SEC and AVCA All-Region selection as a sophomore at Florida in 2022 before transferring to Nebraska and being named a team captain for the 2023 season. In her sophomore season at Florida, Beason helped the Gators win a share of the SEC Championship by averaging 3.35 kills per set with a .261 hitting percentage.
• Junior outside hitter Lindsay Krause averaged 2.25 kills per set with a .269 hitting percentage and totaled 44 blocks and 45 digs last season. Over the final 12 matches of the season, Krause averaged 2.72 kills per set with a .359 hitting percentage. 
• Ally Batenhorst posted 2.33 kills per set to go with 1.06 digs per set in 2022. The junior outside hitter was named to the Louisville Regional All-Tournament Team after 15 kills and 12 digs against No. 9 Oregon in the NCAA regional semifinal.