With that, our Husker Volleyball team is off to the finals! In a state that prides itself on having one of the most major volleyball schools in the country, this is a monumental deal. When they started the season, a roster of no seniors made a national title seem unimaginable. Well, it’s time to start imagining it.
A sweep of Pitt on Thursday has brought this incredibly young team to the biggest stage of the season. Nebraska, with a record of thirty-three wins and only one loss and seeded at No. 1 overall in the tournament, took down Pitsburg in three sets with the following scores: 25-20, 25-23, 25-17. One could say the Husker starters had a rocky start but truly dominated their last two matches against a very talented Pitt team. Freshman outside hitter Harper Murray contributed a match-high 13 kills, and Freshman Bekka Allick recorded 10 blocks. They were both true competitors and did not let their inexperience at the college level stop them from dominating a much more “mature” Pittsburg. The Huskers trailed for only four rallies in the entire game. Nebraska lost four of the first seven rallies then won three straight points. They worked explosively and never trailed again in a 25-20 win in the first opening set. The Huskers did not trail in either set two or three, leading by as many as six in a 25-23 victory of the second set and by a whopping 10 points in a 25-17 win in set three to end the match soundly. The game was played in front of a crowd of nearly 20,000 people. This marks the largest crowd to ever attend an indoor NCAA Volleyball match. We Husker fans will travel across the country to support our girls, that’s for sure!
The match against the raining champs, the Texas Long Horns, is in our future and coming up quickly. Nebraksa will take on Texas in the 11th NCAA Final in program history. Texas may be coming into this game with multiple “advantages,” however there is no doubt in my mind that the Huskers can come out on top and overcome the adversity. Let’s get it done and bring that trophy back to the Midwest where it belongs. Go Big Red!
