The Big Ten released its preseason volleyball honors ahead of next week’s Big Ten Volleyball Media Days and the reigning champion Cornhuskers are the preseason favorite.
Nebraska received 13 first-place votes from the league’s coaches to top the preseason poll, and five Huskers appeared on the 18-player preseason All-Big Ten Team.
The Huskers went 19-1 in conference play and 33-2 overall to claim the 2023 Big Ten title and return most of their lineup from last year’s national runner-up.
Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue and Minnesota round out the top five while Oregon tops the newcomers to the conference at No. 6, with USC and UCLA right behind the Ducks. Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State, Washington, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Rutgers and Iowa round out the poll.
Returning captains Lexi Rodriguez and Merritt Beason were two of three unanimous All-Big Ten selections, joining Penn State outside hitter Jess Mruzik.
Rodriguez won her second Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award in 2023 and earned a spot on the All-Big Ten First Team for the third straight season, averaging 3.6 digs per set while leading the best defense in the Big Ten.
Beason emerged as one of the best players in the Big Ten in her first season as a Husker, averaging 3.8 kills per set on .282 hitting and 2.1 digs per set as a six-rotation opposite hitter. She joined Rodriguez as an AVCA first-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten selection.
Outside hitters Harper Murray and Taylor Landfair and setter Bergen Reilly joined their teammates on the All-Big Ten team, giving the Huskers five preseason selections. Wisconsin was second with three picks while Purdue was the only other team earning multiple selections with two. Fourteen of the 18 preseason picks are returning first-team All-Big Ten selections.
Murray earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team honors in her first season of college volleyball, averaging 3.23 kills per set on .237 hitting and 2.07 digs per set as a six-rotation outside hitter. She was a third-team AVCA All-America selection.
Landfair, a Minnesota transfer, was a first-team All-Big Ten selection for the Gophers a year ago and was the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2022. The 6-foot-5 pin averaged 3.19 kills per set and 2.03 digs per set for the Golden Gophers last year.
With Reilly setting the offense, Nebraska finished second in the Big Ten in hitting behind only Wisconsin. She averaged 10.51 assists and 2.64 digs per set as a freshman, earning Big Ten Setter of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-America honors.
Nebraska is set to travel to Chicago for day two of Big Ten Media Days. Seniors Lindsay Krause and Kennedi Orr will join Coach John Cook on Tuesday for Nebraska’s turn addressing the conference media.
