The boogyman is dead. The streak is over.
For the first time since 2017, Nebraska has defeated Wisconsin, and that victory secured the undefeated Huskers’ place at the top of the AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time since Oct. 24, 2022 (though it’s not unanimous thanks to Texas Tech coach Tony Graystone leaving Wisconsin at No. 1 in his ballot).
Nebraska has also overtaken the top spot in the media poll compiled by VolleyballMag.com.
The Cornhuskers stand at 19-0 overall and 10-0 at the halfway point of Big Ten play. The only other team in the country without a loss at this point is The Citadel, who escaped a five-set grinder against Chattanooga in the Southern Conference on Saturday.
Earlier this season, Nebraska exercised another of its demons by defeating Stanford — at Stanford — in four sets, ending a five-match losing streak. The Huskers’ previous win over the Cardinal was back in 2008. Since that match, Stanford has ripped off 11 straight wins — including wins over top-10 squads in Louisville, Washington State and Oregon — and sits at No. 3 in this week’s coaches poll.
So to recap, that 19-0 record features wins over the second- and third-ranked teams in the nation as well as victories over seven other teams in the latest top 25.
This Nebraska team is different.
In the five seasons after Nebraska’s 2017 title, the Huskers went 12-23 against top-10 teams including 4-14 against top-five squads. They made runs to the national title match in 2018 and 2021 (beating three top-five teams along the way), but couldn’t get over the hump at the end in those two seasons. Nebraska struggled against the elite competent they faced and didn’t get past the Elite Eight in the other three seasons.
The 2023 Huskers are 2-0 against top-five opponents and secured the program’s first victory over a No. 1 team since beating Penn State in the 2017 NCAA Tournament semifinals. Perhaps the most impressive part of Saturday’s win was the resiliency the Huskers displayed.
From an execution standpoint, even factoring in the strength of opponent, that was not Nebraska at its best. At one point (the second set specifically), the Huskers looked terribly overmatched against the big, bad Badgers. However, Nebraska found a way to battle back into it and win the match. That is the mark of champion — winning even when you aren’t at your best.
The Huskers have had some terrific players pass through the program since their last national title, but this year’s team looks like the most talented and well-rounded roster in some time. Former assistant coach Tyler Hildebrand called it back when his Long Beach State squad visited the Devaney Center: “I think that they’re one of the best teams that Nebraska’s had in a long time.”
On Monday, the Big Ten named Merritt Beason its offensive player of the week after the junior opposite hitter averaged 4.25 kills per set against Northwestern and Wisconsin. It was her third such honor of the season, the most for a Husker in a season since Mikaela Foecke in 2018.
Bergen Reilly also took home her third Big Ten Setter of the Week award after averaging 11.0 assists and 2.88 digs per set against the Wildcats and Badgers. The wise-beyond-her-years freshman is the first three-time winner for Nebraska since Kelly Hunter.
An elite pin paired with an elite setter is the foundation for a national championship, and Nebraska appears to have that this year.
Beason has emerged as the face of Nebraska’s attack, but Harper Murray is a star in her own right and was the best player on the floor in the fifth set on Saturday.
What made the win over Wisconsin all the more impressive was the Huskers were without Lindsay Krause, the junior pin who had taken her game to another level since returning from injury. She hasn’t matched the other two in volume, but her efficiency is on that same level (and even better in recent weeks). All three of Nebraska’s starting pins are hitting in the .280s. Krause’s status will be important to monitor moving forward, but Ally Batenhorst is no stranger to stepping up in big moments in her own right and filled in admirably on Saturday.
Add in arguably the best libero in the country in Lexi Rodriguez and a pair of dynamic middle blockers as well as talented serving and defensive specialists that have completely bought into their roles, and Nebraska has as complete a team as you’ll find in the country.
Nebraska has a talented roster, but that is true every year. What Saturday — and this entire season to this point — revealed is that this year’s squad has the toughness, togetherness and mental fortitude to go with the skill and athleticism that is the standard in this program. A team needs both to win it all, and this squad is firing on all cylinders right now.
Like I said near the beginning, this team is different. I’m not promising an undefeated season — the second half of the season still has its pitfalls and the Huskers are starting four freshmen who haven’t yet mad it through an entire Big Ten season — but the Huskers have passed every test they’ve faced thus far (both mental and physical) and there’s no reason to think they’ll stop now.
