Old friends and new alike made a big impression at No. 2 Nebraska volleyball’s annual Red-White Scrimmage on Saturday.
The White team topped the Red 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22) in a competitive match that saw a handful of mid-match sideline switches.
The old friends included former middle blocker Lauren Stivrins, who filled in on the Red team, and 50 years of alumni honored during the intermission.
The newbies included transfers Taylor Landfair and Leyla Blackwell and freshman Olivia Mauch, who all spent time playing for both teams.
The star of the day, however, was sophomore middle blocker Andi Jackson who finished with 15 kills on .583 hitting and seven blocks (including two solo) while spending the whole night on the White team. She soared above the net on numerous occasions, showing off her explosive athleticism on quick sets and slides alike while displaying improved blocking.
“I’m just going to be honest, my teammates made it super easy,” Jackson said. “Obviously, Lexi and our service team, they make it so easy to just attack super well, because we can be in system a lot, and even when we’re not, maybe in medium system, I know our setters have worked really, really hard, so Bergen did a really, really good job tonight just putting the ball up in medium system, and it gave me a ton of opportunities. I think serving went well, blocking went well. Obviously, as I feel like you could probably tell, my blocking has improved a ton, which has been nice to see as a reflection of our work in fall camp.”
Jackson also earned the coveted Lifter of the Year award, voted on by her teammates. Director of Olympic Performance Brian Kmitta awarded the trophy to her during a break between sets.
“I’ve been saying all preseason that she has now discovered that she’s good enough to play here, and she’s worked really hard,” Cook said. “She’s really confident. Her and Bergen [Reilly] have a great connection; they played on the USA team earlier in June, so she’s blossoming, fun to watch. She still has to get better blocking, but she’s doing some nice things. But again, the thing is, confidence-wise, like I said, she’s blossoming as a volleyball player in her second year.”
Lindsay Krause tied Jackson with a match-high 15 kills, though 11 of them came in the last two sets after she switched from the White team to the Red. She hit .259 with six digs in sets three and four after hitting minus-.048 in the first two. Krause was a force in the third set, notching eight kills on .467 hitting, though it wasn’t enough to secure a set win for her side.
Landfair, the Minnesota transfer, spent the first two sets on the Red team before flipping over to the White to play with Reilly for the last two. She showed her best stuff in the middle sets, putting up 10 kills on .304 hitting in games two and three, though she finished with 12 kills on .143 hitting overall.
“I thought Taylor, wow moments, but she’s still inconsistent,” Cook said. “She’s working on some things with her footwork. So I think she’s kind of in between right now. It’s like redoing your golf swing. It’s going to take a while ‘til you smooth it out. But she can hit some balls that nobody else can hit. I don’t remember whose head she took off at left front, but that was a heck of a hit. I’ve seen her do that a few times.”
Blackwell, the San Diego transfer, was steady throughout, finishing with nine kills on .438 hitting and five blocks.
“I thought Leyla competed really hard, she did some really nice things,” Cook said. “She definitely belongs here. She brings great energy — that’s what I really liked about what she did. It didn’t matter what side she was on, she brings a lot of great energy, which is really, really important.”
Freshman Olivia Mauch digs the ball during the Red-White Scrimmage Saturday. She posted a match-high 22 digs playing for both sides. Photo John S. Peterson.
Lexi Rodriguez and Laney Choboy started as the liberos for the two teams, but freshman Olivia Mauch got a chance to don the libero jersey as well for the final two sets after playing defensive specialist for both sides in the first two. She finished with a match-high 22 digs in her Husker debut at the Devaney Center.
“Olivia is so amazing,” Rodriguez said. “She’s so calm, but I personally have so much trust in her, and I feel like everyone does. You never question the effort she’s going to bring, the energy, the consistency. And so I feel like that’s such a gift, especially as a freshman, but I know whatever role she’s in, she’s going to do it to her best ability and I feel like tonight she really did that. So super proud of her.”
Both setters recorded double-doubles. Reilly put up 40 assists, 10 digs, three blocks. Two aces and two kills for the White team. Kennedi Orr countered with 37 assists, 13 digs, four kills and three blocks for the White.
The lineup changes were part of the plan heading into the match as Cook said he’s still deciding on a starting lineup and overall rotation.
“We evaluated four different lineups tonight,” Cook said. “There were some subtle things, but it was four different lineups. So now I’ve got to go back and look at it and see what clicks for us … We had it all mapped out what we want to do. Basically, wanted to rotate everybody over there. We left Skyler [Pierce] with Kennedi, and everybody else, I think, rotated back and forth, except for Maisie [Boesiger]. I told you guys how good Maisie is. She was really good tonight.”
Prior to the match, Nebraska showed off the 2023 Big Ten title trophy, awarded championship rings to the returners and revealed the championship banner in the Devaney Center. Cook said he wanted to share the moment with the fans, and Rodriguez called it “super special.”
“We try and say that we want to focus on this year and that last year’s in the past, but kind of to reflect at the beginning of the season after fall camp’s over and just kind of look back on last year and see kind of what we accomplished, that is a huge accomplishment, and it’s a big goal that we have for this year,” Cook said. “So I feel like to have it tonight in front of all the fans, and just get to recognize that before we head into the thick of season I feel like was super special.”
With preseason practice in the books, Nebraska faces a quick turnaround as the Huskers will head to Louisville on Tuesday to face No. 9 Kentucky in the AVCA First Serve Showcase.
