For the first time in the history of the in-state volleyball rivalry, Nebraska and Creighton will face off as top-10 teams.
After a 5-0 start to the season, the Bluejays rose to No. 9 in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll, the highest ranking in program history. After losing on the road to SMU, Nebraska dropped to No. 5. On Tuesday, they’ll battle it out at the Devaney Center.
“It’s something that we always look forward to as our in-state, you could say, rivalry game,” Skutt Catholic grad Lindsay Krause said. “I think our program, Coach, all of our players, we have so much respect for Creighton and everything that they do as a team every single year. So I think that’s something that we just really look forward to, getting to host them here in Bob again … I think it’ll be really great battle on Tuesday.”
Creighton has only dropped one set this season and already has a win over a Big Ten team after dispatching then-No. 20 USC 3-1 at Sokol Arena on Thursday. Coach John Cook said this will be the best Creighton team he’s seen.
“Those guys are older now, Kendra Wait’s playing really well and they’re really balanced,” Cook said. “Those guys play defense, and so this is going to be a great challenge for us and it should be a really good volleyball match.”
Wait, a senior, won her second straight Big East Setter of the Week award on Monday. The stat-sheet stuffer is averaging 11.0 assists, 3.25 digs, 1.12 digs and 0.88 blocks per set while guiding the Bluejays to a .308 hitting percentage.
Big East Offensive Player of the Week Norah Sis, an outside hitter from Papillion-La Vista, is leading the Bluejay attack at 3.75 kills per set on .333 hitting and 2.12 digs per set. Her partner at the pin, junior outside hitter Ava Martin, is a formidable threat as well at 3.19 kills per set on .242 hitting.
“Those guys are just solid,” Cook said. “They’ve been that way. Norah Sis has had a very consistent career and Ava does a really nice job. You look at her, she’s not your typical big, physical outside hitter, but she does a really nice job moving it around, mixing things up. They’re talking like they’re going the Final Four, so they must feel pretty confident about things and like I said, this will be a great matchup.”
Kentucky middle blocker transfer Elise Goetzinger (2.69 kills per set on .358 hitting and 1.19 blocks per set) and Penn State libero transfer Maddy Bilinovic (3.88 digs per set) are playing key roles while redshirt freshman Jaya Johnson (2.19 kills per set on .319 hitting) has stepped into the lineup at opposite hitter. Fifth-year senior middle blocker Kiara Reinhardt (1.25 kills per set on .370 hitting and 1.50 blocks per set) is leading the defensive effort at the net as Creighton is holding teams to .138 hitting.
Barring a postseason meeting, Tuesday will be the final collegiate matchup between a pair of Papillion natives in Krause and Sis. The two are close friends who grew up playing with and against each other. Sis, named the preseason Big East Player of the Year for the third straight season, missed the matchup last year with an abdominal injury that sidelined her for 11 matches. Krause, who dealt with her own share injuries in 2023, said she’s looking forward to seeing her friend across the net again.
“It’s just super exciting,” Krause said. “Last year when she didn’t get to play, it was definitely sad, and I was a little bit sad about that, but I think it’s part of athletics. Being able to both be back healthy and have that competition, that competition we have within our friendship, is something that’s just super special.”
In addition to Krause, Nebraska has one other player from the Omaha Metro in Bennington product Olivia Mauch, plus two from the Lincoln area in Rebekah Allick (Waverly) and Maisie Boesiger (Norris). Creighton has five other in-state players besides Sis: senior Katie Maser (Grand Island Central Catholic), junior Sky McCune (Gretna), sophomore Destiny Ndam-Simpson (Omaha Westside) and freshmen Alivia Hausmann (Norris) and Nora Wurtz (DC West). Hausmann was teammates with Boesiger at Norris. Ndam-Simpson also played club volleyball with Mauch.
The loss to SMU last Tuesday — Nebraska’s first 3-0 loss to an unranked team in a decade — was an early-season wake-up call for the Huskers, and they bounced back with two strong performances against overmatched teams in The Citadel and Montana State. Starting Tuesday, the competition level ramps up significantly to close out the nonconference slate with matches against No. 9 Creighton, No. 14 Arizona State, No. 2 Stanford and No. 4 Louisville.
“After SMU, we had a lot of talks as a team, just figuring out some things that are going to be really crucial for us moving forward,” Merritt Beason said. “And so the last few practices have been really, really high level, and we’re implementing those things that we’re working on. We’re just excited, obviously, like Lindsay said, it’s our in-state rival, so for us it’s going to be really, really fun to play, obviously, because the rivalry, but also they’re a really good team, and they return a lot of players. I know they’ve gotten a few really good transfers. And so for us, it’s going to be a battle, and we thrive in that environment. So I know this team’s really, really excited, and like Lindsay said, the rivalry always makes it a little bit more special.”
Cook has started the same lineup in five of Nebraska’s first six matches, though the results have allowed him to test out different lineups as everyone but freshman Skyler Pierce, a redshirt candidate, has played in at least two matches. The experimentation hasn’t quite produced definite lineup conclusions for Cook just yet, though.
“I still think we’re trying to figure it out a little bit,” Cook said. “I’m still trying to figure out what’s our best lineup. So we’ll learn more in the next couple weeks here, because we’re going to get some great tests. I don’t know, it’s a good problem to have, because everybody’s playing but Skyler. Skyler, I have no problem putting her in; we’re trying to protect her a little bit. So everybody’s getting their opportunities.”
The Big Ten Network will televise Tuesday’s match with Larry Punteney and Emily Ehman on the call. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT.
