Bergen Reilly described the final week of Nebraska’s nonconference schedule as a Final Four week, and if that’s the case, sweeping No. 2 Stanford on Wednesday earned the Huskers a trip to an in-season championship-type match on Sunday.
Waiting for them at the site of the real 2024 Final Four will be the fourth-ranked Louisville Cardinals (8-1) who beat No. 9 Creighton in five last Sunday and No. 11 Kentucky in four on Wednesday.
Sunday will be Nebraska’s second true road contest of the season, the first being the 3-0 loss at SMU. A program record 6,773 fans were in the building for that one. More than 10,000 are expected to fill the KFC Yum! Center as the upper deck will be open.
“I think Louisville is a very good team, and they’re going to test us, not only volleyball-wise, but I think our team culture, and obviously we’re going to go there and not have the momentum in our favor, in a sense,” Andi Jackson said. “So it’ll be a really good test for our team to come together, because when you’re in those big environments and you don’t have the fan base, it really just tests your team and how well you can lean on each other and just come together because you’re not going to have the Bob with 8,000 people cheering you on.”
One advantage heading into this road match is the Huskers will already be familiar with the facility as they opened the season at the Yum! Center against Kentucky in the AVCA First Serve Showcase.
“I think we’re all just looking forward to it,” Lindsay Krause said. “I think it was a really fun experience getting to start in that kind of opening showcase. It was really fun. I think it will be great for us to have played in that arena before. I feel like it’s a really big place, and to be kind of not being used to playing in big arenas like that can sometimes mess with stuff. So I feel like having that experience that we were already there just a few weeks ago, and then playing just another great team like Louisville, I think we know that fans are going to show up, so it’ll be a really fun atmosphere. And I think it’s just going to be a really great match to kind of close up the nonconference season.”
Sunday will also be the first regular season volleyball match televised on ABC, another volleyball milestone in which the Huskers will be involved.
“ABC has only done the national championship, I believe, so this is another epic moment,” Coach John Cook said. “We always say there’s no place like Nebraska, and we are in a lot of these epic moments, which is pretty cool for our program and the respect that we get, and again, another significant moment for women’s sports.”
The historic nature of the match isn’t lost on the players, though Merritt Beason said the team isn’t approaching it any differently.
“It’s a huge opportunity, and for us, it’s just another game, and I’m sure that’s exactly how we’ll treat it going in,” Beason said. “But we’re continuing to see steppingstones happen in women’s sports and women’s athletics, so it’s really exciting that we’re able to be a part of something else, and I know that our team doesn’t take that lightly and we’re very grateful to be in the situations that we’re in.”
Sunday will also be the second meeting between former Husker Dani Busboom Kelly and Cook, her college coach and former boss. Her Cardinals beat the Huskers 3-0 at the Devaney Center in 2021. Louisville went 27-5 last season, falling 3-2 to Pittsburgh in the Regional Final round of the NCAA Tournament. Cook said he’s very proud of what his former player and assistant has built in Louisville.
“They’re playing in the Yum! Center a lot, and this will probably be the biggest crowd so far this year,” Cook said. “She could play in her little gym that’s only 1,500 or whatever it is. Louisville is hosting the Final Four, so this is a great preview and build up for the Final Four, and I think the Final Four is sold out. She’s got that program where they’ve got a shot to be in it, so doesn’t get much better than that.”
The Cardinals opened the season with top-15 wins over Wisconsin and Tennessee and their only loss came against current No. 3 Penn State in the Nittany Lions’ building.
Wahoo native Elle Glock, the daughter of former Nebraska basketball player Jason Glock, is splitting setting duties with Nayelis Cabello in Louisville’s 6-2 offense, with both averaging just over 5.0 assists per set and combining to set Louisville to a .261 hitting percentage.
Senior outside hitter Charitie Luper, a UCLA transfer, is leading the attack with 3.10 kills per set on .319 hitting. Arizona transfer Sofia Maldonado Diaz has played well on the right side, averaging 2.06 kills per set on .278 hitting. All-American outside hitter Anna DeBeer is second on the team with 2.45 kills per set but is only hitting .148 through nine matches. All-American Elena Scott, one of the best liberos in the country, is averaging 4.56 digs per set.
Louisville is fifth in the country in blocks per set (3.03) with 6-foot-6 junior middle blocker Cara Cresse leading the effort with 1.46 blocks per set.
First serve is set for 11:30 a.m. CT on Sunday with Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak, Katie George and Christine Williamson on the call.
