Brent Wagner
Last year, the Nebraska volleyball team played its first two matches of the season against Kentucky and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The previous year, it was Utah State and Lipscomb.
This year, the challenge is bigger with matches against two Top 10 teams: No. 3 Pittsburgh on Friday and No. 6 Stanford on Sunday.
Add it all up, and you have two top-notch opponents, the excitement of the Huskers playing at Pinnacle Bank Arena for the first time and the expectations of being the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
New head coach Dani Busboom Kelly is excited to be playing strong teams, and to be playing at the Lincoln arena as part of the three-day AVCA First Serve event.
But those opponents are a handful, and care is given to how to have the team ready.
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“I think it’s just preparing our team to have two really tough opponents back-to-back and to be prepared for that right out of the gates is really unique,” Busboom Kelly said Tuesday on the Nebraska volleyball radio show.
“Usually, maybe you have a home tournament and have one premier team, but the other two teams are kind of warm-ups. This is way different. This is two teams that could be in the Final Four at the end of the year that we’re playing in August.”
Over the past decade, Pittsburgh has become one of the top programs in the country, and Busboom Kelly saw that closely while coaching in the same conference at Louisville.
Stanford is Stanford.
“Stanford is the most storied volleyball program in history when you really think about it — they have the most national championships (with nine),” Busboom Kelly said. “They’re always a program that everyone knows is going to be good.”
While Pittsburgh lost some great players to graduation and transfer, the No. 1 player is back.
“Olivia Babcock is back — the reigning national player of the year — and she’s very, very good,” Busboom Kelly said. “She’s going to be a challenge, and you’re going to probably expect them to set her more balls just because with the people they lost from last year, she’s going to get more attempts.”
After this weekend, Nebraska will know the areas that require improvement, instead of that not occurring until later in the season.
“I’m very excited to have great competition coming out of the gate,” Busboom Kelly said. “I think it’s the best way to learn. That was always my philosophy before is schedule tough in the nonconference so we can figure things out early. The earlier you can figure it out, the better season you’re going to have later.”
Large roster could mean more disappointment
NU’s 17-player roster will now have to settle into their role on the team, which can be difficult, especially for team newcomers.
Those decisions are stressful for the coach, too.
“I’m very transparent with our team that this is something that stresses me out,” she said. “I want nothing more than to see all of them play. They’ve all earned it. But the bottom line is we can only write down seven players on the lineup and there’s only so many points in each game to play different players and experiment.”
Busboom Kelly tries to get the players to understand that their role could be very different later in the season or by next season.
Match against alumni team a success
Nebraska’s match against a team of alums last Saturday was a great experience for the players, alums and fans.
It’s an event that could continue when possible.
“We’ll have the game if we can find enough alumni to play and to make a good, competitive team,” Busboom Kelly said. “But that’s not as easy as people think getting these alumni back. They have to be in shape, and be available. If you’re playing pro, sometimes they don’t want to risk getting injured.”
Reach the writer at 402-473-7435 or [email protected]. On Twitter @LJSSportsWagner.
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Husker volleyball/women’s basketball reporter
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