LINCOLN — John Cook stood at a podium at center court in the Devaney Center and did his best impression of a conductor leading an orchestra.
The band was an estimated 1,200 packing the south end of the arena celebrating an NCAA title. And the song was one of the heartbeats of an underdog team that cemented its status with a four-set win over Florida late Saturday in Kansas City.
“Can we just do a couple just so I can hear it?” Cook asked. “Because it’s music.”
“With each other!” half of the audience chanted. “For each other!” the other half responded when Cook pointed their way.
The moment was one of many tributes to Nebraska’s fifth volleyball championship team and its players during an hourlong celebration that began late Sunday morning. It began with the “Tunnel Walk” music playing while the video screens showed the team bus pulling into the parking lot. Before long, players and coaches were receiving the full prematch introduction treatment — complete with a fog machine, pep band, mascots and cheerleaders — and the 2017 NCAA banner was spotlighted in the rafters.
Senior setter Kelly Hunter and outside hitter Annika Albrecht each briefly addressed the crowd, expressing thanks for traveling to the finals and being part of the NCAA-record 18,516 to attend a match.
“We surprised a lot of people; we surprised ourselves,” Hunter told the fans. “And we brought that natty home!”
That line brought cheers in a ceremony full of them. Many came as Cook described Nebraska’s journey from an overlooked team in the preseason to an undermanned group in November to an unlikely champion.
“How many of you back in August were thinking, ‘You know what? This team’s going to win a national championship and a Big Ten championship?’ ” Cook asked. “Raise your hand. No way. A couple, OK. I sure as heck didn’t.”
Cook explained how the Huskers embraced the underdog role by bringing their actual dogs to various media events. He praised senior middle Briana Holman for her postseason play — “Bri went up against all these All-American, great middle blockers, supposedly, in this tournament,” Cook said. “Kicked their butts in all them.”
Holman, who graduated Saturday before the championship match, received her diploma from UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green moments later.
Cook also had Nebraska’s five-play freshman class stand and be recognized for its contribution. He showed off the friendship bracelet Hunter gave him when she visited NU as a 10th grader. He said “I can’t tell you how good it feels” to see senior Sydney Townsend win her second straight Elite 90 award — given to the top student by GPA among the final four teams — in a group that included Stanford and Penn State.
Cook capped his 17-minute speech with a flourish: “Nebraska needs this. We needed this. Merry Christmas, Huskers.”
Green and Athletic Director Bill Moos also offered a few comments. Moos joked that calling Nebraska volleyball a “poster child” for what he wants the entire athletic department to look like when he arrived in the fall might have created some motivation.
“I came to Nebraska to be a part of a championship mentality,” Moos said. “And I’ve gotten a real good dose right here.”
Hunter said afterward that players celebrated their title late into the night with some pizza and spent time together in one of the hotel rooms. Most slept on the bus ride back to Devaney on Sunday morning.
The senior setter from Papillion-La Vista South stopped for a moment to consider it would be the last time she was in the arena as a player.
“It’s the best way to walk out of Devaney, I guess,” Hunter said. “Having a national championship, having all your friends and family here cheering you on. There’s no better feeling or better thing I could have asked for.”
