Huskers at less than their best as they venture into Lions’ den

Huskers at less than their best as they venture into Lions’ den
World-Herald News Service

LINCOLN — Beginning the conference portion of the schedule in the country’s toughest college volleyball league can induce a gulp or two even under the best conditions — when you have an experienced roster, for example, or when you finished nonconference play on a high note.

Not exactly the circumstances for Nebraska, coach John Cook admitted Monday. The Huskers, who dropped to No. 14 in this week’s coaches poll after being No. 10 last week, will enter Big Ten play this week coming off a subpar weekend at the Omaha Challenge. It included a loss to No. 22 Northern Iowa and some aimless stretches in a sweep of UNO, a match that senior middle blocker Briana Holman left after injuring an ankle.

That injury, which Cook called a sprain, could leave Nebraska (7-3) down a starter for a daunting Big Ten opener on Friday night at No. 2 Penn State (10-0).

“It is what it is, and we’ve just gotta let this competition take us up a notch the next couple weeks here,” Cook said. “That will help prepare us for the rest of the Big Ten because we know it’s like this every week.”

Holman was down on the court holding her ankle in noticeable pain after getting tangled up with a teammate in the third set of Saturday’s win over UNO. She was helped to the sideline and was using crutches after the match to get to the locker room. The senior from DeSoto, Texas, leads Nebraska with 40 blocks and is averaging 2.26 kills per set.

Cook said he hadn’t talked to members of the team medical staff as of Monday morning and didn’t have an update on Holman’s status, though he made it sound as if it would be a long shot to see her against the Nittany Lions or Saturday at Rutgers.

“It’s just whether she’s out a week, two weeks,” Cook said. “That’s what it’s gonna be.”

Holman’s replacement will be another freshman, Chesney McClellan, who, with her brief action filling in against UNO, became the seventh Husker to make her collegiate debut this season. The 6-foot-4 McClellan, out of Maryville, Tennessee, was the nation’s No. 26 recruit in the class of 2017 according to PrepVolleyball.com and played in the K2 club program with NU commit Nicklin Hames, a setter scheduled to join the program next year and the No. 4 player in the class of 2018 according to PrepVolleyball.

“I think Chesney will do fine,” Cook said. “She’s been training great, and she’s a pretty high-skilled player. She played on a really good club team, and she’s very well-coached before she even got here, so it’s not like we’re starting from zero with her.”

But Cook admitted Nebraska does feel a little behind as it begins the defense of last year’s Big Ten title. The coach said the injury to setter Kelly Hunter, which kept the All-America senior from playing and practicing full-time until recently, put the team about three weeks off schedule.

And Nebraska’s opening weekends of Big Ten play leave no runway to ease up to speed. Next weekend, Nebraska hosts No. 1 Minnesota and No. 5 Wisconsin, which are a combined 20-0.

Cook has seen big-name opponents bring out the best in his young team, which competed well against top 10-ranked Oregon and Florida while Hunter was out and swept No. 11 UCLA twice upon her full-time return.

Bringing that intensity to every match is a must in the Big Ten, Cook said. NU’s sputtering performance in the loss to Northern Iowa shows what can happen when the Huskers don’t.

“Half the team knows the grind we’re getting ready to go in,” he said. “Hopefully, they can instill some of that into the other half of our team that this is going to be a grind and it’s tough every night.”

Albrecht continues hot streak

Nebraska’s season is only four weeks old, but it’s already been a bust-to-boom story for Annika Albrecht. The senior outside hitter continued her hot streak by sharing Co-MVP honors of the Omaha Challenge with Northern Iowa setter Heather Hook.

Albrecht’s slow start in NU’s first two weekends cast some doubt about her ability to transition effectively from back-row specialist to all-around player. She hit .085 over the first five matches with 24 hitting errors.

But in the last five matches, she has been NU’s best attacker, cutting her errors to 11 and notching a .366 hitting percentage in the last two weeks.

Cook said it’s no coincidence Albrecht’s hot stretch coincided with the return of NU’s All-America setter, but pointed out the 6-foot Albrecht has begun using more of a variety of speeds and angles on her shots to keep defenses guessing instead of trying to overpower blockers.

“That’s what we’ve been trying to get her to do her whole career here because she thinks she’s 6-5, (and can) bounce balls all over the court,” Cook said. “She’s now really becoming a smart hitter.

“She always has to have that other team off-balance, and then see the block and have great vision.”

Albrecht had 15 kills in each of Saturday’s matches against Northern Iowa and UNO.

Cook impressed by Baxter Arena

Baxter Arena’s use as a volleyball venue gained at least one new fan after the inaugural Omaha Challenge.

“I think it was great. It’s a shrunk-down CenturyLink,” Cook said. “So I think the fans feel pretty a part of it, and they’re pretty close, so it was pretty loud. I think it really inspired UNO. That first game, they played great. I think the crowd rattled us a little bit.”

The Mavericks held a set point against NU up 24-23 in Game 1 before the Huskers won the final three points of the opener in front of more than 5,000 fans Saturday night.

“We were all really impressed,” Cook said. “Great locker rooms, great facilities. Just the whole thing is first-class.”

UNO will play three more volleyball matches this season at Baxter Arena, which also hosts Mavs hockey and men’s basketball, before moving to Sapp Fieldhouse to finish its home schedule.

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