Husker volleyball team ‘pumped’ for spring match on Saturday

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Nebraska volleyball will unveil its 2023 squad Saturday at its spring match in Central City.

The Huskers have a whole new look, with no seniors on the team. And out of the 14 players, six are newcomers, including five freshmen.

The excitement from the Huskers to play this week is clear.

The 2,000 tickets available for the match sold out in about an hour, and head coach John Cook doesn’t take that lightly.

“These have been really special matches when we get to go to these towns,” Cook said. “The way they appreciate it, and the way they treat us is, that to me is the highlight.”

This will be the second scrimmage for the Huskers this spring. Earlier this month, they played Creighton and learned a lot from the competition.

“These guys are pumped,” Cook said. “They are going to be pumped. We’re going to have to do some breathing before we go onto the court. When we played Creighton, we had two freshmen that couldn’t breathe. These guys get really fired, but they’ve got to learn to control that a little bit. It’s fun to see that because they are just so fired up to play.”

Cook said his only goal for Saturday is to see his players compete, have fun and get after it.

“We’ve installed a lot; we’re trying a lot of new things that we’re capable of doing, which has gone really well,” Cook said. “This group has had a great learning mindset, and so they’ve worked really hard to try to get better.”

Some of the most notable differences fans may see on Saturday come at the setter position.

Cook says the Huskers haven’t played much with the two-setter rotation.

This week is about competing to earn a starting spot, including at setter between returner Kennedi Orr and newcomer Bergen Reilly.

Freshman outside hitter Harper Murray will compete in a Husker uniform for the first time on Saturday.

The 6-foot-2 Michigan native says that she knew this spring was going to be tough but that she learned a lot.

“There’s going to be a lot of ups and down moments for me,” she said. “I think that having the trust in my coaches and having my teammates by my side is helping a lot,” Murray said.

The match starts at 2 p.m. at the Bison Activity Dome.

It will be broadcast on Nebraska Public Media and streamed on Big Ten Plus.