‘The ante goes up each week’: Husker volleyball looks to finish season strong

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Nebraska volleyball is looking ahead as it hopes to finish the season strong before the NCAA Tournament.

But first, head coach John Cook spoke about the disappointing loss to Wisconsin at a Tuesday press conference.

“You know, what haunts you is when you have the opportunity to win the point, you don’t go for it, you make a soft play,” he said. “And that’s essentially what we did.”

Cook was unsure if those soft plays came out of fear, or because Wisconsin just made some great plays.

But he said the Huskers have to find a way mentally to win those big games.

“You have to max out when it matters most, and we didn’t do it,” Cook said. “So we’re back to working on it.”

Libero Lexi Rodriguez acknowledged that it wasn’t the team’s cleanest game of volleyball.

“But I think a lot of the errors came from more the mental side and not so much like they were out playing a certain way,” she said.

Cook said in sports, you get knocked down, and what matters is how you respond.

And the Huskers responded well, sweeping Maryland on Saturday.

But right now, Nebraska is looking to regroup and refocus before its next two matchups against Indiana and Northwestern.

Cook said both will be tough matches for the Huskers.

Nebraska swept Northwestern earlier in the season but hasn’t yet played Indiana.

“So another challenging weekend,” Cook said. “As I tell the team, the ante goes up each week.”

With eight games left, five of those being at home, Cook said the team better cherish those matches at the Devaney Center.

“You know, it always comes down to the last week,” he said. “So we still got a lot of volleyball left to play. We’re going to have to win some big matches.”

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