3 Huskers from Waverly a thrill for high school coach, community

Three of the players on the Nebraska volleyball team came from the same high school.

In college football, that’s nothing out of the ordinary. But John Cook’s team only has 14 players on the roster, and three of them are from Waverly High School.

That’s a Class B school located only about 11 miles from the Devaney Sports Center, where the Huskers play.

Even better, they’ve all been starters at times this season, and probably will be when Nebraska plays Oregon in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 on Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Waverly trio is junior setter Anni Evans, sophomore right-side hitter Whitney Lauenstein and freshman middle blocker Bekka Allick.

Having all three playing for the Huskers is as great as you can imagine for their high school coach, Terri Neujahr.

“For me, having them come out of my gym at Waverly High School, I shake my head sometimes and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe this has actually happened that I had the opportunity to coach these amazing women in this time,’” Neujahr said. “To have one, like when Olivia Boender was a Husker, was amazing. And now I’m like, ‘There are three of them there from Waverly.’ This doesn’t happen. But it’s happening.”

Evans came to Nebraska first. And it was actually when Cook went to watch Evans play in a high school match that Lauenstein got on his radar to recruit.

Lauenstein made herself into an NCAA Division I player while at Waverly — in the weight room, in the gym and while on the track team — after not making the varsity volleyball team when she was a freshman.

Allick was attending Lincoln North Star when she committed to Nebraska and later moved to Waverly for her junior and senior seasons.

Now they all play for the Huskers.

“I’m so happy for them,” Neujahr said. “I don’t think the public realizes how many hours it takes. There is a theory that says 10,000 hours, or reps or whatever. They have literally put in 10,000 hours in their lifetime to try and get ready for these moments for this. It is not fun sometimes and it is grueling and it is hateful and you don’t want to be there. And yet they do it because of these moments right now.”

Neujahr thinks about what they’ve sacrificed to get here, and still do.

“They change their diets, and they don’t go out with friends because they need to get some sleep,” she said. “And everything they sacrifice. And it’s not just them, it’s every college athlete. But these three, just because I know them, that’s what they’ve done. I get goosebumps for them, and I see them living their dream every time I go and watch them.”

Allick knows having three players from Waverly means a lot to the community. And it’s also a source of pride for Cook.

“He’s always about giving back, and I think when he’s able to find girls from Nebraska and develop them and build them into these unstoppable women on the court, it brings him a lot of pride,” Allick said.

Allick earned second-team all-Big Ten honors in her first college season. She’s got a big personality, on and off the court.

Cook has enjoyed having Allick on the team. She’s funny, but also has a mature way of thinking about her place in the program now, and how much better she can get.

“She’s pretty cool,” Cook said. “I have dinner with her twice a week, and it’s just like Bekka’s world and we’re just living in it.”

The other Nebraskans on the team are Lindsay Krause (Omaha Skutt) and Maisie Boesiger (Norris).