Bourbon, Batenhorst and weighing Cook’s qualms as Huskers await Sweet 16

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Welcome to the land of bourbon.

References to Kentucky’s beloved spirit are everywhere.

There’s a mural that celebrates “The Wall Street of Whiskey” just a few blocks from the KFC Yum! Center. (We can talk about the unnecessary exclamation point in the arena’s name at a later date.) Inside the arena, there’s a bourbon bar that’s decorated with at least 80 bottles of assorted varieties of Evan Williams.

And, of course, a bottle of Woodford Reserve — and a baseball bat — was included in the NCAA Regionals welcome gift for the visiting teams.

“That’s a first,” Nebraska coach John Cook quipped Wednesday.

What isn’t a first is Nebraska’s time on this stage. The Nebraska program has made it to Regionals weekend 11 straight seasons and 28 times out of the last 29 seasons.

The Huskers play bright and early Thursday morning. First serve is scheduled against Oregon at 10 a.m. CT (11 a.m. ET) and will be televised on ESPNU.

Here are two observations from Wednesday’s pre-match availability.

Since defensive specialist Kenzie Knuckles was lost for the season due to a torn ACL, sophomore outside hitter Ally Batenhorst has stepped up in the interim. Instead of rotating out on the back row, she now serves and plays through all six rotations.

It’s a different role for her, to be sure. It’s a big ask for players to rotate through all six rotations when they haven’t done it much before, but she’s held her own. And through that, she’s learned a considerable bit about herself.

“It’s kind of forced me to bring out a different side of myself,” Batenhorst said. “I really try to be more vocal, communicate really well, and just be that source of energy and overpower anything that could be holding me back with that energy. Just being the best version of myself for the team.”

What’s helped her is how her teammates have been supportive of her through the lineup.

“It’s emotional but we all kind of get through it together and we kind of lean on each other,” she said. “So, it’s been up and down, but we are an emotional team and I think that’s one of our greatest strengths. We just lean on each other and keep going at it.”

With what Oregon has seen, coach Matt Ulmer was complimentary of how both Knuckles and now Batenhorst have played in that spot.

“Knuckles is one of my favorite players to watch, so I’m sad that she’s not out there because I like competing against the best,” Ulmer said. “We like competing against the best and she’s definitely one of the very best, so I’m bummed for her and the team and volleyball in general, but having Ally in there is no slouch. She’s just fine on her own.”

Nebraska traditionally practices in the afternoons, starting those sessions at 3 p.m. But with the abnormal start time for their Sweet Sixteen match, Nebraska has switched things up the past few days.

On Tuesday, the Huskers practiced at 8 a.m. On Wednesday, they practiced in the early afternoon.

“Great, we haven’t had a bad practice all year. So it doesn’t matter when we practice or when we go, they’ve been great,” Cook said. “… They’ve adjusted really well.”

Some, including myself, have some qualms about such an important match starting so early. Cook called it “ridiculous” on Monday during Sports Nightly on the radio.

“Are they going to play the college football playoff at 10 in the morning? No,” Cook said Monday. “I don’t know. It makes it hard on our fans, people that work. I don’t know why they can’t figure this out to do half on one day and half on another day.”

Last week, we were all up in arms about how none of the first- and second-round games were nationally televised and were instead on ESPN+. Now, the games are nationally televised, but the timing of this match in particular is frustrating. And it’s not only frustrating for fans at home watching on TV, but for families of players wanting to come to the match.

For example, senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord is from Lexington, Kentucky. That’s 75 miles away from Louisville. Because of the match time, her family can’t get off work to watch her. If Nebraska advances to the Elite Eight, then her loved ones can make the short journey. But if Nebraska loses to Oregon, she will have played her last match and her family couldn’t be there… even though they live less than 100 miles away.

There has to be a better way. Maybe that’s by having more networks involved with the NCAA here, rather than exclusively ESPN. Maybe, like in Cook’s suggestion, the eight matches are staggered with four on a Thursday and four on a Friday, then the Elite Eight matches would be appropriately staggered with a one-day break.

I don’t know what the answer is, but this can be better. Not only a better product for fans, but better times for the athletes involved in the matches.

Either way, there’s no changing it for now. But maybe progress will be made for the future.