Four Huskers Named to National Volleyball Player of the Year Watch List

For the first time, the AVCA is releaseing a watch list for its 2024 Division I Player of the Year Award. That list, of course, includes several Nebraska volleyball players.

The award, presented by Nike Volleyball, will be announced on Friday, Dec. 20, in Louisville, KY, during the AVCA Convention. Before that, the inaugural list of 36 players will be narrowed down in November.

The AVCA is releasing the initial list in waves of 12 over three days this week. Day two saw four Huskers with their names included: Merritt Beason, Harper Murray, Bergen Reilly, and Lexi Rodriguez.

The four Huskers have all made previous All-America teams. Rodriguez is the two-time reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year while Reilly is the reigning Big Ten Setter of the Year.

Notably absent from the Nebraska list is middle blocker Andi Jackson. She is currently third in the nation in hitting percentage on 4.4 attacks per set.

A number of players on the list will be, or already have been, opponents for the Huskers this season. Those include Creighton’s Ava Martin and Kendra Wait, Minnesota’s Melani Shaffmaster, Oregon’s Mimi Colyer, Stanford’s Kami Miner and Elia Rubin, Indiana’s Camryn Haworth, Louisville’s Anna DeBeer and Elena Scott, TCU’s Melanie Parra, and Wisconsin’s Carter Booth, Sarah Franklin, and Anna Smrek.

The full list will be posted here.

Fresh off of a sweep of No. 2 Stanford on Wednesday, Nebraska is on the road this weekend to face No. 4 Louisville. Tip from the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday is set for 11:30 a.m. CDT. That match will be televised on ABC.

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