No. 10 Huskers Open NCAA Tournament With Campbell

The 10th-seeded Nebraska volleyball team (21-7) begins postseason play this weekend, welcoming Big South champion Campbell, Florida State and Kansas State to the Devaney Center, Dec. 3-4, for the NCAA First and Second Rounds. The Huskers open with Campbell in a first-round matchup on Friday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.
 
On Saturday at 7 p.m., the winner of Friday night’s Campbell-Nebraska match will meet the winner of Friday’s 4:30 p.m. first-round contest between Florida State (19-9) and Kansas State (15-12).
 
All three of this weekend’s matches will be streamed on ESPN+ with Larry Punteney handling play-by-play duties and Kathi Wieskamp providing color commentary.
 
This week’s action will be carried on Huskers Radio Network with the NU radio team of John Baylor and Lauren Cook West. Baylor is in his 28th season handling play-by-play duties for the Husker volleyball program, and West, a former All-America setter at NU, will provide color commentary for the sixth straight year.
 
Huskers Radio Network will carry the matches on HRN radio affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and AM 590 in Omaha. A live audio stream will be available at Huskers.com and on the Huskers app. Inside the Devaney Center, fans can access the direct radio call of the match at 87.7 FM.
 
Tourney Time
Nebraska was selected as the No. 10 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament Sunday night and make their 40th straight NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend — second most in NCAA history, behind only Penn State (41).
 
Louisville, Texas, Pitt and Wisconsin received the top four seeds from the NCAA Tournament Committee. Should those teams all advance past the first weekend, they would host an NCAA Regional the following weekend. Nebraska is in the same region as Texas along with No. 7 national seed Kentucky and No. 15 Washington. The Huskers would have an opportunity to host an NCAA Regional only if they advance past the opening two rounds and Texas and Kentucky were upset in the first or second round.
 
• Entering the weekend, Nebraska is 118-34 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in postseason wins and winning percentage (.778).
• Nebraska (152) and Stanford (162) are the only programs in NCAA history to play 150 NCAA Tournament matches.
• NU is 33-1 all-time in first-round matches, having won their last 32 first-round contests dating back to 1984.
• The Huskers are 75-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament home matches, including 20-2 at the Devaney Center. They have won 14 consecutive home matches in the NCAA Tournament.
• NU is 54-1 all-time against unranked opponents in the NCAA Tournament.
• NU seeks two wins this weekend to secure its 37th NCAA Regional appearance, which would maintain its NCAA-leading total.
• Nebraska has advanced to nine consecutive NCAA Regionals, the third-longest streak in the country. Only two teams carry longer streaks: Penn State (18) and Texas (15).
• John Cook has led Nebraska to an NCAA Regional in 20 of his 21 seasons.
• Cook is 85-22 in his NCAA Tournament career, including a 77-17 record as Nebraska’s head coach.
 
Quick Hits
• Nebraska capped the Big Ten slate last weekend, finishing as runner-up behind Wisconsin.
• The Huskers moved up one spot to No. 10 in the AVCA national poll this week.
• NU is one of a nation-leading eight Big Ten teams to qualify for the 2021 NCAA Tournament field. The Huskers won the conference’s most recent national title (2017).
• Nebraska’s matchup with Campbell is its fourth all-time against a member of the Big South Conference. NU previously registered wins over High Point (2019), Coastal Carolina (2009) and Liberty (2008).
• Last weekend’s quick turnaround has the Huskers primed for first- and second-round play. They have played on consecutive nights just four times this year: Aug. 27-28 in the Husker Invitational, Sept. 3-4 in the Ameritas Players Challenge and Nov. 26-27 at Wisconsin and Purdue.
• Nebraska leads the country with an average home attendance of 8,204 this season at the Devaney Center.
• Nebraska was the last unbeaten team in Big Ten play this year. Its 10-0 start was their second-best since joining the conference in 2011.
 
Scouting the Campbell Camels
Campbell is 21-9 on the season after capturing the Big South title for its first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Camels carry a five-game win streak, having swept four of their last five opponents.
 
After finishing as regular-season runner-up, they clinched their conference tournament title with a five-set triumph over High Point on Nov. 21. Big South Tournament MVP Sarah Colla led the way with 13 kills on .258 hitting to go with eight digs. Lailah Green added a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs, and Emily Mitter had another double-double effort on 23 assists and 13 digs.
 
Green leads the Camels with 2.62 kills per set, and three other players average at least two kills per set: Chloe Cook (2.60), Colla (2.66) and Melody Paige (2.00). Paige is Campbell’s top blocker at 0.96 blocks per set. As a team, Campbell has the 11th-best opponent hitting percentage at .149, just behind NU.
 
Nebraska will be the fifth ranked opponent in Campbell’s program history and its first since 2010.
 
Head coach Greg Goral is in his ninth season at Campbell and owns a career record of 136-124.
 
Noting the Series: vs. Campbell
Friday marks the first meeting between Nebraska and Campbell.
 
Up Next
With a win over Campbell on Friday, Nebraska advances to the NCAA Second Round against the winner of Florida State-Kansas State. Saturday’s match is set for 7 p.m. at the Devaney Center and will be streamed on ESPN+ with Larry Punteney and Kathi Wieskamp on the call. John Baylor and Lauren Cook West will have the radio call on Huskers Radio Network.