No. 4 Nebraska Ready for Ameritas Players Challenge

The fourth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team (2-0) plays host to the Ameritas Players Challenge this weekend, Sept. 3-4, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers open Friday with Omaha (1-1) at 11 a.m., followed by Georgia (2-1) that evening at 6 p.m. The tournament concludes Saturday with Arizona State (2-1) in a 6 p.m. finale.

Nebraska’s matches vs. Omaha and Arizona State will be streamed on Big Ten Network+. The match vs. Georgia will be televised on BTN and available through its digital extension on the FOX Sports app, with Larry Punteney on play-by-play and Salima Rockwell providing color commentary.

This weekend’s action will be carried on Huskers Radio Network with John Baylor and Lauren Cook West on the call. 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.

Quick Hits
• After a 2-0 weekend at the Husker Invitational, Nebraska moved up one spot to No. 4 in the national rankings.
• Following her collegiate debut, Lexi Rodriguez was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday.
• Kayla Caffey’s .682 attack percentage leads the Big Ten.
• The family connection runs deep this weekend: Georgia’s Amber Stivrins is the younger sister of Nebraska’s Lauren Stivrins. Amber began her career at Louisville in 2019, and the two have never faced each other in a collegiate match.
• Lindsay Krause and Arizona State’s Allie Gray were high school teammates at Skutt Catholic, where they both lettered four years and won four state titles.

• Omaha coach Matt Buttermore served as a ball boy at the NU Coliseum in his youth. He is married to the former Laura Pilakowski, a two-time All-America outside hitter who lettered at Nebraska from 1999-2002. She is a member of UNO’s strength & conditioning staff and previously led NU’s volleyball strength & conditioning program from 2004-11.
• Anni Evans finished with a career-high 12 assists — all in the fourth set — in Saturday’s 3-1 win over K-State. With NU trailing 12-6 in the fourth, she helped the Huskers rally to cap the four-set victory.
• Nebraska’s 15.5 blocks last Friday vs. Colgate were its best block total since Nov. 2, 2018 vs. Penn State (20.0).
• Over his 29-year coaching career, John Cook is 1-0 vs. Omaha, 3-1 vs. Georgia and 1-0 vs. Arizona State.

Scouting the Omaha Mavericks
Omaha is 1-1 on the season after a 3-0 loss to Iowa State and a 3-0 win over Drake at last weekend’s Cyclone Challenge in Ames, Iowa. The Mavericks, who finished 13-6 (12-4 Summit League) last spring, were picked third in the league’s preseason poll. Two-time All-Summit selection Sadie Limback earned AVCA All-Midwest Region recognition in 2020-21, and Claire Mountjoy was the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year. She and Sami Clarkson were both all-league honorable mention.

Rachel Fairbanks averages a team-leading 3.83 kills per set, and Clarkson had 11.5 assists per set last weekend. Limback and Lakyn Graves each have 0.83 blocks per set.

Head coach Matt Buttermore is in his third season at Omaha with a mark of 33-21 with the Mavericks.

Nebraska leads 16-1 in the all-time series, including 1-0 in the John Cook era. NU last faced the Mavericks on Sept. 16, 2017, sweeping 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-13) at Baxter Arena in Omaha.

No. 4 Nebraska on Friday will be the Mavericks’ highest-ranked opponent in their 11-year Division I history.

Scouting the Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia enters the week at 2-1 after a pair of sweeps over Morehead State and Winthrop and a five-set loss to No. 22 Pepperdine last weekend at the Bulldogs’ home tournament, the Classic City Clash.

UGA finished ninth in the SEC at 8-14 in 2020-21, and the Bulldogs return five starters and their libero. They were picked eighth in this year’s SEC preseason poll, sharing the spot with Missouri. Phoebe Awoleye was an SEC All-Freshman Team selection last spring.

Abby Maesch had 2.73 kills per set in the opening weekend, and Lyric Stewart had 2.36 k/s on .467 hitting alongside a team-leading 1.09 blocks per set. Clara Brower also averaged 10.09 assists per set to lead the Bulldogs.

Head coach Tom Black is in his fifth year at Georgia and carries a career record of 68-51.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with the Bulldogs 5-0, including 2-0 in the John Cook era. Georgia and the Huskers last met on Sept. 7, 2013, when NU picked up a 3- 0 win (25-21, 25-23, 25-14).

Scouting the Arizona State Sun Devils

Arizona State is 2-1 on the year, having swept Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Cal Poly and before falling in five sets to No. 13 Louisville at the Sun Devil Classic. ASU was 6-14 in its conference-only spring schedule, and Iman Isanovic earned All-Pac 12 honorable mention. The Sun Devils were picked 11th in this year’s Pac-12 preseason poll.

Isanovic and Marta Levinska both average a team-leading 3.18 kills per set, and Ella Snyder averages 9.64 assists per set last weekend. Claire Jeter has a team-best 1.27 blocks per set.

Sanja Tomasevic is in her fifth year at Arizona State and carries a career record of 49-69.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with the Sun Devils 3-1-1, including 1-0 in the John Cook era. ASU and the Huskers last met on Dec. 7, 2002 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the NU Coliseum, where NU swept 3-0 (30-22, 30-21, 30-27).

Sun Reaches 1,000 Kills at NU
In last Friday’s season opener vs. Colgate, Lexi Sun became the 23rd player in program history and the ninth in the rally-scoring era to reach 1,000 kills as a Husker. The senior has 1,350 career kills between her years at Nebraska and Texas, the 19th-most of any active Division I player.

Up Next
Nebraska plays its first road match of the season, visiting Creighton on Wednesday, Sept. 8. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, and the game will be televised on FS1. John Baylor and Lauren Cook West will have the radio call on Huskers Radio Network.