Season preview, players to watch, more as John Cook, Lexi Rodriguez, Huskers open with Top 10 match

Nebraska volleyball kicks off its year today (6 p.m. CT) in a primetime season-opening event.

The No. 2-ranked Huskers will get their season started in the first of two matches at the AVCA First Serve Showcase, squaring off against No. 9-ranked Kentucky at the KFC Yum! Center. Wisconsin and host school Louisville will face each other in the second match of the doubleheader.

All four teams participating in the showcase are ranked in the Top 10 of the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll.

Here is a rundown of all the news, notes, stats and more to know ahead of Nebraska’s primetime showdown.

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All stats are courtesy of Nebraska Athletics Communications

>> Nebraska is 11-2 against Kentucky all-time. The Huskers have won 10 matches in a row in the series, including a 3-1 win in Lincoln last year.

>> Kentucky’s last win against Nebraska was in 1983.

>> Nebraska head coach John Cook has faced off against Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner, a Nebraska assistant from 2000-04, six times. The Huskers have won all six matches, three in sweeps and three in four sets.

>> Nebraska finished the 2023 season at 33-2 (19-1 Big Ten) and reached the NCAA Championship match, falling 3-0 to Texas in Tampa, Fla.

>> The Huskers won the Big Ten Championship for the first time since 2017, and Cook was named AVCA National Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year.

>> With four freshmen in the lineup, the Huskers won their first 27 matches of the season and held the No. 1 ranking from Oct. 23 through the end of the regular season.

>> The Huskers, who had no seniors on their roster in 2023, return 10 letterwinners, including every starter.

>> Opposite hitter Merritt Beason (first team), libero Lexi Rodriguez (first team), setter Bergen Reilly (second team) and outside hitter Harper Murray (third team) were AVCA All-America selections in 2023.

>> Beason was the AVCA North Region Player of the Year, and Murray was both the AVCA North Region and Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Reilly was the Big Ten Setter of the Year, and Rodriguez was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for the second time.

>> The Huskers bring back 86.5 percent of their kills from 2023, 99.7 percent of their assists, 100 percent of their service aces, 96.2 percent of their digs and 79.4 percent of their blocks.

>> Nebraska has two freshmen on the roster who enrolled in January and played during the beach volleyball season. Skyler Pierce is a 6-2 outside hitter from Lenexa, Kan., and Olivia Mauch is a 5-6 libero from Bennington, Neb. Both Pierce and Mauch tied for the team lead with 18 wins during the beach volleyball season.

>> Nebraska brought in two new additions via the transfer portal in the offseason in Minnesota outside hitter Taylor Landfair and San Diego middle blocker Leyla Blackwell.

>> Landfair, a 6-5 outside hitter from Plainfield, Ill., is a senior for the Huskers but has two years of eligibility remaining after receiving a medical hardship for the 2021 season. Landfair was the Big Ten Player of the Year and an AVCA first-team All-American in 2022 at Minnesota after 4.36 kills per set on .257 hitting with 1.63 digs per set.

>> Blackwell, a 6-4 middle blocker from San Diego, Calif., was a three-time All-WCC selection at San Diego and averaged 2.25 kills and 1.24 blocks per set with a .329 hitting percentage last season. Blackwell guided the Toreros to the NCAA semifinals in 2022 by shattering the school record for single-season block assists (152), and she finished sixth nationally at 1.50 blocks per set.

>> Kentucky finished last season with a 21-8 record and 17-1 mark in the SEC, which earned them the conference title. The Wildcats’ season ended in Lincoln in a 3-2 NCAA regional semifinal loss to Arkansas.

>> Kentucky, which took a foreign trip to Japan in May, was picked third in the SEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll behind Texas and Florida. Eleanor Beavin, Brooklyn DeLeye and Emma Grome were all Preseason-All SEC selections.

>> Grome led the NCAA with 12.10 assists per set last season and was an AVCA second-team All-American for the third time in her career.

>> DeLeye was the SEC Freshman of the Year last year, averaging a team-high 3.69 kills per set.

>> Beavin averaged 4.09 digs per set and was an All-SEC selection last year.

>> Rodriguez is in her final year of a stellar career as the Huskers’ libero. A four-year starter and a three-year team captain, Rodriguez will go down in history as one of the all-time greats in Nebraska volleyball history.

>> Rodriguez is a three-time AVCA All-American, earning first-team honors in 2021 and 2023, and second-team honors in 2022. She will look to join Kadie Rolfzen (2013-16) and Sarah Pavan (2004-07) as the only four-time All-Americans in program history.

>> Rodriguez made her mark instantly as a freshman in 2021, earning AVCA National Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Over the last two seasons, Rodriguez has guided the Huskers to the No. 1 defense in the country, earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year again in 2023 to become the fifth player in Big Ten history to receive the honor twice in a career.

>> Rodriguez enters the 2024 season with 1,424 career digs, which ranks fifth in school history. U.S. Olympian Justine Wong-Orantes is the career leader in assists at NU with 1,890.

>> Beason made an instant impact on the Nebraska volleyball program after transferring from Florida in 2023, and she will look to take the next step in her senior season as a second-year captain.

>> Last year, Beason put together a sensational season, earning AVCA first-team All-America honors and AVCA North Region Player of the Year, becoming just the second Husker (Kelly Hunter) to earn that honor.

>> Beason averaged a team-leading 3.76 kills per set on .282 hitting with 2.05 digs per set. She was named Big Ten Player of the Week four times and was the AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 23 after averaging 4.25 kills per set and 1.75 digs per set in wins against Northwestern and top-ranked Wisconsin.

>> Beason was the MVP of the NCAA Lincoln Regional after 19 kills, 11 digs and a career-high eight blocks in a regional final win over Arkansas.

>> Outside hitter Lindsay Krause was having the best year of her Husker career in 2023 before it ended in mid-October with an ankle injury. At the time of her injury, Krause was averaging 2.50 kills per set and was hitting .285 for the season.

>> Not only that, Krause was putting up 2.82 kills per set on .366 hitting through six Big Ten matches, which led all Big Ten outside hitters in conference action at the time.

>> Krause was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Oct. 9 following a season-high 15 kills on .519 hitting at Michigan and nine kills on .381 hitting at Michigan State.

>> Junior middle blocker Rebekah Allick, who went by Bekka during her first two seasons as a Husker, decided after time spent praying in the offseason to go by Rebekah, the name her dad always called her.

>> Allick is a two-time AVCA All-Region and All-Big Ten second-team selection. Last season, she averaged 1.76 kills per set with a team-high 1.50 blocks per set, which ranked second among Big Ten players and seven in the nation. Her 1.50 blocks per set was also the No. 2 mark in school history in the rally scoring era.

>> Allick was at her best at the end of the 2023 season, registering a career-high 12 blocks in the NCAA regional final win over Arkansas and 10 blocks in the NCAA semifinal sweep of Pittsburgh.

>> Over the final six matches of last season, Allick posted 2.40 blocks per set.

Nebraska relied on four true freshmen in the 2023 season and all four are back as sophomores ready to elevate their games to new levels.

BERGEN REILLY:

>> Reilly was the Big Ten Setter of the Year in 2023, becoming the first freshman to win the award since it originated in 2012. Reilly was also an AVCA second-team All-American and an All-Big Ten first-team selection. Reilly led all Big Ten setters with 10.51 assists per set and received four Big Ten Setter of the Week honors and two Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolades.

HARPER MURRAY:

>> Murray is coming off a freshman season that included being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, All-Big Ten First Team, AVCA North Region Freshman of the Year and AVCA All-America Third Team. Murray finished second on the team with 3.23 kills per set, the highest kills per set average by a Husker freshman since Kadie Rolfzen (3.46) in 2013. One of the Big Ten’s best six-rotation players, Murray also added 2.07 digs per set with a team-high 36 aces. She was a three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

ANDI JACKSON:

>> Middle blocker Andi Jackson showed enormous athleticisim and potential the first time she stepped on the floor as a Husker, and she followed through with a strong debut season that included AVCA All-Region, All-Big Ten Second Team, and Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors.

>> Jackson averaged 2.01 kills per set and 1.09 blocks per set with a .399 hitting percentage, which ranked third in the Big Ten and 19th in the nation. Her hitting percentage was the best ever by a Husker freshman and ranked seventh all-time in the rally scoring era. Along with Reilly, Jackson helped the U.S. U21 National Team win the gold medal at the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship in Toronto this summer, hitting .654 throughout the tournament with 39 kills and 10 blocks.

LANEY CHOBOY:

>> Laney Choboy played in 34 matches rotating in for the Big Red in 2023, averaging 1.82 digs per set with 37 assists and 14 aces. Known for her high-energy play, the 5-3 defensive specialist unofficially led the team in highlight-reel saves.

>> Cook is in his 25th season as the Nebraska volleyball head coach in 2024. He has led the Huskers to four national championships, 11 final fours, 13 conference championships and 22 top-10 final rankings since 2000.

>> Cook has 850 career wins and is one of the all-time winningest coaches in NCAA history. Since taking over the program in 2000, Cook has led the Huskers to a nation-leading .873 win percentage (689-100).

>> Under Cook, the Huskers have achieved 68 AVCA All-Americans and 20 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, both among the best in the nation. He is a three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, earning the prestigious honor in 2000, 2005 and 2023, and an eight-time conference coach of the year, including Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2016, 2017 and 2023.

>> In 2023, Cook was voted AVCA National Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading a young Nebraska team with no seniors to its first Big Ten title since 2017. The Huskers finished the regular season 28-1 overall, their best regular season record since going 28-1 in 2005.

>> After going 26-6 last year and missing the NCAA regional finals for the first time since 2011, the Huskers started over with a starting lineup featuring four true freshmen and a junior transfer (Beason). Cook’s Huskers won their first 27 matches of the season and held the No. 1 ranking from Oct. 23 through the end of the regular season. Despite having no seniors on the roster for just the second time in Cook’s 24 years at Nebraska – as well as starting a true freshman at setter for only the second time in Cook’s tenure – the Huskers earned the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 and the sixth time overall under Cook.

>> Cook was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in 2017, joining former Husker volleyball coach Terry Pettit in the hall.