The Rally: Nebraska Volleyball has a consistent lineup for Big Ten games

When Nebraska volleyball head coach John Cook rewatched the Louisville match, he said “I had to pull out my barf bag.” The Huskers were swept at home by the No. 5 Cardinals and Cook’s description pretty much sums it up.

For the first time since Sept.18, 2017, Nebraska volleyball has dropped out of the top 10 ACVA rankings to No. 12 following three consecutive losses to ranked opponents. This ends a streak of 60 weeks in the top 10.

After four consecutive ranked opponents, the Huskers (6-3) get a bit of a break playing Northwestern and Iowa to begin Big Ten play. However, just because these two teams are a step down from the Stanford’s and the Louisville’s of the world doesn’t mean it’ll be a breeze.

NU travels to Northwestern on Wednesday for an 8:00 p.m. start time on BTN. They return home and host Iowa on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Hawkeye match will be on Nebraska Public Media, formerly known as NET.

Let’s dig into this week’s The Rally and break down Nebraska’s first Big Ten opponents, stats to notice and storylines.

Northwestern:

The Wildcats are 5-6 this season after coming off a 4-6 season in 2020. They had 12 games postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, including the two-game series with Nebraska.

Northwestern is hitting .247 and has hit over .270 in its last three matches against UIC (.295), DePaul (.273) and Loyola Chicago (.288). The Wildcats have 109 blocks this season and 2.42 blocks per set.

The last time Nebraska and Northwestern played was at the beginning of November in 2019. NU swept the Wildcats at the Devaney Center. The Huskers had 13.9 blocks and held Northwestern to hitting -.054.

Iowa:

The Hawkeyes are ranked last in the Big Ten in winning percentage as they have won two of 10 games. Iowa swept Iowa St. (8-5) and the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in their two wins.

Iowa has the same team hitting percentage as Nebraska (.206). However, the Hawkeyes have played one ranked opponent (then-No. 11 Washington) and the Huskers have played four.

In the Hawkeye’s match against Washington, they won the first set 28-26 then lost three sets. The Huskies hit .495 and held Iowa to a .234 clip.

Temi Thomas-Ailara, Northwestern:

The Wildcats are lead by left outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara who has a team-high 162 kills and her kills per set (3.60) ranks ninth in the Big Ten. The 6-foot-2 junior is hitting .237 on the season, including hitting over .260 in her last three matches.

The 2020 first-team All-Big Ten selection also has a strong serve with 21 service aces that brings her aces per set to .47, the fifth-highest in the Big Ten.

Cook said that Nebraska has struggled against powerful and talented left-side hitters. They will be put to the test with Thomas-Ailara at Northwestern.

Leilani Dodson, Northwestern:

Leilani Dodson is the Wildcat’s most versatile middle blocker. She has 93 kills, a .341 hitting percentage and 41 blocks, including seven solo blocks. Desiree Becker, Northwestern’s other starting middle, has a team-high 44 blocks with 19 solo blocks.

Both Dodson and Becker are huge presences in the middle, but Dodson is more accurate with her powerful swings.

Dodson, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, transferred from BYU last season and is already finding her role in Northwestern’s offense and defense.

Courtney Buzzerio, Iowa:

Senior right-side hitter Courtney Buzzerio is the star of Iowa’s offense. She has 182 kills and 4.67 kills per set, ranking her 17th in Division I volleyball and second in the Big Ten behind Minnesota’s Stephanie Samedy, the 2020-21 Big Ten Player of the Year.

Buzzerio, a 2020-21 first-team All-Big Ten selection, is setter Bailey Ortega’s No. 1 weapon with 449 attack attempts, more than double the next closest number of attacks on the team. The 6-foot-5 hitter has the third-most blocks on the team (16).

Hannah Clayton, Iowa:

Middle blocker Hannah Clayton leads the Hawkeyes with 31 blocks and a .311 hitting percentage. The 6-foot-2 senior has the second-most kills (80) behind Buzzerio and has 97 points this season.

Clayton’s 270 career blocks rank 15th in Iowa school history. She is one block away from tying for 14th.

.158:

Nebraska hit .158 in its last three games: Utah (.202), Stanford (.189) and Louisville (.046). Cook said the Huskers are almost even with their opponents in attacking over the last four games.

“The goal is you always want to be above your opponents in serving, passing, attacking and blocking, in all those things,” Cook said. “I know we’re not hitting great but we’re also a really good defensive team.”

The Big Ten has four teams in the ACVA’s top 10, Nebraska at No. 12 and Penn State at No. 20. No. 2 Wisconsin is hitting .356, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 7 Ohio State are both hitting .314.

The Huskers will have to hit and defend well to have a higher hitting percentage than their opponents with the steep competition in the Big Ten.

13 and 14:

Northwestern and Iowa are the 13th and 14th teams in the Big Ten. After a tough non-conference season, Nebraska is starting slow with the two worst teams in the Big Ten. After losing three consecutive games, they need to create some much-needed momentum before facing higher-ranked opponents.

The Huskers following games are Michigan (currently 7-2) on Oct. 1 and Michigan State (currently 7-2) on Oct. 3.

NU needs to pat their scheduler on the back because they prepared them for the Big Ten with a tough non-conference but then gave them a few games to recover before facing the top teams in the league.

With this being said, no team is a sure win in the Big Ten, and Nebraska will still need to bring it.

Nebraska will have a consistent lineup:

Cook said on Monday that after mixing and matching his lineup during the non-conference games, he has picked one and will be sticking with it for the foreseeable future. He declined to share the lineup.

The consistency of knowing each week whether someone will play or not will hopefully help the players, Cook said. He said even if someone hits zero, they are going to stick with them.

“There’s a saying, ‘men battle to bond and women bond to battle.’ And I think by mixing things up like that, we don’t get that core group that they’re used to having,” he said.

Cook said each player got an opportunity to play, and the stats reflect an even amount of swings and games from player to player.

“I can look them in the eye and say, ‘Listen, I’ve given everybody a chance, you’ve all had a great chance,” he said.

The Northwestern game will reveal the starting lineup.

Playing former Husker Megan Miller vs. Northwestern:

Megan Miller, who played a considerable serving and defensive role at Nebraska, transferred to Northwestern after two seasons as a Husker. She had 439 digs, 42 assists and 44 serving aces in 215 sets.

The Huskers have not played Northwestern since Miller became their starting libero. The teams’ matches last season were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols in the Wildcat’s program.

“We miss her a lot,” outside hitter Madi Kubik said. “It’s going to be weird. We’ll probably be blowing kisses across the net the whole time. And be afraid of her serve.”

Miller has 151 digs, 40 assists and six aces in 45 sets this season with the Wildcats.

Huskers have tough conversations after losing:

Team captain and defensive specialist Kenzie Knuckles said after the Louisville game, Nebraska didn’t play up to its capability, which was most disappointing about the loss.

“We need to have a lot of hard conversations about what we need to do in order to be a better team as a whole, with that being volleyball on the court or volleyball off the court,” she said. “We just need to start working some things out and trying to grow as a team.”

Kubik said on Monday the team did have those tough conversations.

“The last three matches, after that we had to a come-to-Jesus (moment), and we’re like, ‘OK, we can’t just be like, hey, it’s a fluke, we’re Nebraska volleyball,’” Kubik said. “I think sometimes we get this thought of who we are, what our legacy is, but we haven’t done anything yet.”

She said the players decided on a set of rules where there is a consequence for certain actions. Kubik said this team had several hard conversations in the summer so they have found a way to go about it.

“We’re encouraging everyone to hold each other accountable, regardless of what age you are,” Kubik said.