Three remaining questions after Nebraska volleyball’s spring exhibition

Husker volleyball had a chance to play a spring match in front of 6,117 fans on Saturday in Grand Island, Neb. Nebraska took down a talented Kansas team, 3-1, after dropping the second set.

While some good things were shown for the Huskers, there are still some burning questions that have yet to be answered before the fall.

Here are three questions I still have about Nebraska volleyball after the exhibition match:

Nicklin Hames announced she would be in a new role for the 2022 season during her fifth season as a Husker. Hames has led Nebraska’s offense for the last four seasons and did so on Saturday against Kansas.

Husker Head Coach John Cook said Hames is the Huskers’ best setter right now.

Sophomore Kennedi Orr, who is likely to be the starter in 2022, missed the second half of beach volleyball season with an injury. She practiced for most of the spring but Cook said she is a little behind. Orr came to Nebraska in the spring of 2021 with a torn ACL, which she tore in high school.

Orr was the No. 1 recruit in the 2021 class and Cook said he has never seen another woman set like her. He said she sets like a man because she has big hands and moves the ball with ease.

While Orr’s ceiling is extremely high, will Hames’s experience loom over Orr? If the sophomore is struggling, will Nebraska replace her with Hames, a 2020 AVCA second-team All-American and three-time honorable mention?

Now is not the time to get concerned about the setter position. And Cook always has a plan. It is just a spring game after all and Orr still has a few months to catch up and establish herself. Last season’s team didn’t settle into themselves until conference play began. So there is time.

Orr could also be better off with Hames in the gym along with former Nebraska two-time national championship setter Kelly Hunter as an assistant coach to help guide her.

The setter position, which is arguably the most important on the court, is a position to keep a close eye on.

How this position progresses has to do with Kayla Caffey‘s NCAA waiver to play for her seventh season. The 2021 AVCA second-team All-American has yet to receive her final eligibility decision and didn’t play in the exhibition match.

Penn State transfer Kaitlyn Hord will be arriving in Lincoln after she graduates from Penn State this May. Hord is a huge key piece to this team on offense and defense.

Freshman Bekka Allick did a solid job in her first game as a Husker on Saturday. Cook said she has made huge strides during beach volleyball and spring practice.

The Waverly product had six kills, five blocks and two digs. Cook also called her potentially Nebraska’s best server of the match.

Teams have started using their middle blockers to serve. Their height and angle of hitting the ball can stress defenses. Cook said “you saw what Lauren Stivrins did to teams” by serving in the NCAA tournament.

Allick could make a special nitch for herself on the service line as both Caffey and Hord haven’t served much at all in games.

If Caffey doesn’t play in 2022, Allick will be the next woman up with big shoes to fill.

Nebraska also has freshman middle blocker Maggie Mendelson arriving this summer to add depth and talent to the position.

Long story short, Nebraska has options at middle blocker even without Caffey but the experience and unique abilities she brings could be crucial for this 2022 team to get to Omaha for the Final Four.

At one point during the 2021 non-conference schedule, it seemed Nebraska didn’t have enough options at outside hitter.

All five of its options were struggling as they lost three consecutive games to ranked opponents. But Madi Kubik stepped up in a huge way and Ally Batenhorst and Lindsay Krause emerged from the group.

Krause spent all of last season at opposite hitter with Whitney Lauenstein as her back-up. When Krause struggled Lauenstein was the next player in and she started a few matches for the Huskers.

Now, it seems Nebraska hopes Lauenstein can take over as the starting opposite hitter with Krause on the left side.

Lauenstein started and played all four sets at opposite against Kansas. She had 12 kills and a team-high eight blocks.

Cook said after the match that he was telling his setters to set Lauenstein as much as possible. He said she is a very inexperienced player but makes big-time plays on offense and defense.

The head coach also said Krause has been the best left-side hitter in the gym during spring practice even though she hit .000 against Kansas.

There is a huge opportunity for Lauenstein on the opposite side if she can learn to do the little things right, as Cook said.