Nebraska Volleyball begins Big Ten play this weekend

By Leigh Oleszczak | Sep 20, 2018

KANSAS CITY, MO - DECEMBER 16: Head Coach John Cook of the University of Nebraska talks with his team against the University of Florida during the Division I Women's Volleyball Championship held at Sprint Center on December 16, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. Nebraska defeated Florida 3-1 for the national title. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /

Nebraska volleyball cruised through their preseason schedule and now will begin conference play on Friday. Up first are the Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartans.

After dropping their season opener, Nebraska volleyball rattled off nine straight wins and will now head into conference play as the third ranked team in the country. While conference play is exciting, Nebraska has its work cut out for them for these last ten weeks of the regular season.

The Big Ten is, without a doubt, the toughest conference in all of college volleyball (though I’d hear arguments for the Pac 12) and Nebraska is looking to win their third straight Big Ten title. They split the title last year with Penn State, who is currently ranked fourth in the country, and won it all by themselves in 2016.

This year, the task is as tough as ever when it comes to notching their third straight conference title. Nebraska might be the highest ranked Big Ten squad, but four other conference teams are right on their heels.

Penn State is fourth, Wisconsin is sixth, Minnesota is seventh, and Illinois sits eighth nationally. Minnesota actually swept the Nittany Lions on Wednesday night, which will definitely mean those two will swap places at the very least.

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This weekend, Nebraska volleyball will see both Big Ten teams from the state of Michigan. The Michigan Wolverines are up first on Friday and the Michigan State Spartans will come to town on Sunday.

Michigan is ranked 18th in the country and has yet to lose a match. Not only that, but they’ve dropped just one set all season long. Michigan also brings a tough defensive team to Lincoln, which will be a task for the Huskers. They haven’t faced a team with a defense quite like Michigan’s yet, so seeing how Nebraska handles that will be something to watch for.

As for the Spartans, they’re not ranked, but they’re just outside of the top 25. The Spartans are 12-1 on the season, but it’s worth noting they haven’t played any tough opponents yet. Nebraska has faced three ranked teams (Florida, Oregon, and Creighton) and went 2-1 in that stretch. Those ranked matches are vital to preseason play.

From now until the end of the season, there isn’t an easy game for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Every opponent in the Big Ten is a worthy adversary, but we’ve seen the Huskers handle themselves quite well in the conference over the years.

The team I’m the most afraid of is Minnesota. Not only did they just sweep Penn State, but the NCAA Championship is in Minneapolis this year. That means if the Gophers get there, their fans are going to take over that place, much like Nebraska fans did in 2015 in Omaha and in 2017 in Kansas City.

Wisconsin is also a team on the rise and was the only Big Ten team to knock off the Nebraska volleyball team last year. The Badgers haven’t been able to get over the hump yet in postseason play, but they have one of their best teams arguably ever in 2018.

Next. Huskers travel to Ann Arbor as underdogs. dark

It won’t be easy, but we’ve seen Nebraska volleyball reinvent themselves year after year. This is a young team, but so was last year’s and look how that season ended. I’d take another National Championship, wouldn’t you?

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