Nebraska volleyball (15-2, 5-1) has had the luxury of playing in Lincoln for all but three of their matches so far. Over the next two weeks, they’ll play four road games. Three of those are against ranked opponents.
It’s never easy to win matches in the Big Ten and the Nebraska Volleyball team will certainly experience that over these next two weeks. The Huskers are 5-1 in conference play so far, with the only loss coming against Minnesota last Saturday.
Nebraska and Minnesota swapped spots in the national rankings, with the Gophers climbing to number three and the Cornhuskers falling to number five. Nebraska needed that loss to show them what’s still to come though and these next two weeks are going to be brutal.
First up, the Penn State Nittany Lions, who have established themselves as one of Nebraska’s biggest rivals since the Huskers joined the Big Ten. The good news for Husker fans, however, is that Nebraska has had the last laugh for the most part.
Big Red knocked Penn State out of the NCAA Tournament in both 2016 (Elite Eight) and in 2017 (Final Four). That Final Four victory last year almost didn’t happen, as Penn State had match point twice in the fourth set, but the Cornhuskers fought hard to force a deciding fifth set, which they eventually won and advanced to the finals.
Penn State probably hasn’t gotten over either of those losses and will be looking for blood on Saturday. Last year, Nebraska went to Penn State’s home court in November and swept them. While Penn State isn’t as lethal as they were last year, they’re still ranked ninth in the country and one of the most prestigious programs in the sport. Don’t take the Nittany Lions lightly.
After that match, Nebraska heads to Wisconsin for a Friday night date with the eighth ranked Badgers. Wisconsin was the only team to beat Nebraska in Big Ten play last year, so they’re definitely another team that could give the Huskers some fits on this road trip.
The very next night, Nebraska travels to the team that broke the Huskers’ 14-game win streak: Minnesota. Minnesota is my pick to win it all this year and they displayed why perfectly against Nebraska last weekend.
The Gophers came into Lincoln and made the Huskers look downright foolish. Hopefully that loss showed Nebraska that they’re not invincible. It’s a young team after all, and a 14-game win streak probably got to some of them. Minnesota embarrassed Nebraska and now the Huskers will have a chance to return the favor in Minneapolis, which, coincidentally enough, is where this year’s NCAA Championship will take place.
The following Wednesday (October 24th) concludes the four-game road trip with Nebraska playing Ohio State. The Buckeyes aren’t ranked and are just 11-8 on the season with a 2-5 record in conference play. That being said, however, it’s still a road match and Nebraska will be worn out from traveling so much. It might not be as easy as fans are expecting.
After getting demolished by Minnesota last week, the Nebraska volleyball team hosted Indiana on Wednesday night and swept the Hoosiers. It wasn’t easy, as Indiana made a match out of it in the second set. That second set was one the Huskers had a big lead in too, but they got too comfortable and allowed the Hoosiers to claw their way back.
That’s been a big problem with Nebraska this year. They’ll ease through the first set and then get too comfortable and let teams take set two from them. The Cornhuskers have to keep battling throughout because these games are only going to get tougher and more meaningful as we continue on through the season.
These next four games will show us what this year’s Nebraska volleyball team is made of. Three ranked teams in the span of a week is no easy task and one of those teams already owned the Nebraska volleyball team previously. It’s time to buck up and show the rest of these Big Ten schools who owns the conference.