It’s been a rough go of it lately for Nebraska volleyball, as they’ve now dropped four of their last five games and are 7-5 in Big Ten play.
What made Nebraska volleyball‘s 2017 title run so impressive last year was simply how dominant they were in Big Ten play. The Huskers dropped one conference game all of last year (it came against Wisconsin) and dominated the rest of the way.
It’s been a different story in 2018, as Nebraska has already lost five conference matches to this point and have little chance of winning their third straight division title now. It’s a weird feeling for Nebraska volleyball fans, but in the Huskers’ defense, they’ve had a brutal stretch of games.
Last week saw them hit the road for four straight games and three of those four games were against top ten teams in the country. Nebraska dropped all three of those games, but did defeat Ohio State in Columbus to go 1-3 on that road trip.
Busting Brackets
On Saturday, the Huskers returned home to the Bob Devaney Sports Center and fell to the Illinois Fighting Illini in four sets. After taking the first set, Nebraska struggled to do much of anything and it was clear as day the players were frustrated down the stretch.
For what it’s worth (and this is big), Nebraska has been right in the thick of almost all of these losses. They fell to Penn State in five sets, Wisconsin in five sets, Minnesota in four sets, and were right in it with the Illini before dropping in four sets.
This is a great learning experience for this young team, who welcomed in eight newcomers this year and has just two starting seniors on the squad. It’s clear this is a young team, but like I mentioned not long ago, they’ve been right in these games and just fell short. That’s a good sign for the future.
While it’s not looking like Nebraska volleyball will repeat as National Champions in 2018, the future does look bright for them with this young group of players. Even with the five losses on the year (Nebraska lost four games all of last season), I still have faith that the Huskers can make a run come late November and early December.
The good news is that after this weekend, things lighten up a bit for the reigning champs. They’ll face ranked Penn State on Friday, but it’s in Lincoln. They’ll then host Rutgers before traveling to Iowa and Michigan.
This is one program that I rarely doubt when it comes to big moments because they’ve proven time and time again that they’re fighters and learn from their mistakes. Playing these tough games in October will help mold this team a month from now when they start playing in the tournament. They’ll be ready for those teams come November and December.
Go Big Red!