Nebraska Volleyball back to winning ways after rough October
Nebraska volleyball hit a rough patch in the month of October, but they’ve won their last four matches. Are the Huskers primed for another postseason run?
October was not kind to Nebraska volleyball, as the Huskers went 3-5 in their eight matches scheduled last month. November has already been much kinder to Nebraska, as the girls have won all four of their matches so far.
In Nebraska’s defense, their October schedule was absolutely brutal. Five of their eight matches were against top ten teams and the Huskers lost all five of them. They rebounded nicely to start November, however, battling with Penn State and eventually knocking the Nittany Lions off in five sets.
The schedule eased up a bit for Nebraska after that Penn State match, as they swept both Rutgers at home and Iowa on the road before heading to Ann Arbor for a date with Michigan. The Wolverines took the first set, but Nebraska rebounded nicely and won the match in four sets.
The regular season is winding down in volleyball and that means Nebraska has just four matches left before the tournament begins. It feels like the season opener against Florida was just yesterday, but in two weeks, the Huskers will be hosting their final game of the regular season. Time flies.
The remaining matches on Nebraska’s schedule:
- at Purdue – November 16th
- at Indiana – November 17th
- Ohio State – November 23rd
- Maryland – November 24th
Nebraska has traditionally been a very good team in the month of November and we’ve seen evidence of that so far. October was one of the worst months for this program in recent memory, but they’ve rebounded well and have been able to put themselves back in contention for a high seed in the tournament.
While winning the Big Ten is out of the question (Minnesota refuses to lose), Nebraska could still pull out a top-four seed if they win out and the other Big Ten schools drop a match or two. Considering the Huskers lost just four games last year, won the Big Ten, and lost just one conference match and still didn’t get a top-four seed, however, it’s unlikely they earn one in 2018.
For now, however, Nebraska should be proud of how they’ve rebounded after a brutal October. This is a team filled with young players and the losing might have actually been good for them. Now they’ll know how to handle adversity and that should help them against the opposition in the coming weeks.
The best news with those losses was that Nebraska was never blown out. They weren’t swept once, not even by Minnesota, who has looked nearly unbeatable this season. Nebraska dropped two of those five losses in five sets and honestly should have won those matches, but the fact that this young team has been in every single match says a lot about this program.
With four matches remaining on the season, Nebraska volleyball needs to focus on the task at hand, which is closing out the regular season strong. They need to take care of business against Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, and Maryland before they even start thinking about the tournament.
I rarely doubt John Cook and Nebraska volleyball, as they’ve proven they’re a force to be reckoned with year in and year out. Will the Huskers make another deep run in the tournament? Let’s hope so!