Nebraska Volleyball completely different team from last match vs Illinois

It may seem hard to believe, but Nebraska volleyball went through a slump in the month of October where they went 3-5 and struggled against ranked teams. As we know now, this is a much different team.

Nebraska volleyball is set to partake in their fourth straight Final Four this week, playing the third-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini on Thursday night in Minneapolis. Illinois stands between Nebraska and a second consecutive trip to the National Championship game.

Illinois is a familiar foe for Nebraska, as the two squared off twice this season, with the series being split 1-1. Each team won in four sets on their opponent’s home court.

Nebraska took down the Fighting Illini near the beginning of conference play and that was their 14th straight victory at the time. Nebraska looked to be on their way to contending for a third straight Big Ten title while the Illini had to continue to prove they could battle with the big dogs.

Well, Illinois did just that weeks later, coming into the Bob Devaney Sports Center and knocking off the already defeated Cornhuskers. It could be argued now, however, that the loss to Illinois officially kicked this Husker squad into gear, as they haven’t lost a match since falling to the Fighting Illini on October 27th.

As I mentioned previously, the Cornhuskers were slumping HARD when they dropped that match to Illinois. Since then, they’ve not only ripped off 12 straight wins, but they’ve dropped just four sets TOTAL. Nebraska has yet to drop a set in tournament play.

So much has changed for this young Nebraska team since that loss. I went back and watched the last match between Nebraska and Illinois since I’m a glutton for punishment and it’s amazing to me how different the Huskers look just a month and a half later.

First and foremost, they’re closing out tight sets, something they struggled to do not only against Illinois but throughout the first few months of the season.

In this particular match, it took the Huskers six set points to notch a set one victory. In set three, they had two opportunities to clinch the set, but failed to do so.

That’s not an issue for Nebraska anymore. Before this 12-game winning streak, when the Huskers would get to 20 points, they’d ease up and allow the opposition to climb back into the match. They’re much better at closing out sets now and that was displayed in both of their matches last weekend.

Second, Mikaela Foecke was EVERYWHERE in this match and I don’t mean that in a good way.

It was clear that Foecke felt like she had to carry the load for her struggling squad and it showed big time, as she hit just .145 in this match. They even mentioned on the broadcast how during the losing streak, Foecke might have been focusing more on being a leader than playing her game.

That’s changed now, as Foecke is heating up, and at the perfect time. She’s still a great leader, but she’s getting after the ball and stepping up when her team needs her to make a play.

The Huskers need Foecke to be the stud we’ve come to know and love if they want to win another title. She’s a game changer.

Lastly, Nicklin Hames has improved SO much since this match. Unfortunately for Hames, when the offense isn’t clicking, a lot of the blame will fall on her, whether that’s fair or not. Setters are essentially the quarterback of their team and we all know how important the quarterback is to their team. It’s the same story with a setter.

Hames has that role as a freshman, so it’s come with learning curves, but she’s been nails throughout the tournament. The mistakes that Hames made against Illinois are mistakes she rarely makes now. The fact that she’s already learning from her mistakes is a huge indicator of how good she’s going to be over the next three years.

When I went back and watched this match, I couldn’t believe how sloppy Nebraska looked offensively. They hit just .099 against the Fighting Illini and couldn’t get much going at all. Lauren Stivrins was the only Husker to hit over .200 on the night while three Illinois players hit over .200.

What I also noticed while “scoping out the competition” is that Illinois is a fun team to watch! They’re very similar to Nebraska, focusing on defense and making clutch plays when it comes down to it.

Where Nebraska had the edge against the Fighting Illini in their late October battle was from the service line. Illinois had 13 (!!!) service errors and five aces while the Huskers had eight aces and six service errors.

If the Illini put up those kind of numbers from the service line again this go around, Nebraska will make them pay. Don’t believe me? Just look at the match against Kentucky last Friday. The Wildcats had nine service errors and lost the match. Nebraska didn’t capitalize on those mistakes against Illinois, but that won’t be the case on Thursday.

I’m not going to lie… This will be a tough match. These are two teams that play a similar style of ball and we’ve now seen each team handle the other one in a difficult environment. Think back to the Final Four match between Nebraska and Penn State last year. It went down to the wire because that’s what Big Ten teams do against each other in big moments: They battle.

While Illinois has more veteran players, none of them have been to a Final Four before. Several Huskers have been to at least one Final Four (and National Championship) before, so they’re going to be more familiar with the intense atmosphere.

With how well Nebraska has played over this stretch, it’s hard to pick against them. They’ve won 12 straight games and haven’t lost a set in the tournament thus far. While I don’t expect them to sweep Illinois, winning this one and making it to their second straight National Championship game wouldn’t surprise me in the least bit.

Never doubt John Cook and Nebraska volleyball. Go Big Red!