Nebraska Volleyball: Rematch vs Stanford highlights 2019 schedule

Nebraska volleyball’s 2019 schedule was released last week and the match that stands out the most is a rematch of the National Championship against Stanford, which will take place September 18th at the Devaney Center in Lincoln.

The last time we saw Nebraska volleyball in action, they lost in five sets to the Stanford Cardinal in the National Championship match back in December. It was a heartbreaking loss, but it’s not like the Huskers won’t be right back in the thick of things again in 2019.

Now we have an idea of how Nebraska will get back to the top, as the NCAA released the volleyball schedule for the 2019 season.

This is the first year since 2014 that the season won’t begin with the VERT Challenge. The VERT Challenge, which consisted of Nebraska (Big Ten), Texas (Big 12), Oregon (Pac-12), and Florida (SEC) was held the first weekend of the season, rotating locations each year. Nebraska hosted it last year in what ended up being the final year of the VERT Challenge, or at least of this version.

https://twitter.com/Huskervball/status/1121413618849996800

While there’s no VERT Challenge to kick off the season, but the Huskers will still have a fierce start to their 2019 campaign. They’ll host in-state rival Creighton on August 30th and the following night will welcome in the UCLA Bruins.

From there, the Huskers head to San Diego for a weekend and then return home to easier competition before their date with Stanford. That rematch against Stanford is going to be THE match to go to at the Devaney Center this year, so be prepared to drop big bucks on tickets if that’s the game you want to attend.

Nebraska then closes out their non-conference schedule with a home match against Wichita State before entering Big Ten play.

For those who followed closely last season, Big Ten play is no joke in women’s volleyball. The Huskers were almost always playing a top 25 opponent and even saw a two-week stretch where they played six ranked teams in that span. It was brutal.

It shouldn’t be much different in 2019 with teams like Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State, and Wisconsin still being huge threats to win the conference.

Illinois made it all the way to the Final Four last year and really should have swept the Huskers in that match. Fortunately, Nebraska had a comeback for the ages and won it in five sets to knock off the Fighting Illini. One would have to think that’ll be a huge motivating factor for Illinois this year.

Nebraska Volleyball actually kicks off their Big Ten schedule against Illinois on the road and that’ll be the only time they meet the Fighting Illini in the regular season. The Huskers don’t host a conference game until October 5th when they’ll welcome in Wisconsin, a team that has had Nebraska’s number over the past few years.

Nebraska Volleyball only plays Minnesota and Penn State once a piece, with the Penn State game taking place at the Devaney Center on November 2nd and the Minnesota game being in Minneapolis on November 22nd. It’s a bummer that the Gophers won’t be coming to Lincoln this year, but at least Nebraska gets to host Penn State, one of their biggest rivals.

So, to sum up, the biggest matches this year are against Stanford in a rematch of last year’s title game, Creighton, UCLA, Illinois, Wisconsin (both at home and away), Minnesota, and Penn State. There will probably be a surprise Big Ten team that wiggles its way in there as well.

Hopefully another Final Four appearance is on the horizon for the Huskers in 2019! Go Big Red!