Nebraska Volleyball season slated to begin in January

Nebraska volleyball’s 2020 fall season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s sounding like the season should begin as early as January.

The COVID-19 pandemic threw everyone for a loop and it really put the future of sports up in the air. While professional leagues have figured out a way to continue on with their seasons, college programs are in a different boat, as these are students in question.

The Big Ten was the first Power-5 conference to announce they’d be postponing fall sports and the PAC-12 followed shortly after. For volleyball, this was huge, as these 2 conferences typically have anywhere from 5 to 9 teams in the top 25 rankings.

While the Big Ten changed their tune on postponing football this fall, they’re still shelving the other sports. Volleyball makes sense to put on the back burner for now, as the teams play indoors and if fans are in the stands, that’d make it even easier for the novel virus to potentially spread. Masks would surely have to be required for fans in the stands if they’re allowed to attend.

According to Brett Wagner of Journal Star, there is an NCAA proposal to begin the volleyball season in January and for the National Championship to be held in April.

"With this plan, the volleyball regular season would run from Jan. 22 to April 10, with the NCAA Tournament selection show on April 11.The NCAA Final Four would take place on April 23-25. The Final Four was scheduled to be in Omaha in December, and the city may still be the host in the spring."

The postponement was obviously disappointing for Nebraska volleyball fans, as the Huskers were heavy favorites to win their third National Championship in the last 5 years. With Stanford losing their key players that led them to 3 titles in 4 years, it opens things up for Nebraska to get back to the top of the mountain once again.

They’ll have virtually the same starting roster that they did a year ago, which is going to prove huge for them in a strange season such as this. Lauren Stivrins and Callie Schwarzenbach will return at middle blocker, Lexi Sun, Jazz Sweet, and Madi Kubik will be the outside hitters once again, Kenzie Knuckles returns for her second year as the team’s libero, and of course Nicklin Hames enters year 3 as the setter.

Nebraska is almost always a National Championship contender and while this season is going to be a strange one due to COVID-19, having nearly their entire starting roster gives the Cornhuskers a huge advantage for when volleyball picks up in January.