Nebraska volleyball swept Illinois over the weekend and haven’t had many problems with their schedule.
When the Big Ten announced that volleyball teams would be playing conference-only games, that seemed like it could be a challenge, as it’s a stacked conference. Nebraska volleyball hasn’t had any issues with it, however, currently sitting with a 7-1 record and a No. 4 ranking in the national polls.
The one loss came to Minnesota three weeks ago and the Huskers answered with a dominating sweep of the Gophers two days later. The next week was supposed to see Nebraska facing the top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, but COVID-19 concerns led to that series being postponed. Maybe the Huskers face Wisconsin later in the season, but with the tournament taking place a month from now, that seems unlikely.
Nebraska faced Illinois this past Friday and Saturday and swept the Fighting Illini. It wasn’t easy, however, as Illinois took the Huskers to extra points in the first and second set in Saturday night’s match. Either/both of those sets could have gone either way, but it was clear in the third set that Illinois was gassed, allowing Nebraska to cruise.
Nebraska volleyball hasn’t shown many signs of weakness this season, which is proven by their 7-1 record.
While the Wisconsin series didn’t happen, Nebraska has a tough task this weekend when the Ohio State Buckeyes come to town. Despite being a perfect 11-0, the Buckeyes aren’t ranked in the top 10 (they’re No. 19), but they’ve still yet to lose and have slowly, but surely been improving their program in recent years. This will be a tough match for the Huskers, but fortunately, they’re hosting this one.
If Nebraska can get through this series unscathed, their next tough task will come against Penn State in the final series of the season. Facing Big Ten teams only seemed like a daunting task prior to the season beginning, but Nebraska hasn’t flinched. They know what it takes to get to a National Championship game and it’s playing a tough schedule such as this one.
With the tournament taking place in Omaha next month, Nebraska knows that they have as good a shot as anyone to take it all this season. If fans are allowed in the stands, those tournament games will feel like a Nebraska home game, and the two recent titles Nebraska won came in Omaha and Kansas City — two locations that are close to Lincoln.
Continuing to win ensures that Nebraska will get a good seed in the tournament and push for a sixth national title.