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Nebraska Dominates Big Ten Preseason Volleyball Honors, Poll

The Huskers are picked to finish at the top of the conference with five players selected to the all-conference team.

Enrique Alvarez-Clary

Oct 21, 2023; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach John Cook during the first set against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Oct 21, 2023; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach John Cook during the first set against the Wisconsin Badgers. / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
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The Big Ten Conference added four teams to the league, but Nebraska volleyball enters coach John Cook's 25th season at the helm as the cream of the crop, once again.

The 18 coaches in the conference got together ahead of Big Ten Volleyball Media Days, to be held in Chicago Aug. 5-6, and voted on who they believed would win the conference and who should be on the preseason All-Big Ten team. The latter resulted in 11 of the 18 Big Ten schools being represented.

Nebraska led the way in both votes.

Collecting 13 first-place votes, the reigning Big Ten champions and national runner-up Huskers ran away with the top spot in the preseason poll.

Nebraska did plenty right in 2023: 33-2 overall, 19-1 in conference, snapped a 10-match losing streak to the Badgers of Wisconsin, finished 21-0 inside the friendly confines of the Bob Devaney Sports Center, and finished the season in the national championship match against Texas. There is a belief NU can match, if not exceed, those accomplishments in 2024.

With the new additions of outside hitter Taylor Landfair out of Minnesota and middle blocker Layla Blackwell out of San Diego, to go along with the return of Lindsay Krause from multiple injuries that ended her season before it could get going last year, Cook and the Huskers will have plenty of talent in their quest to prove the coaches correct.

Nebraska also led the way in terms of preseason honorees with five Huskers chosen as the best in the conference: Lexi Rodriguez, Merritt Beason, Harper Murray, Bergen Reilly, and Taylor Landfair.

Rodriguez led the Huskers to a nation-leading opponent hitting percentage for the second year in a row with 3.60 digs per set, which netted her AVCA All-America First Team honors in 2023, her third career All-America honor and second selection to the first team. She joined a prestigious club as the 14th Husker in school history to earn at least three All-America honors at Nebraska. She was also named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, becoming just the fifth player in Big Ten history to receive that honor twice. She was chosen to the AVCA All-Region and All-Big Ten First Team for the third straight year.

Beason averaged 3.76 kills per set on .282 hitting with 2.05 digs per set earning her AVCA All-America First Team honors in 2023. She was also selected as the AVCA North Region Player of the Year, joining her assistant coach Kelly Hunter as the only two Huskers to earn that title. She was also named to the AVCA All-Region Team and earned All-Big Ten First Team honors unanimously in her first year with Nebraska.

Nebraska Cornhuskers outside hitter Merritt Beason (13) and libero Lexi Rodriguez (8) run out of the tunnel before the match
Aug 30, 2023; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers outside hitter Merritt Beason (13) and libero Lexi Rodriguez (8) run out of the tunnel before the match against the Omaha Mavericks at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Murray finished second on the team with 3.23 kills per set and had a .237 hitting percentage to go with 2.07 digs per set and a team-high 36 service aces which was good enough to earn her a spot on the AVCA All-America Third Team, All-Big Ten First Team, Big Ten All-Freshman Team and AVCA All-Region team. She was also the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the AVCA North Region Freshman of the Year.

Reilly led all Big Ten setters with 10.51 assists per set, and engineered a Huskers offense that hit .273 on the season, which ranked second in the Big Ten and top 25 nationally. She was named an AVCA Second-Team All-American, AVCA All-Region, Big Ten Setter of the Year, All-Big Ten First Team and Big Ten All-Freshman Team. She became the first freshman to win Big Ten Setter of the Year since the award originated in 2012.

Nebraska Cornhuskers setter Bergen Reilly (2) during the first set against the Omaha Mavericks at Memorial Stadium.
Aug 30, 2023; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers setter Bergen Reilly (2) during the first set against the Omaha Mavericks at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

After winning Big Ten Player of the Year in 2022 at Minnesota, last season was not what was expected for Landfair. She did earn AVCA All-Region honors and All-Big Ten First Team accolades for the third time. She averaged 3.19 kills and 2.03 digs per set for Minnesota.

The Huskers also had two of their preseason selections, Rodriguez and Beason, join Penn State's Jess Mruzik as the only three unanimous selections by the coaches.

Nebraska was one of three teams with multiple players on the preseason list. Purdue garnered two selections with Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine, and Wisconsin tallied three players with Carter Booth, Anna Smrek, and the 2023 AVCA National Player of the Year and Big Ten Player of the Year, Sarah Franklin.

Big Ten Volleyball Media Days will feature coaches and players for every team. Nebraska will be represented by Cook, Kennedi Orr, and Lindsay Krause.

The first chance to catch the Big Ten preseason favorite Huskers and their five preseason All-conference selections will be the Red-White Scrimmage that will take place inside the Devaney Center on Aug. 24. The regular season starts in Louisville, Kentucky, inside the KFC Yum! Center on Aug. 27 against former Nebraska assistant Craig Skinner and his Kentucky Wildcats as part of the AVCA First Serve Showcase.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, following HuskerMax on X, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

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Enrique Alvarez-Clary
ENRIQUE ALVAREZ-CLARY

Enrique Alvarez-Clary, better known as Rico, is the Assistant Program Director at 93.7 The Ticket in Lincoln, Nebraska as well as the Executive Producer for the Supernovas Radio Network which broadcasts every Omaha Supernovas match during the inaugural season of the Professional Volleyball Federation. A native of Nebraska, Rico first graduated from the prestigious Bellevue West High School and went on to graduate from the University of Nebraska-Kearney where he also competed in Track & Field. Being behind the scenes for so long, Enrique has shifted into a more on-air role co-hosting the "Happy Hour" and lending his voice to many other shows on 93.7. Enrique focuses his coverage of Nebraska on football, volleyball, mens & womens basketball, softball, and track and field. When Enrique isn't covering Huskers Athletics you can find him hanging out with his wife Rachael and their two children Elliot (daughter) and Kade (son). Rico can be reached at rique2688@gmail.com or on Twitter/X @RadioRicoAC

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