Nebraska Volleyball Poised to Claim No. 1 Spot After Weekend Wins and Major Upset

Nebraska volleyball is on the verge of becoming the nation's top-ranked team after securing wins over Purdue and Rutgers, combined with a major upset.

The Huskers celebrate winning the point after a long rally. / Amarillo Mullen

The Nebraska volleyball team came away with two wins on Friday and Saturday which has put them in a position to potentially take over as the nation's top team when the new rankings are released on Monday.

The shakeup will result from an upset by No. 15 SMU over No. 1 Pitt combined with No. 2 Nebraska's five-set win over No.10 Purdue.

“I watched the last six or seven points,” head coach John Cook said of SMU’s win after NU swept Rutgers. “That’s a tough place to play, and SMU is good.”

The Mustangs announced their arrival with an upset sweep over NU in Dallas on Sept. 3. Since then, they have continued to climb in the rankings and will climb some more.

“It’s college volleyball,” Cook said. “You’re going to continue to see it. There is just a lot of really good teams, and on any given night if somebody gets hot.

"It’s great for college volleyball. It’s hard to win, and Pittsburgh found out. Everybody thought they were kind of invincible, but SMU is for real.”

Leyla Blackwell's 'Seamless' Transition

The Huskers needed to add a middle blocker over the offseason and thankful to have grad transfer Leyla Blackwell.

Blackwell put on a standout performance in the second-ranked Huskers' dominant sweep over Rutgers on Saturday at the Devaney Center.

She recorded nine kills and seven blocks during the match, contributing heavily to the team’s 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 victory. Impressively, Blackwell was flawless in her offensive play, with zero hitting errors across 15 attempts, finishing with a match-best hitting percentage of .600.

"I think that’s what allows her to come in there and it’s seamless,” Cook said. “She knows her role here and she does whatever she needs to do.”

Cook wanted to make sure both Blackwell and Taylor Landfair started this weekend and it worked well. The Huskers improved to 16-1 overall and 6-0 in Big Ten play.

“It’s always fun to be out there playing with my teammates,” she said. “We do that every day in practice, and I’m very grateful to get a chance to do that in a game. I think getting to play with (setter Bergen Reilly), she makes it so easy. And everyone is just really great to be around. Honestly, the only word I have is fun. It’s just a lot of fun.”

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