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Nebraska Volleyball Welcomes USC's Ally Batenhorst Home in Emotional Return

Tears flowed down Ally Batenhorst's cheeks just moments before the No. 20 USC Trojans faced her former teammates, the No. 2 Nebraska Huskers, on Sunday night at the Devaney Sports Center.

Maren Angus-Coombs

Former Nebraska volleyball outside hitter Ally Batenhorst becomes emotional as the Bob Devaney Sports Center crowd loudly welcomes her back with USC.
Former Nebraska volleyball outside hitter Ally Batenhorst becomes emotional as the Bob Devaney Sports Center crowd loudly welcomes her back with USC. /

The tears streamed down Ally Batenhorst's face minutes before the No. 20 USC Trojans squared off against her former teammates of the No. 2 Nebraska Huskers on Sunday night at the Devaney Sports Center.

Batenhorst, originally from Omaha and a former Husker, received a thunderous ovation during the starting lineups. As the applause continued, she covered her mouth in disbelief at the heartfelt welcome.

She began fanning the tears when Lexi Rodriguez, Kennedi Orr, and Harper Murray gave Batenhorst their starting lineup ball with handwritten messages from the team.

Several fans waved homemade signs for the outside hitter who transferred to USC for her final collegiate season after graduating from NU in the spring.

"I graduated from here so I'm still always going to be a Husker. It feels like home here and it's something that's really special and I just love the people here."

Batenhorst finished with a match-high 13 kills with a .242 hitting percentage.

"They always say there's no place like Nebraska. Everyone is just beyond supportive. ... You don't see that at other schools. When I transferred, I was wondering about those things but I never really realized how much support I was actually going to get. It was overwhelming."

Batenhorst never felt uncomfortable or unwelcome. In fact, when the team's charter flight landed in town on Saturday, the digital display at Duncan Aviation had a message to welcome Batenhorst back to Lincoln.

USC associate head coach Tyler Hildebrand joined Batenhorst in a return home. The whole match felt "weird" for Husker head coach John Cook but he was glad his team pulled away with another top-25 win.

"First of all, this was kind of a weird match to play with Tyler over there and Ally," Cook said afterward. "You see how close Ally still is with these guys. I don't know, it was weird."

Batenhorst trained with the Huskers all spring despite announcing her intent to transfer to USC before the end of the school year.

That doesn't happen at most programs, Nebraska is family.

"She's a Husker," said Cook. "I think people love watching her play. She did a great job on social media and you can see how tight she still is with our players. There's an emotional connection there. She trained with us all spring. She's part of our family. I think our fans know that. ... She played great. Good for her."

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

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