MATCH PREVIEW
• After a six-month wait, Volleyball Day in Nebraska is finally here. The fourth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team will play in front of one of the largest crowds all-time for a women’s sporting event when it hosts Omaha on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. 
• To begin the day, UNK will play Wayne State in an exhibition at 4:30 p.m. Memorial Stadium gates will open at 3:30 p.m.
• Fans are encouraged to visit Huskers.com/VolleyballDay for all the latest information leading up to the historic event. 

HOW TO WATCH AND LISTEN
• Wednesday’s Nebraska-UNO match will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network and streamed on FoxSports.com. The UNK and Wayne State exhibition will be televised on Nebraska Public Media and will be best of three sets.
• The Huskers Radio Network will broadcast all the action on their radio affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and AM 590 in Omaha. A live audio stream will be provided at Huskers.com and on the Huskers app. 
• John Baylor is in his 30th season doing play-by-play for the Husker volleyball program. Lauren (Cook) West, a former All-America setter for the Huskers, will provide color commentary.

FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Welcome to the Big Red Volleyball Express and thank you for taking part in Volleyball Day in Nebraska. As part of the Nebraska Athletics parking plan, fans will have access to a free bus service from satellite lots within the city of Lincoln. There will be 40-50 buses running routes to and from Memorial Stadium. Lot pickup areas are listed below.  Please look for Arrow Stage Line buses after you’ve parked. It is important that you read our updated Volleyball Day in Nebraska Game Day page to understand what prohibited items exist so you can leave non-compliant items in your vehicle or at home. Please pay special attention to the Clear Bag Policy. Visit www.huskers.com/operations to review important game day information. 

Operating Times
The Nebraska Athletics Big Red Volleyball Express public transportation begins at 4:00 p.m. with the last pregame trip at 6:30 p.m. Drop-off and pick-up will be on R St. near the Lied Center. Return trips will begin at 8:15 p.m. and run continuously until approximately 11:30 p.m.

Satellite Lots
Northwest High School - 4901 W Holdrege St. Lincoln NE
https://go.unl.edu/bigredexpress_northwesthigh

North Star High School – 5801 N. 33rd St. Lincoln, NE
https://go.unl.edu/bigredexpress_northstar

Gateway Mall – 6100 O St. Lincoln, NE (largest capacity area)
https://go.unl.edu/bigredexpress_gateway

SouthPointe Pavilions - 2910 Pine Lake Rd. Lincoln, NE
https://go.unl.edu/bigredexpress_southpointe

HUSKERS AIM TO SHATTER ATTENDANCE RECORD
• The largest NCAA volleyball regular-season attendance is 16,833 when Wisconsin hosted Florida at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., on Sept. 16, 2022.
• The largest-ever crowd for any NCAA volleyball match is 18,755 when Nebraska played Wisconsin on Dec. 18, 2021 in the NCAA Final at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. 
• The American record attendance for a women’s sporting event is 90,185 for the USA vs. China FIFA World Cup final on July 10, 1999 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. 
• The world record attendance for a women’s sporting event is 91,648 for the Barcelona vs. Wolfsburg UEFA Champions League match on April 22, 2022 at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. 
• The Husker volleyball program has sold out 306 consecutive regular-season matches, though the Memorial Stadium match would not count toward the streak as it is being played outside the Huskers’ main home facility, the Devaney Center. Nebraska’s sellout streak is an NCAA women’s record. The Huskers have led the nation in attendance every season since moving into the Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2013.
• Eight of the top nine crowds in NCAA volleyball history are matches that have involved the Huskers. 
• Of the 14 largest NCAA volleyball regular-season crowds, 13 have been Nebraska matches.
• When Nebraska played at Creighton on Sept. 7, 2022 at the CHI Health Center, a then-regular-season NCAA record crowd of 15,797 turned out to watch the Huskers defeat the Bluejays, 3-2. It shattered the previous regular-season record of 14,022 (set by Nebraska and Creighton in 2018). The record lasted nine days, however, as Wisconsin and Florida drew a crowd of 16,833 to the Kohl Center on Sept. 16.

ABOUT THE HUSKERS
• Nebraska is coming off a successful opening weekend, going 3-0 with three sweeps at the Ameritas Players Challenge. Harper Murray (most outstanding player), Lexi Rodriguez and Laney Choboy were all named to the All-Tournament Team. 
• Murray was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after averaging 3.67 kills per set with a .343 hitting percentage. She also posted 2.33 digs per set and totaled six blocks, five aces and four set assists. 
• Merritt Beason contributed 3.11 kills per set and 2.00 digs per set. 
• Andi Jackson averaged 2.17 kills per set with a team-best .526 hitting percentage and put up 11 blocks in two matches played. Bekka Allick had 2.00 kills per set and a .304 hitting percentage and also had 11 blocks in two matches as the Huskers rotated their middle blockers all weekend. 
• Freshman setter Bergen Reilly became just the second true freshman setter to be a day one starter under John Cook (Nicklin Hames). Reilly had 9.33 assists per set and 2.78 digs per set in the three wins. 
• Libero Lexi Rodriguez led the NU back row with 3.67 digs per set.
• The Huskers, who led the nation in defense in 2022, held their three opponents to a combined .064 hitting percentage, which ranks fifth in the nation. 
• The Big Red averaged 3.11 blocks per set on opening weekend, good for a tie for 18th nationally.    

SERIES HISTORY
• Nebraska is 17-1 all-time against Omaha. The lone UNO win was on Sept. 2, 1986. 
• The teams last played on Sept. 3, 2021, a 3-2 Husker win at the Devaney Center after the Huskers trailed 2-1. 
• Nebraska is 2-0 against Omaha both in the John Cook era and in UNO’s Division I era. 

SCOUTING REPORT: OMAHA
• Omaha went 0-2 on the first weekend of the season. The Mavericks hosted a four-team tournament at Baxter Arena, falling 3-1 to Texas A&M and 3-0 to Kansas. 
• Kali Jurgensmeier and Shayla McCormick led the Mavs with 2.86 kills per set in the two matches. McCormick hit a team-best .237 and added 2.00 digs per set. 
• McKenna Ruch had eight blocks to lead the Mavericks defensively. 
• Omaha is coming off a 20-11 season and 14-4 record in the Summit League last year. That came one year after the Mavericks won the Summit League regular-season title with a 16-2 conference record. Head Coach Matt Buttermore took over the program in 2019 and has led the Mavs to back-to-back 20-win seasons, their first since making the transition to Division I in 2011.

HUSKERS RANKED NO. 4 IN AVCA COACHES POLL
• Nebraska is ranked fourth in the AVCA Coaches Poll this week.
• The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 544 times, which is also the most in NCAA history.
• Nebraska has appeared in all 605 AVCA Coaches Polls it has been eligible for since it was established in 1982. Nebraska is the only program to be ranked in every eligible poll all-time.
• Nebraska’s 605 consecutive weeks of being ranked is the longest active streak in Division I for any sport, leading Connecticut women’s basketball and North Carolina women’s soccer.
• Nebraska has been ranked No. 1 in 102 all-time polls, the most in NCAA history. 

AVCA HALL OF FAMER JOHN COOK IN 24TH SEASON AT NEBRASKA
• Nebraska head coach John Cook is in his 24th season as the Nebraska volleyball head coach in 2023. He has led the Huskers to four national championships, 10 final fours, 12 conference championships and 21 top-10 final rankings since 2000. 
• Cook has 820 career wins and is one of the all-time winningest coaches in NCAA history. Since taking over the program in 2000, Cook has led the Huskers to a nation-leading .871 win percentage (659-98). 
• Under Cook, the Huskers have achieved 64 AVCA All-Americans and 20 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, both among the best in the nation. He is a two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, earning the prestigious honor in 2000 and 2005, and a seven-time conference coach of the year, including Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2017, his first and second Big Ten honors with the Huskers in their Big Ten era (2011-present).
• Cook is one of only two active coaches - and one of six all-time - to be a two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year and was honored in 2008 by USA Volleyball, receiving its All-Time Great Coach Award.
• Cook was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in 2017, joining former Husker volleyball coach Terry Pettit in the hall. 

MURRAY NAMED BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
• Nebraska freshman outside hitter Harper Murray was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday by the conference office.
• In her first collegiate matches, Murray led the Huskers to a 3-0 record at the Ameritas Players Challenge. The Ann Arbor, Mich., native averaged 3.67 kills per set with a .343 hitting percentage. She also posted 2.33 digs per set and totaled six blocks, five aces and four set assists. 
• Murray had nine kills on .350 hitting with five blocks and four digs in her collegiate debut against Utah State. She followed with 10 kills on .389 hitting with seven digs and three aces. Murray finished the weekend with 14 kills on .310 hitting with 10 digs for her first collegiate double-double. 

SEASON PREVIEW
• Nebraska is coming off a 26-6 (16-4 Big Ten) season and second-place finish in the Big Ten. The Huskers advanced to an NCAA regional semifinal, where they lost to Oregon in five sets. NU ended the year at No. 9 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, its 11th straight year finishing in the top 10 of the AVCA poll. 
• Nebraska had a nation-leading opponent hitting percentage of .128 this season. Junior libero and co-captain Lexi Rodriguez is back to lead the Huskers defensively once again. Rodriguez is a two-time AVCA All-American and is 12 digs away from reaching 1,000 for her career. 
• Sophomore middle blocker Bekka Allick was named to the AVCA All-Region Team in 2022 after finishing her first season as a Husker with 1.89 kills per set, 1.01 blocks per set and a team-high .326 hitting percentage. Allick was an All-Big Ten Second Team and a unanimous All-Big Ten Freshman Team member. 
• Junior opposite hitter Merritt Beason was an All-SEC and AVCA All-Region selection as a sophomore at Florida in 2022 before transferring to Nebraska and being named a team captain for the 2023 season. In her sophomore season at Florida, Beason helped the Gators win a share of the SEC Championship by averaging 3.35 kills per set with a .261 hitting percentage.
• Junior outside hitter Lindsay Krause averaged 2.25 kills per set with a .269 hitting percentage and totaled 44 blocks and 45 digs last season. Over the final 12 matches of the season, Krause averaged 2.72 kills per set with a .359 hitting percentage. 
• Ally Batenhorst posted 2.33 kills per set to go with 1.06 digs per set in 2022. The junior outside hitter was named to the Louisville Regional All-Tournament Team after 15 kills and 12 digs against No. 9 Oregon in the NCAA regional semifinal. 

HUSKER TRIO NAMED BIG TEN GOLFERS TO WATCH

Nebraska's Will Marshall, Gentry Scheve and Harry Crockett were among the list of Big Ten Men's Golfers to Watch when the conference announced its list of preseason top players on Tuesday, Aug. 29, ahead of the opening of the 2023-24 collegiate season.

Marshall, a graduate student from Elburn, Ill., posted a 73.68 stroke average over 28 rounds for the Huskers as a senior in 2022-23. He has competed in 61 rounds for Nebraska through his first four seasons in Lincoln while producing a 74.57 career stroke average. He is also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.

Scheve enters his fourth season at Nebraska after recording a 73.35 stroke over 14 rounds for Coach Judd Cornell's team a year ago. The senior from Emporia, Kan., has competed in 26 rounds for the Huskers in his career, posting a 74.50 stroke average. He has also earned Academic All-Big Ten honors.

Crockett (Oxted, England) enters his second season as a Husker after transferring from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he was the 2021 NJCAA individual runner-up and a two-time first-team All-American for the two-time NJCAA Division I champions. As a sophomore at Nebraska in 2022-23, Crockett set the school single-season stroke average record (71.82) while playing in 11 rounds, including a third-place finish at the Purdue Fall Invitational.

Nebraska opens its fall season at the first Visit Knoxville Collegiate hosted by the University of Tennessee. The 14-team tournament will be held at Tennessee National Golf Club in Loudon (Sept. 8-10). Live scoring will be provided by Spikemark.

JAPAN FALLS TO AUSTRALIA IN FIBA WORLD CUP

Keisei Tominaga finished with eight points, three rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes of action, as Japan lost to Australia, 109-89, Wednesday morning at the FIBA World Cup in Okinawa.

Australia, ranked third in the FIBA rankings, shot 52 percent from the field and enjoyed a 44-33 advantage on the boards to join Germany in advancing from Group E. 

Tominaga averaged 10.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 assists per game in Japan’s three group games. 

With Tuesday’s loss, Japan falls into the consolation bracket and will have two more games in competition to improve their standing and potentially qualify for the 2024 Olympics. The highest finishing team from Asia in the World Cup qualifies for Paris next summer. 

 Japan will play the fourth-place team from Group F on Thursday but won’t know its opponent until after that group finishes its pool on Wednesday. 

HUSKERS HOST TIGERS, VISIT WILDCATS

The Nebraska soccer team continues its regular season this week as it hosts Missouri on Thursday, Aug. 31 and faces Kansas State on the road, Sunday, Sept. 3.

Thursday’s game is set for 7:05 p.m. (CT) at Hibner Stadium and will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required). Fans can purchase tickets to the game by calling 1-800-8 BIG RED or by visiting Huskers.com/tickets. Sunday’s game is slated for 1 p.m. (CT) in Manhattan, Kan., and will be streamed on ESPN+.

Last Time Out

Senior forward Eleanor Dale scored twice in the first half as the Nebraska (3-0-1) soccer team topped Gonzaga 3-1 at Luger Field on Sunday.

Next Up

The Huskers return home to host UC Davis on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 7:05 p.m. (CT) and Saint Louis on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 1:05 p.m. (CT).

Kicking Off

  • Dale, a preseason conference player to watch, leads the team with 10 points, including four goals and 20 shots, in four games of play.
  • In the goal, senior Sami Hauk has recorded 14 saves and three wins to bring her career total to 14 victories.
  • Nebraska continues its tradition of playing a strong schedule in 2023. This year’s slate features five opponents who qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament, as Saint Louis and Rutgers lost in the first round, Ohio State advanced to the second round and both Penn State and Northwestern made it to the Sweet 16.
  • Last Thursday, the Huskers’ six goals marked the most finishes the Huskers have tallied in a regular season match since the 2011 victory against Northern Arizona (8-1) and the most goals on the road since the win in 2009 at Kansas (7-4). Additionally, this was the first time since NU’s victory over Missouri in 2021 that the Big Red has netted four or more goals in the second half.
  • Thursday’s win over Eastern Washington also marked the 350th win in program history. Head Coach John Walker achieved the same milestone, having been at the helm of the program since its inception in 1994.
  • For the first time since 2018, the Huskers are unbeaten in the first four games of the season.
  • Nebraska returns all four All-Big Ten performers from last season, junior Sarah Weber, seniors Reagan Raabe and Dale, and sophomore Lauryn Anglim. Nebraska’s all-time all-conference total increased to 106, including 36 honorees since joining the Big Ten in 2011. Weber became the 51st first-team all-conference selection in program history and seventh first-teamer for Nebraska as a member of the Big Ten. 
  • During the off-season, both Dale and Weber were named to their respective national teams as Dale was called up to England’s U23 Squad and Weber made the U.S. U23 Women’s National team.
  • Head Coach John Walker enters his 30th season, alongside assistant coaches Savanah Anderson-Baer (first season), Ian Bridge (eighth season) and Marty Everding (26th season).          

Scouting the Missouri Tigers

  • Missouri is 2-0-1 on the year with a recent 2-2 tie at home against Omaha last week.
  • The Tigers were picked to finish 11th in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll after being selected 13th in 2022. Missouri welcomed 10 freshman and three transfers this season, including Nicole Icen from Mercer, the 2019 SoCon Player of the Year and All-SoCon First Team.
  • Last season, the Tigers finished with a 5-8-4 mark overall and was 2-5-3 in SEC contests. Missouri earned wins over No. 23 Auburn (1-0) and tied No. 21 Mississippi State (0-0).
  • The Huskers lead the all-time series against Missouri, 20-3-0. NU has won the last five games in a row and most recently, defeated the Tigers on the road in 2021, 5-0.
  • Head Coach Stefanie Golan is 14-18-5 in her third season at Missouri. Golan is assisted by Andy Stoots, Kelsey Wys and Taylor Culp.
  • Players to Watch:
    • #22 Kylee Simmons (Sophomore F): Three goals and 10 shots on the season
    • #23 Elena Zuchowski (Sophomore MF): One goal, two assists and six shots
    • #1 Kate Phillips (Freshman GK): One combined shutout, five saves and only three goals allowed

Scouting the Kansas State Wildcats

  • Kansas State is 2-0-2 this season and enters the week with a 2-0 win over UTSA last week and a 0-0 draw against Creigton on Sunday.
  • KSU visits Vanderbilt on Thursday night before facing the Huskers at home on Sunday.
  • Last season, Kansas State went 6-10-3 and lost in the first round of the Big 12 Championship to #17 Texas, 0-4.
  • Since starting their soccer program in 2016, the Huskers and Wildcats have not met. Sunday’s game will mark the first regular season game between the programs.
  • Head Coach Mike Dibbini is 34-74-17 in his eighth season at Kansas State. Dibbini is assisted by Don Trentham, Matt Smith and Kursten Von Klahr.
  • Players to Watch:
    • #17 Jo Sees (Freshman F): Two goals, one assists and three shots
    • #25 Jazmin Brown (Sophomore D): Two goals and six shots for four points to start 2023
    • #1 Murphy Sheaff (Sophomore GK): Three consecutive shutouts, 10 shutouts and only one goal allowed