Digs: Nebraska coach John Cook looking for high-level volleyball, lineup clarity in Red-White Scrimmage
Nebraska volleyball starts its season with a Red-White Scrimmage on Sat, Aug. 19 at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The second annual Husker volleyball fan day will be on Aug. 19 too from 10:00 a.m. to noon.
The Huskers have position battles all over their team and there will be plenty to watch during the scrimmage.
Husker Head Coach John Cook, middle blocker Andi Jackson and defensive specialist Laney Choboy spoke with the media to preview the scrimmage and wrap up fall camp practices.
Head Coach John Cook:
***Cook said that freshman opposite hitter Caroline Jurevicius has the strongest arm in their gym. He said one of the big reasons Nebraska recruited her was because its rare to find players that are as physical at the net as Jurevicius.
***With the scrimmage on Saturday, Cook hopes to see very high-level volleyball.
He said the scrimmage will hopefully clear up some of the starting lineup questions. When asked which position will be hardest for him to pick the starter(s), he couldn’t answer.
The battles at outside hitter, setter and middle blocker all seem to still be very close.
***Cook said that freshman setter Bergen Reilly has served the best during the last few weeks of fall practices. Reilly is going up against junior setter Kennedi Orr for the starting setter position.
Nebraska volleyball position preview: Libero/defensive specialist
***Orr missed the second practice of Nebraska’s first day but has “done it all,” since. Cook said the setters work harder and longer than the rest of the players and she has been keeping up.
Usually, the setters show up before the rest of the team to practice. Because of the two-a-days, they haven’t been over the last few weeks but will start next week when they only practice once a day.
***The Huskers staff will try to make two even teams for the scrimmage but haven’t settled on the lineups yet. Cook said they will be playing a regular match.
***He knows the five freshmen will be nervous on Saturday but isn’t worried about it. How they handle their nerves in a big environment will be important to see for down the line.
The only nerves he is worried about are the ones of the entire team before and during their match against Omaha in Memorial Stadium on Aug. 30.
Despite the anticipation of Volleyball Day in Nebraska, the Husker players have been “locked in”. Cook said they do not have any issues getting the players to focus.
***Cook said outside hitter Harper Murray is focusing on being about the play six rotations in the Big Ten and being very consistent from match to match. The outside hitter that plays six rotations will sometimes have to do it back-to-back days and its a lot of physical and mental work.
The post Digs: Nebraska coach John Cook looking for high-level volleyball, lineup clarity in Red-White Scrimmage appeared first on On3.
