Digs: Nebraska volleyball learning to adjust to lineup changes, Big Ten and road environments
Nebraska volleyball Head Coach John Cook abruptly stood and looked toward the bench. He called Maggie Mendelson‘s name and waved her in. The sophomore middle blocker took the court against Indiana, replacing Bekka Allick.
Mendelson played in all four sets after coming off the bench on the road. She had four kills on 13 swings and hit .231.
Being called off the bench in the middle of a match is difficult for everyone involved. However, it happens often for the Huskers due to their depth. Because of the depth, Cook and his team call them “game-changers” instead of bench players.
When Mendelson was called into the match, she had a wave of emotions and thoughts.
“I always take a few deep breaths just because the energy can be a little bit high,” the 6-foot-5 middle said. “It gets pretty nerve-wracking something but I know my teammates have my back so it’s never that big of a deal.”
Mendelson has started two matches this season and has been called into seven sets. She also experienced the same thing last season as well.
“I always take a second to think about what’s gonna happen,” she said. “I’m going in there to make a change. So I think what I can do when I first go in there if it’s bring energy or take a deep breath and calm everybody down. I always think about what I can do to bring the team up or maybe settle things down.”
Mendelson, who has spent most of the season on the bench behind Allick and Andi Jackson, is very familiar with how to stay ready. During timeouts or challenges, the “game-changers” run to the other side of the width of the court to stay loose.
“The bench does a really good job of always staying ready,” Mendelson said. “We teach that a lot in our practice about just people ready to make changes and come in and make big plays. I think as a whole group and as a team, the bench does a really good job of always staying ready. I feel like in that moment, I was pretty prepared to go.”
Each player on the court is impacted differently. But Nebraska freshman setter Bergen Reilly might have to adjust the most.
Three takes from No. 2 Nebraska volleyball’s battle to beat Indiana in four sets
Recently, Cook has subbed in and/or switched outside hitters Lindsay Krause and Ally Batenhorst as well. Batenhorst started both matches vs. Indiana and Purdue but didn’t finish either. Luckily for Nebraska, their depth allows them to sub in players who can make a difference.
“I think that is something our team has prided ourselves on is just making sure that we have that depth,” Reilly said. “We’ve talked about ultimate trust since day one that I’ve been here. It can be hard for other people coming in, but we all have that ultimate trust, so it’s really not a big issue if we have to put other people in and that’s what makes this team so special.”
Reilly has had to create a strong connection with everyone on Nebraska volleyball’s roster, Mendelson included. Even though the middle said coming off of the bench can be nerve-wracking, she and NU are happy to have the depth.
“I just show how deep we are,” Mendelson said. “Us playing in the gym every day is some of the best competition and I think the Big Ten is also really good competitive and we’re just going to learn how to get better every day and playing against each other, it’s really good competition.”
Playing on the road in the Big Ten
Nebraska volleyball had a rude awakening during their first road trip of the Big Ten schedule. Five starters hadn’t played a Big Ten road match. Luckily for NU, they found a way to remain undefeated despite two close matches against Purdue and Indiana.
The Huskers had won five straight-ranked matches before heading to Indiana. But, these matches on back-to-back days, were some of their biggest tests.
“We got tested last weekend,” Reilly said. “I think that was really the first time that we got super pushed and we felt that stress. That was really good for us. We’re coming back this weekend, we have that experience under our belt, and I think that just made us a better team honestly.”
Nebraska is back on the road to take on Michigan State on Oct. 6 at 6:00 p.m. Then they travel to Ann Arbor to play Michigan the following evening at 7:30 p.m.
Last weekend, the Huskers won a five-setter vs. Purdue, their first five-set match of the season. Indiana won the first set against Nebraska volleyball, which was the first opening set NU has lost this season.
Three takes from Nebraska volleyball’s thrilling five-set road victory over No. 17 Purdue
There was a lot for the Huskers to learn from.
“We’re calm under pressure,” Reilly said. “We got stressed a lot and I think that there were a lot of times we could have gotten frantic, lost control, whatever it was, but we stayed pretty calm for the most part. We’ve been working on some things, cleaning up some things from last weekend.”
The Big Ten has many great venues with great fans. Both the Hoosiers and Boilermakers gyms were sold out when hosting Nebraska. Each school has a much smaller gym than the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln.
Playing on the road in this conference can be hard at some places. And playing back-to-back matches adds another level of difficulty as well.
“it’s pretty hard because we are so used to having such a big home court advantage,” Mendelson said. “Not being here in Devaney with all our Husker fans all the time, it’s a little bit harder and especially last weekend, we had two really big student sections.”
Notes:
***With the start of the Big Ten and tough competition, Reilly is watching her tendencies closely and making sure opponents can’t pick up on them. She and assistant coach Kelly Hunter have been watching film to spot her tendencies and find ways to counter them.
***Serving is always a big focus for the Huskers. However, after 28 service errors over their last two matches, it has been a big priority this week.
Reilly said Nebraska volleyball is focused on taking “mindful reps” because they serve every day.
***Reilly said that the tempo of her offense has been improving since this spring. The pace is not as consistent as she or her coaches would like at the beginning. The setter said they’ve “nailed” the tempo now.
***Cook said previously this week that Reilly and Andi Jackson’s connection has been off a little bit. Reilly said she and Jackson are working to make sure the middle has all of the shots available to her.
***Nebraska had both Harper Murray and Merritt Beason play and hit from the back row. Reilly said the layer to their offense has been huge.
“If the pass isn’t perfect, a lot of teams just go to the outside, go to the pins, but sometimes if they’re in the back row at the same time, we have five hitters on,” she said. “I think that really stresses teams because they have to be so disciplined. That puts them in hard positions because they have to stay disciplined, and they don’t want to. So it’s been big for us, and the back row is hitting at a huge percentage, so we’ll keep working on that.”
***Against Purdue, someone set Reilly and she took a big swing. She had two kills from those swings.
She said they worked on it in practice last week, so felt more comfortable running the play. Reilly was an outside hitter at O’Gorman High School so she is very familiar with killing balls. The freshman said she wants to take more swings during matches.
Reilly recognizes it’s a big advantage being a tall setter so she wants to take advantage of that and put herself into the offense more.
***Nebraska volleyball didn’t record a block until the third set against the Hoosiers. Mendelson said Indiana had a great coverage. She had one block that went right down by Ramsey Gary was right there to get the ball up.
Indiana also did a good job of hitting high hands and making good moves, the sophomore said.
***Basketball season is also starting up. Mendelson, who also is a Husker basketball player, has been doing extra conditioning to get into basketball shape. Her top priority during the volleyball season is volleyball.
She switches her focus to basketball after the volleyball season is over. However, she will be shooting a couple of times a week with her basketball teammates.
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