Three takes from Nebraska volleyball’s Red-White Scrimmage
On Saturday, Nebraska volleyball had its most competitive Red-White Scrimmage since John Cook has been the head coach. At least, that’s what he said.
The Red team took down the White 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 26-24). All four games were very close and three could have gone either way.
In the fourth set, the White team came back from 19-6 deficit to tie it up 24-24. However, back-to-back aces from freshman setter Bergen Reilly ended the White’s total comeback.
Cook said if he could have scripted a Red-White Scrimmage, it would have looked exactly like the one of Saturday.
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“This is the most competitive Red-White I’ve ever played in,” outside hitter Lindsay Krause said.
All 14 players played in every set and gained great experience in front of a packed Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Cook said that he received some clarity about his starting lineup come Friday, Aug. 25 for Nebraska’s first match. However, he will look at the numbers from the last two weeks of camp and the scrimmage.
As always, there is so much to digest and take away from scrimmages, however here are just three:
With both good, Reilly ran a better offense on Saturday
Freshman setter Bergen Reilly is a natural. Setting and running an offense seems to come easily to her. She keeps close taps on her hitters and mixes up the offense a lot.
During her first match in Devaney, she had 36 assists with 16 digs, four aces and one block. Her set percentage was at a .313. She came in clutch with back-to-back aces to win the fourth set 26-24.
The 6-foot-1 freshman did a great job of spreading out the offense. Her three-pin hitters all had almost the exact same number of swings. Harper Murray and Ally Batenhorst each had 39 swings and Merritt Beason took 38.
The Red team hit .141 over the match while hitting .273 in set one.
Junior Kennedi Orr ran the White team’s offense as they finished with a .171 hitting percentage. In the third set, which White won, the team hitting percentage was .387, a match-high. She turned to outside hitter Lindsay Krause for the majority of her sets.
Keep in mind, Reilly had three stronger outside hitters with Beason, Murray and Batenhorst. Orr did a nice job with her options.
Both Reilly and Orr made some great plays and led their team on some incredible runs. The White team came back from a 19-6 deficit to tied it up 24-24 in set four. Orr had eight assists and two kills in set four.
During Nebraska’s Red-White Scrimmage, Orr did a great job of keeping the Red team on their toes with the threat of a setter dump. She pushed a set all the way to the back right corner for a smart kill. The junior had four kills on nine attempts. Reilly didn’t hold off the trying to get kills but only had one on eight attempts.
Both Reilly and Orr showed they are each great setters, but at this point, it seems to come more naturally to Reilly. Her serve is also lethal.
One of Reilly’s favorite weapons is outside hitter Harper Murray. Murray and Reilly connected for many kills on Saturday.
“We’re have a great connection and she does a great job of adjusting to where the passes are, serving, everything that goes along with that,” Murray said. “Our goal was to keep a tempo and at points, we were a little off, but she’s great at figuring out and knowing what I need.”
The two setters will both likely get an opportunity to play against real opponents this upcoming week.
Did Murray just solidify herself into the starting lineup?
Nebraska won’t be able to keep freshman Harper Murray off of the court. She was tied for the Huskers’ most efficient outside hitter on Saturday. Murray hit .179 which was better than the other three outside hitters. She hit .444 in set one with four kills and no errors.
The 6-foot-2 freshman had 13 kills with 12 digs and two blocks. She added one ace and allowed one ace.
Murray is a threat all around the court. Her setter and opponents have to always know where she is. Murray is dangerous on the left pin and out of the back row.
Murray showed great discipline on out-of-system balls and handed them very well. She also had a couple great blocks with the only solo block of the match.
“I’ve been looking forward to this match for so long,” Reilly said. “So I think during warmups I was like really amped up and I had a lot going so I followed that into the game. The crowd just brings you that energy and gives it to you so how could I not go up there and just swing at it. I think without the fans cheering us on like they do that, it wouldn’t have happened.”
As for the other hitters, Lindsay Krause, Ally Batenhorst and Hayden Kubik all has come great kills and plays. Opposite hitter Merritt Beason showed off her all around abilities too and will prove to be a great addition for the Huskers.
Krause led the team with 16 kills and hit .169. She carried the white team with 59 swings. The 6-foot-4 junior has a team-high four aces. Despite her 59 swings, her arm and shoulder felt “great” after the match.
She said after the match that her connection with Orr was part of her number of swings. But she also asked for and called for sets frequently. Krause accounted part of the swing number to number of sets and her playing in the backrow.
Kubik had some good swings and plays. She had 13 kills with a .179 hitting percentage. The sophomore also had nine digs and one block.
Batenhorst, who played on the Red team with Murray, started off with a few great plays with an ace then leveled off. She had eight kills, 10 digs and hit -.051.
None of the hitters had a great hitting percentage, Murray and Krause were the two most consistent.
Two great liberos
Junior Lexi Rodriguez was the libero for the Red team and freshman Laney Choboy wore the libero jersey for the White team. Both showed their incredible abilities to keep the ball off the ground during Nebraska’s Red-White Scrimmage. Defensive specialist Maisie Boesiger made some incredible plays as well, featuring a pancake.
Rodriguez had 18 digs, one ace and five assists. Choboy had a match-high 19 digs, two aes and five assists too. Boesiger, the DS for the White team, added 13 digs and three assists.
All three will play during the season. Rodriguez will start at libero, Choboy will sub in as the defensive specialist and Boesiger will be a serving specialist.
Cook challenged both liberos by having each team only serve to them during the first set. He said he wanted to make them uncomfortable. Rodriguez is not used to teams serving towards her so much and gave up a couple of aces.
Choboy was by far the most energetic person on the court. After a big point, she would often run around the court before joining her team in the huddle. Her energy is contagious and there were several times her cheer carried in the gym.
Rodriguez and Choboy will be very fun to watch side-by-side during the season. Their dedication to not letting balls touch the floor is and will be contagious to their other teammates.
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