- Volleyball has been the talk of the town in the off-season as the excitement for the sport is at an all-time high.

The countdown to this historic event at memorial stadium is underway.

Nebraska's premier college volleyball head coaches are here to break it all down in tonight's 2023 fall preview of the State of Volleyball.

#* - Good evening, and welcome to Nebraska Public Media sports special on the State of Volleyball in Nebraska.

I am your host, Larry Punteney.

coming up later in the show we visited with Kirsten Birnthal Booth.

We also send Anna Bellinghausen on the road to Wayne State to check out the division two powerhouses.

but first, we turn our attention to the event that has been quite frankly the buzz of the state.

The two head coaches leading their teams in that show town.

Four time national championship coach John Cook, Omaha coach Matt Buttermore.

Great to have you both with us.

let's maybe start with that, if we rewind -- Wisconsin had just broken your record.

You had a press conference and you said what seemed like an offhanded comment.

Maybe we will have a matchup at Memorial Stadium.

Was it an offhanded comment?

- That is kind of how it started.

Kind of jokingly, but then we really checked into putting a PBA.

I remember the meeting with Trev.

Trev said, okay, we are going to see how my people we can pack in PBA and it wasn't enough.

So that's when it says okay, We're going to the stadium.

and I am like, yeah, right.

- The preparation that has gone into this has been remarkable.

You were telling me about testing the tariff flex outside.

Talk about what has gone into this.

- The other big hurdle to get over was coach Rhule.

and again, there was a great article about Matt when we started talking about this.

I didn't realize it was all the way back in December.

One of the first things I said to Trev is, has anybody talked to Matt Rhule?

Because he is going to not be able to use his field for quite a while.

It's going to take six days to set this thing up.

Trev says, okay I'm going to talk to him.

Coach Rhule said, great.

That is kind of where we put the date where it is.

Because they play Minnesota football the next night.

It's going to be a heck of a week for sports.

- Matt, you grew up watching football games at Memorial Stadium.

Grew up in Lincoln, so you've been there plenty of times watching football.

A little pinch test thinking you're going to play a volleyball match in that stadium?

- Yeah, I try not to think about it too much actually because I don't know if I can wrap my head around what it is actually going to look like.

but yeah, I grew up in Lincoln.

The stadium was always right there in the middle of everything.

Along with the volleyball program.

So it's thrilling to get to coach in Devaney in a couple years ago.

Now I guess we are taking it a step up.

- What does this mean for your program?

- First of all it's going to be a special experience for our student athletes.

The look on their faces.

What they experience that day is really what I'm looking forward to.

And then -- It is exciting to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

Celebrating a sport in our state.

Potentially setting a record.

That is one of the great things about athletics and being on a team is being a part of something bigger than yourself.

This is the next level from that.

- I think people know this, but maybe they don't know you are married to a former Nebraska player, Laura Pilakowski.

She was player of the year in the conference and coach was wondering who she going to be voting for -- or rooting for.

She going to be sitting with her teammates.

- She will be on the bench wearing black.

[laughter] - Exactly.

Hey, let's talk about the new Final Four this year.

The changes to that.

You must be pleased with the fact that, again, the elevation of this sport continues.

- Well, I think a lot of what's happening is the success of the Big Ten and what you guys are doing.

That ratings are going way up and now we have the big networks paying attention.

We've been talking -- I know I have been in meetings with the AVCA.

Talking about upgrading.

You know not putting on ESPN the national championship match on a weird time, but the ratings are going through the roof that I know in the Big Ten.

Now we are third behind men's basketball and football.

So they are taking notice now.

That is why we are seeing that on national networks.

- Obviously Nebraska Public Media has had college volleyball on for years, but a Big Ten network now with a new record.

57 matches this upcoming season.

- Yeah and I think they would do more.

They want to do more.

I think that is just continuing to grow.

We were in the media days and they were talking about the ratings are just going through the roof.

And they are going to challenge us a little this year.

So I can get this out there.

We are playing two Sunday night matches that 6:30, because of Big Ten and ESPN and whatever other networks are televising it.

Sunday night at 6:30.

Nobody has ever done that, but I think they have a window in there that they want to put volleyball.

Probably after NFL games.

- It is not just the elevation of the college sport.

You have the Omaha Supernovas coming in.

Which is going to be a the pro team specific to Nebraska.

You know just talk about the elevation of volleyball in Omaha and what that does for your program.

- I think there's a lot of excitement around volleyball right now.

I've always been one that if we just keep making a great product and putting great teams on the floor and playing an exciting brand of volleyball, the game will grow.

I think it is a beautiful game.

it's an exciting time to be in Omaha with two pro teams.

hopefully we can support them.

A lot of people don't remember there used to be multiple pro football and basketball leagues.

We've got to start somewhere and having more leagues than no leagues is a good thing.

- Let's dive into the season upcoming.

I want to start with the coaching changes in the off-season.

You were able to add another coach.

So Jordan Larson coming back.

Talk about the impact of that on this program.

- Well the biggest impact as we have another former player that wants to come back.

For the record, I did hire Laura as our strength coach for several years.

I love having former Huskers back on our program.

They know what it takes.

Jordan is very passionate about coaching.

She is working really hard at it and still trying to help the USA team qualify for the Olympics.

People don't realize you have to qualify for the Olympics.

They are getting ready to go to a big tournament in Poland.

A qualifications tournament here in a couple weeks.

She has just been zooming and interacting with our players via zoom and what we call volumetrics.

She watches practice every day.

So she is doing a great job with it and then we will get her back after the qualification tournament.

- I think there has been a little coaching going on in your gym.

18 players on the roster.

Nine newcomers.

Eight freshmen.

Talk about the challenge that presents.

- It is a good challenge but a lot of new talent.

We are excited about the future, but it is meshing culturally and technically and strategically what we are doing.

That's what the first two weeks have been about.

We've got a lot of position battles going on.

We didn't have it certainly last year or even two years ago a whole lot of.

So that has been exciting to see the competition in the gym.

and it has been fun to incorporate -- Almost feels like a whole new set of girls here.

So we are really excited about the future.

We are more physical than we have been.

Once we get everybody up to speed, I think we're going to be fun to watch.

- Were going to talk to Kirsten Bernthal Booth in a moment.

Where is a blueprint out there on how to build a program in Nebraska.

A college program.

You keep -- you know John can't take everybody.

Right?

I mean he'd love to, but he can't keep all the division one players in the state.

Kirsten did a great job doing that.

You have eight Nebraska kids.

talk about that blueprint and is that what you're trying to do in Omaha?

- Yeah.

We've got to lockdown the region as much as we can.

Not everybody wants to stay in Omaha or Nebraska, but the ones that do, we want to make sure they know we want them and there is an exciting place to compete at and a great school to come study at.

So, yeah.

We really want to focus on that.

it helps the fan base.

Some of our best players right now are from Omaha.

We are not probably going to go to L.A. and make a living off of recruiting the top players out of L.A.

So, our bread and butter is going to be Nebraska and the surrounding regions.

- I would imagine you believe this is just great for the state.

- It is awesome for the state, because I've seen several reports per capita.

We produce more division one volleyball players than any other state and I know a lot of them do want to stay close to home.

'cause of everything going on, this stadium match.

This is the epicenter of volleyball in this country.

- Let's talk about your spring match.

You called it as competitive a match as you have seen.

Your red white match, sorry.

As competitive as you have seen.

- Well usually in the red white match -- I don't know if they do that, but you have to get a practice player in or a coach has to play or you have to bring back another older player.

This year, we actually had 14 players.

So we can make two lineups.

two days before, we practiced.

We did some six on six drills.

It was very, very close.

great.

Let's go.

Let's see what you guys got.

I predicted it would be really tight.

We had four deuce games.

The team that lost 3-1, they won one of the games by six points, I think.

So it was very, very competitive.

Great volleyball.

Again, the red white is always a hard night because the fans don't know who to cheer for, but they had a lot of great plays to cheer for and that is what made it so fun.

- Your first match was this week.

So who is your starting setter?

- I don't know yet.

today is Tuesday.

- Everybody wants to know, right?

- You will find out Friday before the match.

- Obviously -- Orr returning, and Bergen Reilly is your freshman.

Just talk about the strengths of those two.

This has to be as good of setters you've had in a while.

- These guys are two really elite setters.

Great athletes.

They do everything really well.

They both played at really high levels.

That is a big question.

Who is going to start?

It is a tough decision, but it is great to have that competition.

That is going to bring out the best in everybody.

It's going to force those guys to have to perform every day.

That is how you get better.

- Who is your starting setter?

- Well, I will tell you right now.

We are in the same boat.

We're still working through lineups.

We have two freshmen and a senior.

So we have very different levels of progression where we are at in some things.

Olivia curry has done a great job this preseason being a good leader.

She's kind of taken it to another level skill-wise.

Our freshmen are very talented as well.

They are used to winning.

Ivy Leuck has won, I don't know -- 27 state championships.

I have a player from mesa, Olivia Tukuafu.

Who is the three time high school MVP.

So you know, it is a competitive gym.

We have three strong personalities.

Excited for the year.

- Competition for the libero as well.

- Yeah.

that is probably our deepest position.

Ds, libero.

So we have moved Rachel Fairbanks to ds.

her and Erica Fava from west Nebraska our transfer are really the top two right now, but again, that will be a competition throughout the year because we have Riley and Kennedy doing a great job competing as well.

So that one will be neck and neck for a while.

- No doubt on your side who your starting libero is.

as much as Laney Choboy is going to be a fan favorite.

Right?

Her attitude and what she brings, but Lexi is just another level back there.

- Lexi is -- she went out training with the USA this summer.

She is next in the pipeline for that program, but she is getting pushed every day.

It is great.

I love it.

You have a bad day.

Laney, you're in.

- I take a look at Laney and think she is one of those players who if she is on your team, you absolutely love her.

If she plays for somebody else, she is the one who is going to constantly poke you.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

I tell our team all the time, if Laney plays and doesn't touch the ball, she is still worth three points.

Just because of her energy.

her talk.

and just her presence on the court.

She is that kind of impact player.

She is a blast to coach every day.

- Talking about impact players, we start with -- you already named her captain in her first year, Merritt Beason.

- Yeah, Merritt's got a gift of leadership.

She wants to be a third grade school teacher.

So she is the team mom.

takes care of everybody.

It's just been really cool to see.

She has fit right in.

She could be from Columbus or Grand Island.

She is from Alabama, but she is just a Midwest -- She just fits in really, really well.

Of course, Lexi is our other captain.

Those guys, we put them through the ringer to get to that point.

It was fun because we got to go to Brazil.

They had to really share why they wanted to be captains and really earn it.

It was very authentic how it all worked out.

- Yeah, let's talk about Omaha impact players.

Obviously Shayla.

McKenna Ruch.

You know two of your stars.

- Yeah, McKenna was our first player to be voted on all American.

So she had an amazing year last year.

Two Omaha kids.

McKenna is an amazing learner.

Shayla is an amazing competitor.

Great all-around player.

She does everything for us.

Kayli Jurgensmeier, another kid from within 40 minutes of Baxter Arena almost.

You know, she was a freshman in our conference last year.

We are moving her to outside this year and she's embraced that role really built herself up physically over the summer.

Excited to see her handle a bigger load this fall too.

- Let's talk about your battle you have at the middle John because this is a great battle.

Especially with the addition of Andi Jackson which she's shown.

Mendelson obviously there.

Bekka Allick is going to be a superstar.

Kind of where's that kind of fitting right now?

- Same thing as all the other positions.

They are battling every day.

You know, that's the great thing we have is we -- if somebody is having an off night, you know, we got somebody we can put in.

I think that will be a rotating deal.

Who's starting?

Who's having a good week and who's having a good match?

- Andi brings athleticism, right?

- Yeah.

- Identifying that correctly, she just seems like an athlete out there.

- Yeah.

she is very, very athletic.

Very quick.

She's still pretty new to the game.

She played in a small school in Colorado.

A small club and she really hasn't had much high-level experience, but again, one of the great things about coaching is -- Matt's talking -- he's just talked about it.

You see these players how they adapt to grow to get better, how hard they work.

That's one of the rewarding things about coaching and she wants to be great.

- Let's talk about some of the other freshman you have because this a special freshman class.

Ranked number one in the country.

We talked about Choboy and now we talked about Jackson.

Maybe run down Jurevicius and what's she brings and the other freshman.

- Yeah.

Harper, who's is you know really a true, great six rotation outside hitter and does everything really well.

She's got a lot of hype.

She got to go to the ESPY's and all that.

So, she's got to learn how to handle expectations but -- - Has that happened in the gym so far?

- Yeah, yeah.

She's been humbled many times, but again, there's you know, all the hype -- you guys will talk to her about all that stuff.

and then, Caroline Jurevicius is a physical -- hits the ball really hard.

and she played great in the red white, which I wasn't sure how she was going to play.

But she somebody's that -- she can be a game changer.

I think that is all our freshmen, right?

- I think you covered it, yeah.

- Outside that battle, you know Allie's out there, Lindsay Krause, I mean you must be excited with what you have there.

- Yeah those guys are also -- you know, that is why we're able to put great teams together.

It's all very close, very even.

and typically, when you make those decisions, it comes down to serving and passing.

- So, let's talk about -- let's kind of jump forward and talk about non-conference schedule.

Matt, we'll begin with you.

You have some high-level teams coming in.

Talk about your pre conference and what you have going on.

- Yeah.

We're -- there's a match we're playing next week that a lot of people talk about, but we are so excited about our home conference schedule that we're trying to make sure people know about that.

And our ticket sales are already way above last year.

So, we're excited.

but we got Texas A&M and KU coming in right away.

this is Friday and Saturday.

So, we have Pepperdine, playing those guys in the early matches too.

We're not playing Pepperdine but, you know.

So it's going to be a great, great weekend of volleyball at the arena.

And then we have -- following next weekend, we play stadium.

Then we get to go to Kansas state and be the first match there.

New facility.

So that's pretty exciting.

We got an exciting week next week for us.

We host long beach state, Creighton, and Iowa State the week after so at home.

So, we're excited.

The girls decide to play division I volleyball.

We want to play the best in the country and we're excited for that challenge.

- And we're going to see you playing Creighton on Nebraska Public Media as well.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- So good tough test.

Speaking of K State, Fiona coaching down in K State.

The former Husker, which is gonna be good to see her back at the stadium for that matchup.

Let's talk about your non conference.

I would imagine it is tough for you because your conference schedule is such a grind.

How do you go about the non conference?

Do you just say, "let's schedule anybody."

- Well, the biggest problem is -- or the biggest challenge is getting teams to play.

That is why I asked Matt how to get these guys to come to Omaha?

'cause we can't get them to come to Lincoln.

- Let's have them drive 50 miles down the road, John.

- Yeah.

so part of our scheduling is who can we get to play?

Who will want to come here?

You know, we want to have home matches because -- you know, do you go play somewhere where there is nobody watching or come here and play in front of 8,000 people?

And it is a big deal.

it's televised.

- Right.

- And so, that's the biggest challenge how we put a schedule together but we are also in a four-year deal with Stanford, Kentucky, and Louisville.

so, we know we've got those guaranteed games.

We always try to play Creighton every year.

And then Matt's playing long beach.

You guys play them before they play here.

So, we worked out that deal where you know, Tyler's coming back.

So, sometimes it becomes pretty random.

- Yeah.

- You know, we're going down to K state too 'cause we owe them a return trip.

So, I told them when they get the new facility, great.

We'll come down there, so.

But you're right.

The Big Ten is a grind.

So, I don't know.

you got to play good teams to prepare for the Big Ten.

- Yeah.

- And then you got to -- gotta get ready to grind through the Big Ten.

- And the conference schedule doesn't get any easier with conference realignment.

You had four remarkable programs in the Big Ten.

How do you manage that next year?

Any clue yet?

What are the conversations like?

- No.

I met with our senior women's administrator Marquita, who's working all those -- swa's are working on scheduling concepts.

How we're going to do this.

I gave her my feedback on what I thought would be the best for volleyball.

So we'll see.

the Big Ten is going to come out with something.

And I can tell you right now not everybody is going to be happy.

Scheduling is going to be a nightmare and how we do it.

But there's a cool way to do it, I think.

but they have a lot of other things they have to think about.

- It was interesting.

I chatted with Keegan Cook at the Big Ten media days and Keegan said you know, as much --as big a reputation it is in the PAC Ten, there is nothing like Big Ten volleyball and what he saw at media days.

Coaches getting together in conversation.

He said it was just next level.

- Yeah.

Well, the Big Ten has gone all in on volleyball.

Their media day that they did is incredible.

Of course, Sue Maryott who used to -- - Used to be here.

- I'm like walking in here like looking for her.

"Where's Sue?"

And you know, she's behind all of that at the Big Ten.

Has done an amazing job.

The commissioner is coming out for the stadium match.

The head of the NCAA is coming to the stadium match.

So this is a big deal in a lot ways besides just a sold-out stadium, two teams playing volleyball.

- And before we close out on that, I do want to ask you about the rivalry inside the conference -- the new rivalry with Wisconsin.

And it's not just on the field.

It's become off the court as well, right?

Talk about that.

Nine consecutive losses now and how does that motivate you and your program to get to where they would say, you know, the preeminent program of the big ten right now?

- You know, when we first came in, it was Penn State and we had to catch Penn State and beat them.

And now Wisconsin set the bar really high.

And everybody is chasing them.

and then of course there's other ways where chasing them.

Because you know, they keep expanding the field house where they play.

They added more seats trying to catch us and break the attendance record.

So we just added 400 more seats.

You know, rivalries are great.

Competition is great and it just keeps elevating everything.

- Matt, talk about this volleyball day in Nebraska.

Obviously, you and your players will be involved.

It's going to be a spectacle, but for the other programs -- the other two programs in the state.

Nebraska-Kearney and Wayne State, who are also gonna be planning on that same day in front of that crowd.

and what does this -- what's this do for volleyball in the state?

- I think honors -- you know, we have two programs that have competed at a really high level for decades.

Rick and Scott do a great job.

And that's true of so many other small college and high schools and clubs around the state.

And so, when I first heard about the game, I didn't know it was going to be called volleyball day.

And when I heard that, I think it was at the press conference for the first time or right before that.

I was like, "that's it."

Like, "that's perfect."

It is a celebration of all the hard work, all the dreams that have been fulfilled.

And some dreams that have been missed out on maybe.

But just the competition and the spirit of volleyball in our state.

And that's what has been neat to me as someone that grew up here.

And it's been really a product of all of that.

And I think it is going to be really neat to see that with all the teams on Wednesday.

- So much has been made and covered.

Final thoughts.

Maybe something people don't know about volleyball in Nebraska that you want to share?

Just the spectacle that this will be.

It is hard to wrap your head around what this is going to be like.

-I really is.

I think the two things -- three things I like to share is, one, Trev deserves a lot of credit for making a volleyball day.

That was really his idea and then giving back -- you know all of these teams will get revenue share from this.

So that's -- that's really giving back and saying how important that is.

The second thing is that like Matt said, it's -- this is a celebrate -- and volleyball is a state treasure here.

and it is not just Nebraska volleyball.

It is at all levels and we wanted really to have high school, N.I.A.

but we just couldn't do it.

and finally now, we've had to cancel school that day.

So that's how big a deal this is.

- Wow.

- And I think the other thing is, the team that is putting all this together and building the stage for the court -- there is a lot of work.

It's six days of work going that's into this and they deserve a lot of credit.

- Including your staff, who has done a great job getting ready.

I know hasn't been easy for Lindsay Wischmeier and her group to put all that together.

it's going to be fantastic.

I can't wait.

Obviously, I'll be there and be able to watch the two teams compete.

But just, the spectacle's gonna be a blast.

John, Matt, thanks so much for joining us.

- Thanks, Larry.

#* - We're on the Creighton campus with the head coach of Creighton volleyball, Kirsten Bernthal Booth.

Number 18 in the country coming into this season.

Again, ranked preseason.

Nine consecutive years you've finished tied or at the top of the big east conference.

This thing's trending in the right direction.

You've done a phenomenal job.

- Well, thanks.

you know, you kind of get lost in that stuff.

You get focused on the next year.

You know, I've had people mention the preseason.

I mean, we don't even discuss preseason.

You know, it's all about how you end.

- Yeah.

- But it has been an awesome ride and I love this group.

And you know, we want to go further and hopefully we can do that.

- Let's talk about the trip first, the trip to Europe.

First of all, just general thoughts about how that went.

- Well, I mean, just on the baseline, we went with 35 people and we came home with 35 safely.

So, I always say that I never take that for granted.

But it really could not have gone better.

It was such a great cultural experience.

You know, you train prior and my philosophy with a foreign tour is, we're going to train our butt off prior.

We really worked them hard.

We had a lot of newbies.

So, we could put in a lot of systems.

And then we go to Europe and to me, number one is cultural experience.

So, you know, we are trying to take in the culture then team bonding.

And then volleyball's third.

And we played some good volleyball, but volleyball was -- you know, the other things were a higher priority at that point.

You know, I think only two of our players had ever been to Europe.

So I mean just seeing that -- the food was amazing.

The weather was amazing.

I mean, now people are in Europe.

It's like 100 degrees.

So we had like 80 every single day.

We didn't have rain except one evening.

And then we kind of enjoyed the rainstorm.

So all those things were great.

And we were really grateful for the opportunity.

- I've heard so many coaches who take teams overseas in the off-season talk about what it does from a bonding perspective in creating that team unity.

Did you see that?

- Yeah.

And you know we've got -- again, we got such good leaders.

And they get that for us to be great we need to make all of our newbies feel welcome.

And so that's always a priority within our program.

But it to happen right away because you're in a hotel room with them immediately.

You know, you're eating meals and you know, they're pretty diligent in making sure they sit by different people.

So, it's kind of organic but it also is you know, you spend intense time with some people.

You know, some of our freshman graduated the day before they had to report.

So, they're going through a lot of emotions.

That's hard.

I mean, that was a big ask for these guys.

I think our upperclassman kind of enveloped them.

And so there's some relationships that would have taken maybe through November to build that were built in that short amount of time.

- Yeah.

Let's talk about the returners.

Obviously you start with player of the year in the big east in Norah Sis.

She's one of those players who seems to be big in the big moments.

- Yeah.

Norah -- you know, and I throw Kendra in that.

You know, these two All-American players that are both going to be juniors that set the tone in practice everyday, as do so many.

But you know, when your top players are willing to work as hard or harder than everybody else, that is such a good tenor in practice.

And Norah is that kind of kid.

you know, Norah -- we joke.

If you ever watch her, this will be a fun highlight for you guys.

she's smiling when she plays all the time.

She loves the game.

She might love the game more than anyone I've ever coached.

the "Ted Lasso" character that football is life.

Like that's what the team makes fun.

We watched "Ted Lasso" last spring and they were like "That's Norah."

but she's also fiercely competitive.

And you talk about those big moments.

She is not the mean kid.

She's not going to bark at you, but she wants to win really, really bad.

And the way she is going to win is by outworking everybody else.

And you know, if she's not good at something, she's staying after practice and working on it.

But just a servant leader.

Yeah, I can't say enough good things about here.

- Yeah, 30 kills in the NCAA tournament against Auburn.

that was her career high.

And then to be named the tournament MVP in back-to-back years in the big east, which hasn't happened in 25 years.

I think that just speaks to when it's big, when the moment is there, she doesn't shy away from that.

- We see it with her stuff with the USA.

She played a significant role in those gold medal teams.

And I think the thing Norah would hate for me to say this is -- because she would never articulate it.

But I think she is starting to realize, "Hey, I'm good at this sport."

We have all been saying it, right?

But, I think there has been a click of, "Okay, I want to achieve some really good things."

Not only during my time at Creighton, but after Creighton.

and I can.

And I'm going to do everything in my power to work as hard as I can, to achieve those goals.

If that means professional, if that means national teams.

so, I think it has been fun to kind of see -- Again, she would never say it, but I can see that she says, "Okay, it's a big moment.

I'm ready."

- Always good to have the glue kid on the team, too.

And that seems to be Kendra.

- Yeah, I mean Kendra -- again, Kendra gets sometimes, I think, overshadowed.

because Norah, gets these player of the year honors.

And Kendra is special, special good in so many aspects.

I mean, you take the setting obviously is really good.

What she can do speed wise and strength wise and defensively -- blocking.

She is just an incredible athlete.

We know that.

and I have big expectations of what I think she could do this year.

- And Ava Martin was the big east freshman of the year last year.

Seems like when she plays well, it maybe opens things up for Norah.

Because, what are you 13-1 when she has eight kills or more?

- Oh, I didn't know that one.

that's a Rob Anderson stat.

I need to make sure, "Ava, we are at seven.

Let's go."

No, Ava has just developed so much.

And she's really worked on her back court game.

Fighting for six rotation time this fall.

Her passing has really improved.

her defense has improved.

She is a kid that just developed so quickly last year.

She didn't start at the beginning of the year.

Then we put her into the right side.

And finally we moved her to the outside.

But she was getting housed early.

She would hit low and the blocks are coming.

And she's got a big arm, so that block would come back pretty quickly.

But she has really developed the ability to go after hands.

It's kind of fun to watch her just kind of spray balls all over the place off of blockers' fingers.

She does it in our gym a lot.

hopefully it will translate to other gyms.

- Let's talk about some of the newcomers and start with the transfer in Bichelmeyer.

What does she bring?

And the new faces, what do the rest of the new faces in the gym, what do they bring?

- Yeah, Ellie had an incredible career at rice.

Loved her career at rice.

I love those grad transfers that are coming from situations that they love because they are generally good culture kids.

And she definitely is that, and her parents are both Creighton grads.

Actually, her dad was a star baseball player here so she has those Creighton ties and she is a kid that has every shot in the book.

and I think the reason that we picked her up is, is because she ate us alive when we played rice last year.

And we kept on being frustrated because she kind of does not -- she is going to be good in warm- ups, but there's going to be other kids in our gym that are going to wow you more in warm-ups.

But if you take lines, she can slice and dice and kind of go every direction.

- Let's talk about the pre conference.

again, a tough pre conference schedule you've set up.

one of those is another ranked team.

You're going to face Purdue on the road to start.

Maybe talk about pre conference, and that one specifically.

- Yeah.

That first weekend's going to be tough.

Right before Purdue, we played Loyola, Chicago team that is so good.

NCAA tournament team.

And the next day, right into Purdue, who -- You know, one of the best freshman classes in the country coming in.

Obviously a great program.

The fun thing is that Grace Heaney is on that team.

Who was a teammate of my daughter's for years.

So I know grace well.

And, you know, I think she might be fighting for time.

So all those things will be great, but we will definitely get a chance to be punched a couple times and see if we can punch back early.

- I think it was a little unusual you are picked seconds this year in the big east.

That's got to provide a little.

Nine straight years you've been at the top of the league.

And you're picked number two to start.

Is that a little motivation for the players?

- I hope so.

Yeah, it could have gone either way between us and Marquette, I think.

And Marquette does return basically everybody.

And they made a sweet 16 run.

But yeah, we will definitely be talking about that in the locker room.

- A lot has been made about this, "volleyball day in Nebraska" coming up.

and we are getting ready to head to -- right after this conversation, we're going to talk with Wayne State and you and Kay, who are playing.

Talk about what that means to those two programs to have that kind of stage and what it means for volleyball in Nebraska.

It is already big.

It is already important at the high school level, but what does that mean, first for those kids and also volleyball in the state?

- Sometimes people get caught up in the division I programs here or they play high school or club, but they don't realize how great the levels we have in D2, or NAI.

and I think people would be shocked.

I will talk to good high school volleyball players that maybe aren't division I level.

They will just assume maybe division two is not high-level volleyball.

And you're like, "oh no, the high level of division two is better than a lot of the mid-level of division I.

So I think people will love getting to see how high of a level Wayne State and Kearney -- I mean, these are two perennial powers.

Very well-coached established programs.

I think people will be impressed by the level of play.

- Speaking of preps in Nebraska, Destiny Ndam Simpson.

We have seen her a couple of times.

She seems special.

How has it translated to the next level early on?

- Destiny can be the best kid in our gym.

She has a cannon for an arm.

She, right now, has to work on -- She is a little bit erratic.

and she knows it.

So that is what she is working on.

But her upside is pretty spectacular.

So that is kind of what she is working through and we're working on.

She's working one-on-one with Angie on some things.

Really wants to get better, Also, as a package player.

Similar to Ava and Norah.

that, she could play six rotations, can hit out of the back row.

but I think she has the pieces to be pretty special.

- Maybe in the last 30 seconds -- I know she is not the only newcomer with high-end potential.

Talk about Testrake a little bit.

- Ava will fight with Bichelmeyer and a couple others for that right side spot.

Just really long.

I mean, her block --I was actually working with her yesterday.

Because right now a lot of them, she just blocks the area.

We really want her to go block -- You know, use your length.

if you get burnt on a read, it was actually against destiny.

Destiny got inside of her.

I go, "You are long.

Go get that ball."

I think it will be fun.

she wants to take all of the information in and just working with her, I think she has a huge upside.

Also a great young woman that I think could be a really big player for us down the road.

- Always great to be here.

Thanks so much for inviting us in, and we appreciate you taking the time to chat.

- My pleasure to be here.

thanks.

- Best of luck.

#* - We're here at Wayne State college.

Alongside me, coach Scott Kneifl.

Coach, thanks so much for spending the time.

- Things for having me.

- Let's talk about the biggest off season headline.

of course, Nebraska-Kearney versus Wayne State inside of Memorial Stadium.

What was your first reaction when you found out?

- Coach Cook gave me a phone call.

I was at the coaches convention in Omaha at the Final Four and he gave me a phone call and said this was going to go down.

at first I was like, "What?

We are doing what?"

He just said that it was going to happen, and asked if we wanted to be a part of it.

And obviously we are super excited for the opportunity.

- 91,000 fans packed inside of memorial stadium.

Have you envisioned what day is going to look like?

- Not really.

Not yet.

It is crazy.

I have obviously been inside the stadium a few times and it's a great venue for volleyball.

It's going to be incredible to have that many fans watch volleyball match.

I'm from a town of 270 people in Newcastle, Nebraska.

So, to play in front of 91,000 people and get to coach in front of 91,000 people is an opportunity that is once in a lifetime.

- How about that moment telling your players they would be playing inside of Memorial Stadium?

What was that like?

- I think they were shocked a little bit.

Talking about, "We're playing Where?

We're playing outside?"

and how are we going to do this?

But just excitement.

The chance to showcase our university and our volleyball program in front of not only that many people, but people watching at home as well as across the state of Nebraska.

Something that cannot be replaced.

- 13 of the 17 players on your roster of from the state of Nebraska.

The other ones not too far away either.

What does it mean to recruit in-state, and keep that talent here?

- We're really fortunate to be able to do that.

Great high school coaches across the state of Nebraska.

Great high school programs and a lot of great players.

We have recruited in Nebraska for a long time.

That is what we are going to continue to do.

Just great we don't have to travel very far for recruiting for a lot of different reasons, but it helps attendance when we're here at Wayne State.

To have that local flavor.

It means a lot to the people around this area.

- You have been coaching for 20 years.

How have you seen that recruiting pool keep going up and up in talent in the state?

- Yeah, it's crazy.

volleyball keeps getting better.

the talent keeps getting better.

the players keep touching higher and becoming quicker and stronger.

It's a lot of fun the coach.

The talent in our state we are able to draw from makes it that much better.

It's great.

- Let's talk about some offensive weapons for you and your team.

You're returning Taya Beller.

let's talk about her and what she brings to this squad.

- Yeah, Taya is a phenomenal athlete.

You know, she's a 6'2" middle blocker from Lindsay, Nebraska.

You know, she's a dynamic player.

She blocks the net extremely well across the net.

She's a one-foot attacker which is kind of a rare thing for volleyball to be honest with you.

Now she touches ten foot five off of one foot and she touches ten foot off of two feet, but we went and played into ten five.

So every one of her attacks across the net, she jumps off of one foot, which is extremely explosive, extremely dynamic.

and she puts the ball away.

Every award she gets, she deserves.

She is a great leader.

- So same position.

Very different player and Maggie Brahmer, what does she bring to the table?

- Yeah, Maggie, as consistent as it gets.

You're talking about a player from pierce, Nebraska that never played any club volleyball.

A four-sport athlete that just went from sport to sport to sport.

And then, we were fortunate enough to recruit her here to Wayne State college.

And she was one of the top two attackers in the nation percentage wise as far as that goes in division two volleyball, so she is super consistent.

You know, she brings a lot of fire to our team and energy.

And we're just really fortunate to have her.

- Another veteran on the team, Kelsie Cada.

What is she meant to this program and your leadership?

- Yeah, Kelsie is a lot of the glue to our team.

You know, she just does everything well for us.

A six rotation outside that still receives at a very high rate.

And obviously, her net skills are really good as well.

But she is just a great all-around player.

And that six rotation player that you really, truly need -- you know, that is in there the entire time.

She's a quiet leader, she leads by example.

but she is also a calming force for us.

So having her out there is definitely a plus for us.

- And then the first-team all-conference setter, Rachel Walker.

How have you seen her grow and what do you want to see out of her this season?

- Yeah, you know, she is a phenomenal player.

You know, she's been here, she's a sixth year player.

You know, we are ending up having the covid and the redshirt.

So she had that redshirt year, the covid year and this is her last and final go here at Wayne State college.

But she just dishes it.

You know, she is phenomenal.

She sees the matchup across the net that we need and she just goes for it.

She is relentless.

and she can really sling it around and she is a lot of fun to watch.

- So eight newcomers to this team.

We've got six freshmen and then two transfers.

Out of these new faces, what are you expecting?

- Yeah, I mean, a lot of energy.

Right now, we have been in five practices so far and just a ton of energy.

A ton of athleticism.

A lot of learning going on in our gym the last couple of days, but a lot of really good things from them.

And they are battling for playing time.

Everybody wants to play.

We understand that as coaches.

when you have 17 players and only six can be on the floor at one time, you know, there are people that are battling.

But role acceptance, you know, accepting your role and having a lot of fun with our team, that will go a long way this year.

- Has anyone stood up particularly in these early practices?

- Yeah, I think Chanatee Robles from Norfolk Catholic.

It's a really dynamic outside hitter that can hit a variety of shots.

You're talking about a lot of local players, that, you know, once again, played multiple sports.

So, you know, to get them in the gym and have the opportunity to just play volleyball for four years, it's going to really help them.

And you are seeing them learn as we go each practice.

- Yeah, building off of last season, 30-3 regular-season conference title.

What has been your message to the team in keeping up all that success?

- Yeah, we just want to keep getting better every day.

The wins and losses will take care of themselves.

Hopefully more wins than losses obviously.

Going 30-3, it was a great season for us, but we want more, and when I mean we want more, I mean we might not go 30-3 this year.

and that's okay.

But we want to win the national championship.

That's our ultimate goal.

and for us to do that, we have been ranked number one in the country for several weeks last year and several years prior.

But we have been to the Final Four.

But that national championship has eluded us a little bit.

so we want to go after that thing.

So we want to be playing our best volleyball at the end of the year.

- I feel like this group has a lot of veteran leaders.

What will it take to be on that pedestal come the end of the year?

- Yeah, I think team unity is going to be key.

You know, that role acceptance that we talked about, and just being a team, and having a lot of fun.

You know, our players -- they play so much better when they are enjoying themselves out there.

And we are going to be coaching them.

Were going to coach them hard and teach them those things, but we want to release them to the game too.

We want to turn them loose and we feel like we have a bunch of horses out there with a lot of experience.

And we just want to let them loose and have a lot of fun.

- Well, August 30th will definitely be a lot of fun, coach.

What are you most excited about for volleyball day Nebraska?

- You know, we get to play another great opponent, Nebraska-Kearney.

I think that's exciting.

But I think just seeing our players' reaction to getting that opportunity, that once in a lifetime opportunity that they will never get again, and embracing it.

You know, they know how to play volleyball obviously, but I'm sure there will be some nerves, they will be nervous.

I'm sure I will be a little bit nervous.

But it's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of fun for everybody.

- Coach, thanks so much for the time.

We really appreciate it.

can't wait to see you August 30th.

- You too.

thank you.

- We are here at Nebraska-Kearney.

Alongside with me is head coach Rick Squiers.

coach, thanks so much for taking the time.

- Appreciate you having me.

- Absolutely, and I feel the first thing we have to get into right away is volleyball day in Nebraska.

It's where your team will do an exhibition against Wayne State.

how special is this moment for you and your program?

- Yeah, I think it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Not something I had ever really even thought about.

But when the opportunity came along, it was really just one of those things you cannot say no to.

I don't think any of us is quite sure what to expect, but we are excited and appreciate being included for sure.

- When was this idea brought to your attention?

What was that initial reaction?

- Yeah, the first I heard was from coach Kneifel at Wayne State and I know he's got a long-standing relationship with coach cook and I think they had been talking about it and maybe having an undercard prior to a match that they were thinking about playing.

And I'm not 100% sure that coach cook is 100% sure about the whole thing either, but when it all began and the discussions started, coach Kneifl talked to me about our interest and basically from the start, I made it clear that we were interested even with all the unknowns.

And then things just progressed little by little.

And all of a sudden, we are at a press conference and this thing is going down, so we are in.

- What was the team's reaction when you got to tell them?

- I think similar.

I got a few stares like, "What are you talking about?"

and I think as things began to unfold and the buzz moved through the state, there's been an excitement, and again, just feel great about being included.

We hope like crazy that the weather is good and that it is real volleyball because I think it is one of those things that you are going to remember for the rest of your life.

- Have you envisioned what that they will be like?

- A little bit, but I think it is hard.

First of all, I'm not in the stadium very often.

Imagining a volleyball court in the stadium and what that is going to look like, what it is going to look like from the stands, what it's going to look like from the court, how it is going to play out.

You have a vision of it, but I think maybe that is the first part of it is just satisfying the whole curiosity of what's this going to look like.

And so we are going to find out pretty soon.

- Well one thing we do know about is your returning lineup for Kearney.

Let's start first with the sophomore setter Payton Neff.

What have you seen from her and her growth?

- Yeah, just continues to get better and better and more comfortable.

And last year was the first time through an entire schedule as a redshirt freshman and handled that really well and ended up being an all-conference player for us.

But I think this year is just more comfortable than ever and continues to get more confident every single day.

Still has plenty of things like we all do to keep working on, but she has the right mentality for it.

She wants to be great.

Her teammates love playing with her.

And so it is a part of our situation right now that is much more of unknown than it was last year when we entered the season having a setter who is going to go through the process for the first time.

- And one of your veteran leaders, Lauren Taubenheim.

how have you seen her impact this team on and off the court.

- Yeah, I mean Ii would consider Lauren to be maybe our best all-around volleyball player.

She can do a little bit of everything.

She is a six rotation player whether you are asking her to attack from the left or the right pin.

Arguably our best serve receive passer even though she is 6'2" and a lot of people pick on her and they think, you know, we're going to serve at the big kid over there.

Great volleyball IQ.

court presence I think is one of the players on the court that everybody feels better having out there.

And so we are still in the process this year of trying to put that rotation together, but we know Lauren is going to be a big part of it.

- Yeah, another big offensive weapon, Emersen Cyza.

How has she seen just her growth throughout the program especially impacting that offense?

- Yeah, I mean, coming to us from division I. I think what we saw right away from Emerson was she could score points on the pin.

And sometimes in division two, that is hard to find.

I mean, all the d1s grab anybody that could be a pin hitter at that level.

And she was capable and actually having a fair amount of success at Wyoming as a pin hitter.

so her coming in here right away made an impact.

Somebody that we wanted to set on the outside.

She can go get you 15, 20, 25 kills on a given night and when you are a setter, that is nice to have.

And so she also relishes that role.

She wants the ball and she's not afraid to take a swing under duress.

And so we feel good about her position.

- And then a graduate transfer, Jaden Ferguson out of Northwest Missouri State.

Sow can she impact the team this year?

- Yeah, I mean, that's two things.

First of all, we don't have to play against her anymore, which is nice.

We've had to deal with her on the other side of the net plenty of times.

But what we see so far from Jaden is another player who's, she's kind of got those baller skills where she can do a little bit of everything for you.

She can score points in a lot of different ways.

She can run inside.

But she is just an all-around volleyball player.

She doesn't have a glaring weakness in her game.

she's got -- we're seeing already leadership attributes.

And she's a tremendous teammate.

We're just really fortunate that she chose to play her last year here at UNK.

- Kearney has some shoes to fill in those middle blocker positions.

Who have you seen step up for those roles?

- Last spring we had Trista Marx and Abby Rose, who are going to be sophomores this year, get a whole bunch of reps and improve and become more comfortable playing at the college speed.

They both, I think, are capable of having really good seasons for us.

In both of their cases, however, they don't have a lot of experience.

So we're trying to get them some experience in the early going with some of the scrimmages.

And sometimes you're just going to have to live with the fact that they are going to have to play through some of that and we're going to have to lean on some of our veterans like the ones we have already talked about.

We do have a couple of freshmen in Mia Berg and Sydney Davis as true freshmen who are athletic enough to maybe come in and make a contribution.

But it is still really early and they are trying to get their bearings.

But we like the athletes we have in that position.

We just have to kind of give them some experience.

- It all starts August 30th at the exhibition against Wayne State.

Coach, what are you most excited about for that day?

- Just to get the season started and the spectacle of that whole thing.

I think we are all really excited about that.

We know we have an unbelievable opponent on the other side of the net.

So, it's a lot of things to take in.

I hope the weather cooperates and comes down to being a game about volleyball and not a game about the wind, sun, or heat or something like that.

If it is a game of volleyball, we're going to have our work cut out for us.

I know both programs have a lot of pride.

We're going to be really competitive.

It will be a tremendous test going into the first weekend of the season.

So, we just want something positive to pull from the match.

Either way, we know we're gonna have a memory to last a lifetime.

- Coach, thanks for your time.

can't wait to see you at volleyball day Nebraska.

- Appreciate you having me.

- And it's our pleasure to welcome in for the second year in a row, volleyball beat writer, Lincoln Arneal joins us.

You just heard them talk about the opportunity to play.

You've heard so many people say, "I can't imagine what it's going to be like."

I feel the same way.

- Yeah, volleyball players have lots of dreams to play in college, play in the Olympics.

None of them probably thought, I'm going to play in a sold-out football stadium, too.

So it's a bucket list they didn't know was on their bucket list.

- Yeah.

hey, let's talk about -- let's jump into conference realignment for 2024.

Because we are adding four top high-level programs into the big ten conference.

Your thoughts on that and how are they going to manage this.

- Yeah, I mean, you've got three teams that have won national championships.

there's been 42 national championships played, and in 2024, 21 of those championships will be part of the Big Ten.

So it adds a lot of competition.

Oregon knocked out Nebraska last year from the tournament.

And also, the other side of it is it adds a little bit more travel, a little bit more wear and tear.

It makes that 10-week sprint an even longer, more challenging road.

- Nebraska has always been a recruiting juggernaut.

I would imagine that just got even more powerful when you add the best player to ever play women's volleyball in Jordan Larson to your staff.

- Yes.

we talked to some of the commits, the 2025 commits this summer, too.

Like, I'm on a zoom call with Jordan Larson?

I mean, their eyes got a little bit big.

They had to pinch themselves too.

The staff already, with what Jaylen Reyes does and what John Cook brings to the table and Kelly Hunter.

To add an Olympic gold medalist to that too, it's a juggernaut that keeps on rolling and producing results.

- Yeah.

You were sitting here, you heard John deflect the question of who his starting setter is going to be.

Your thoughts?

Two talented players, the freshman and the returner.

- You can't go wrong.

I think Kennedi Orr really has improved from last year too.

I think she had a little bit of inconsistency problems, but she spent a lot of the spring working with Hunter and Cook.

took a step forward.

But I think Bergen Reilly is so consistent.

I mean, she's so smooth and can run an offense and it doesn't look like she is trying that hard but she does it at a high-level too and makes it look easy, which gives her that much more credit and that much more impressiveness of it.

- And at 6'2", she adds the element of the block too.

- Yeah, I think that's where she has areas of growth too, but I think her mind-set and the way she can distribute the ball and kind of think one step ahead of what the defense may expect, and he can counter that too.

She just has a really good connection with her hitters and can do things with the ball that very few setters in the country can do.

- How many times have you seen a transfer come into a program and be a captain?

- Not very often, if it every happened too.

Merritt Beason was a captain at Florida last year too, but to come in -- and when we talked to her in march, I think, right after beach season ended, she just has a presence around her.

People like being around her.

she just is very well spoken.

she is very articulate.

She relates to people in a great manner.

And really brings gravitas to the team and really kind of makes -- I think John Cook said she is the mom of the team.

she is bringing all of the fruit snacks.

She's bringing whatever they need in her giant bag.

so she's a really great asset to the team.

- I'm sure you get this question all the time.

this is a young team.

but how good are they going to be?

right?

I mean, this seems like they've improved in talent.

It seems like a better, more cohesive team.

But everybody in the Big Ten has gotten better.

- Yes, that's the part.

It's experience versus talent.

Nebraska brings in a lot of talent, and some of it may be helped by their ignorance of not knowing what they're going up against, what they're in store for this year.

So, they've got a lot of talent.

I think that if they gel and mesh as a team like we have seen so far, they can really do good things this season.

- In 20 seconds, Nebraska/Wisconsin.

- Wisconsin reloaded.

they had a couple of big transfers.

I think if Nebraska really wants to achieve what is possible this year, they need to figure out the Wisconsin problem.

- Yeah.

- I think they do.

I think they do.

- It's always great to have your perspective.

Appreciate you being on for the second year in a row and bringing the insight.

- You bet, thank you.

- That's Lincoln Arneal.

Well, the showcase and the spectacle of volleyball in this state just keeps getting better every year.

A special thanks to John Cook, to Matt Buttermore, Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Scott Kneifl, Rick Squiers, and Lincoln Arneal, of course, for joining us on this very special state of volleyball.

I am Larry Punteney.

we'll see you again in an arena or a stadium real soon for your home for volleyball right here on Nebraska Public Media.