And for Lincoln Lutheran, this has never happened, until now.

Signing day for college volleyball was historic in Northeast Lincoln as Lincoln Lutheran defensive specialist Keri Leimbach made it official with the Huskers on Wednesday. It comes just a few days after she led the Warriors to a state championship, and about two months before she enrolls at Nebraska and starts coaching with the Huskers.

Lincoln Lutheran has sent seven players to NCAA Division I, but this is the first time in the program’s 30 years in existence that someone will play for the five-time national champions.

“This is our first player who is a Husker,” coach Sue Ziegler said. “That’s great. It’s great to have her literally down the street and playing state championships on the field you’ll play on for four years.

It marks the first time in six years that a Lincoln high school player has signed with Nebraska — the last was Emma Gabel of Lincoln Pius X in 2019 — and only the second time in the past 13 recruiting classes.

It is special for Leimbach to be the first from her school to go to the Huskers.

“It’s really cool, and this opportunity just shows that my hard work is paying off,” Leimbach said.

The fact that she will be on the team in January is ‘surreal’.

“It’s really special to be a kid growing up from Lincoln and just being able to play for the university, and I’m really blessed,” Leimbach said.

While playing for the Huskers will be a big step forward, Lutheran’s program is training at a high level with two former Huskers as assistant coaches in Kadie Rolfzen and Michelle (Lynch) Sjuts.

At Nebraska, Leimbach knows she will improve her defense while “competing against the best hitters in America.”

Leimbach had family friends who had season tickets and sometimes went to Nebraska games with her father.

Nebraska coaches began recruiting Leimbach as quickly as possible. She finished as the No. 40 national recruit.

Ziegler has known Leimbach for many years and knew from an early age that she could be pretty good.

“She was always playing with her older siblings or whoever would pick up a ball and play with her,” Ziegler said. “It didn’t matter how old they were. Keri wanted to challenge herself to get better. When she came to our camps, we sometimes had to move her up one or two age groups because she was already talented as a young girl.”