CONTEST EXAMPLE
• The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team kicks off Big Ten action this week with a pair of home matches against conference newcomers. The Huskers host UCLA on Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 20 USC on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Both games will air on Big Ten Network, with Larry Punteney and Lauren Stivrins calling the games.
• Huskers Radio Network with John Baylor and Lauren (Cook) West will broadcast all the action on their affiliated volleyball stations, on Huskers.com and on the Huskers app.

ABOUT THE HUSKERS
• Nebraska has won seven straight games, including four straight sweeps.
• The Huskers are 5-0 against ranked opponents this season.
• Nebraska has won 31 straight home games since Nov. 26, 2022.
• The Huskers rank eighth nationally and second in the Big Ten with a team hitting percentage of .300.
• NU ranks 17th nationally in kills per set (14.08).
• Nebraska has stepped up its defense of late, holding its last three opponents to a combined .110 hitting percentage.
• Outside hitter Harper Murray leads the Huskers with 3.22 kills per set.
• Opponent Merritt Beason averages 2.84 kills per set for the Big Red. Over her last five matches, Beason is averaging 3.29 kills per set with a hitting percentage of .355.
• Outside hitter Lindsay Krause adds 2.47 kills per set and has served 15 aces for the team.
• Middle blocker Andi Jackson is averaging 2.62 kills with a team-best hitting percentage of .512, which ranks third nationally.
• Middle blocker Rebekah Allick adds 1.83 kills per set on .369 hitting with 1.43 blocks per set.
• Setter Bergen Reilly is averaging 11.03 assists per set, which ranks ninth nationally. She also adds 3.05 digs per set and has nine aces.
• Three-time All-American Lexi Rodriguez leads the Husker back row with 3.54 digs per set.

SCOUTING REPORT: UCLA
•UCLA enters its first Big Ten Conference game with an overall score of 6-3.
• The Bruins have a top-25 offense in the country with a .279 hitting percentage.
• Cheridyn Leverette leads UCLA with 4.07 kills per set and is hitting .325. Kiki Horne averages 3.04 kills per set.
• Middle blocker Anna Dodson received an AVCA All-America honorable mention last year and was a three-time All-Pac 12 selection. She is putting up 2.14 kills and 1.11 blocks per set this season.

SCOUTING REPORT: USC
• No. No. 20 USC is 8-2 overall with losses to No. 1 Pittsburgh and No. 6 Creighton.
• The Trojans rank third nationally with 3.17 blocks per set.
• Former Husker ally Batenhorst leads the Trojans with 3.84 kills per set.
• Setter Mia Tuaniga was a preseason All-Big Ten selection after earning All-Pac 12 honors in 2022 and 2023. Tuaniga is averaging 10.39 assists per set and has served 18 aces.

SERIES HISTORY
• Nebraska is 13-5 all-time against UCLA. The last meeting was on August 31, 2019 in Lincoln, a 3-0 Husker sweep. NU has won four straight in the series since a five-set loss to the Bruins in 2009.
• USC is 7-2 all-time against Nebraska. The last meeting was on August 31, 2008, a 3-1 Husker win in Omaha. The teams have not played a game in Lincoln since December 14, 1985.

RODRIGUEZ AMONG THE GREATEST NU LIBEROS OF ALL TIME
• Lexi Rodriguez is in her final year of a stellar career as the Huskers’ libero. A four-year starter and three-year team captain, Rodriguez will go down as one of the all-time greats in Nebraska volleyball history.
• Rodriguez is a three-time AVCA All-American, earning first-team honors in 2021 and 2023, and second-team honors in 2022. She will join Kadie Rolfzen (2013-16) and Sarah Pavan (2004-07) as the only four-time All-Americans in program history.
• Rodriguez made an immediate impact as a freshman in 2021, earning AVCA National Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Over the past two seasons, Rodriguez has led the Huskers to the nation’s No. 1 defense, earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year again in 2023 and becoming the fifth player in Big Ten history to earn the honor twice in his career received.
• Rodriguez has 1,555 career opportunities, which ranks fifth in school history. U.S. Olympian Justine Wong-Orantes is the career leader in digs at NU with 1,890. With 13 more wins, Rodriguez will tie Jennifer Saleaumua for No. 4 all-time.

BEASON RETURNS TO LEAD THE HUSKER OFFENSE AGAIN
• Opponent Merritt Beason put together a sensational 2023 season – her first as a Husker after transferring from Florida – earning AVCA first-team All-America honors and AVCA North Region Player of the Year, becoming just the second Husker (Kelly Hunter ) to earn that honor.
• Beason averaged a team-leading 3.76 kills per set on .282 hitting with 2.05 digs per set. She was named Big Ten Player of the Week four times and was the AVCA National Player of the Week on October 23 after averaging 4.25 kills per set and 1.75 digs per set in wins against Northwestern and top-ranked Wisconsin .
• Beason was the MVP of the NCAA Lincoln Regional after recording 19 kills, 11 digs and a career-high eight blocks in a regional final victory over Arkansas.

VERSATILE MURRAY HIGHLIGHTS SECOND CLASS
• Along with Bergen Reilly, Andi Jackson and Laney Choboy, sophomore outside hitter Harper Murray made an immediate impact at Nebraska in 2023, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, AVCA North Region Freshman of the Year, All-Big Ten First Team and AVCA All- America Third Team Award.
• Murray finished her freshman campaign with 3.23 kills per set, the highest average kills per set for a Husker freshman since Kadie Rolfzen (3.46) in 2013. Murray, one of the Big Ten’s top six-rotation players, also added 2.07 digs per set with a team-high 36 aces. She was a three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
• Murray is off to a strong start in her sophomore season, leading the Huskers in kills with 3.22 per set, 2.25 digs per set and 10 service aces.

KRAUSE wants to pick up where she left off
• Senior outside hitter Lindsay Krause had the best year of her Husker career in 2023 before it ended with an ankle injury in mid-October. At the time of her injury, Krause was averaging 2.50 kills per set and hitting .285 for the season.
• Not only that, Krause recorded 2.82 kills per set on .366 hitting in six Big Ten matches, tying all Big Ten outside hitters in conference action at the time.
• Krause was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Oct. 9 after posting a season-high 15 kills on .519 at Michigan and nine kills on .381 at Michigan State.
• This season, Krause is averaging 2.47 kills per set and leads the team with 15 service aces.

REILLY SET THE TONE
• Sophomore setter Bergen Reilly was the 2023 Big Ten Setter of the Year, becoming the first freshman to win the award since its inception in 2012. Reilly was also an AVCA second-team All-American and an All-Big Ten first- team selection.
• Reilly led all Big Ten setters with 10.51 assists per set in 2023, and she has received six Big Ten Setter of the Week honors in her career, including on September 2 and 16 this season.
• Reilly was named Best Setter at the AVCA First Serve Showcase in Louisville, Ky., as she guided the Huskers to a 3-1 win over No. 9 Kentucky with 39 assists and 11 digs.
• Reilly ranks ninth this season with 11.03 assists per set.

JACKSON IN ACTION
• Sophomore middle blocker Andi Jackson showed tremendous athleticism and potential when she first stepped on the floor as a Husker, and she followed up with a strong debut season that included AVCA All-Region, All-Big Ten Second Team and Big Ten All-freshman honors team awards.
• Jackson averaged 2.01 kills per set and 1.09 blocks per set with a .399 hitting percentage in 2023, which ranked third in the Big Ten and 19th in the country. Her hitting percentage was the best ever by a Husker freshman and ranked seventh all-time in the rally scoring era.
• Along with Reilly, Jackson helped the U.S. U21 National Team win the gold medal at the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship in Toronto this summer, hitting .654 with 39 kills and 10 blocks during the tournament.
• Jackson has taken her game to new heights in 2024, averaging 2.62 kills per set and a hitting percentage of .512, which ranks third in the country.

ALLICK ON A BLOCKING TEAR
• Junior middle blocker Rebekah Allick is a two-time AVCA All-Region and All-Big Ten second team selection. Last season, she averaged 1.76 kills per set with a team-high 1.50 blocks per set, which ranked second among Big Ten players and seventh in the country. Her 1.50 blocks per set also ranked No. 2 in school history in the rally scoring era.
• Allick was at her best late in the 2023 season, with a career-high 12 blocks in the NCAA regional final win over Arkansas and 10 blocks in the NCAA semifinal win over Pittsburgh.
• In the season-opening win over Kentucky, Allick had 11 kills and hit .667 while tying her career high with 12 blocks. Her performance earned her Best Middle Blocker and Most Valuable Player honors at the AVCA First Serve Showcase. She averaged 1.90 blocks per set in the first three matches of the season, earning her Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
• Allick leads the Huskers with 1.43 blocks per set this season. Offensively, she has yielded 1.83 kills per set on .369 hitting.

HALL OF FAME COACH COOK IN YEAR 25 AT NOW
• Nebraska head coach John Cook will be in his 25th season as Nebraska volleyball head coach in 2024. He has led the Huskers to four national championships, 11 Final Fours, 13 conference championships and 22 top-10 finishes since 2000.
• Cook has 860 wins and is one of the all-time winningest coaches in NCAA history. Since taking over the program in 2000, Cook has led the Huskers to a nationally leading winning percentage of .874 (699-101).
• Under Cook, the Huskers have produced 68 AVCA All-Americans and 20 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, both among the best in the nation. He is a three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, earning the prestigious honor in 2000, 2005 and 2023, and an eight-time conference coach of the year, including Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2016, 2017 and 2023.
• In 2023, Cook was named AVCA National Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading a young Nebraska team without seniors to its first Big Ten title since 2017. The Huskers finished the regular season 28-1 overall, their best regular season record since 28-1 in 2005. After going 26-6 last year and missing the NCAA Regional Finals for the first time since 2011, the Huskers started again with a starting lineup with four true freshmen and a junior transfer (Beason). Cook’s Huskers won their first 27 games of the season and were ranked No. 1 from October 23 through the end of the regular season. Despite not having any seniors on the roster for the second time in Cook’s time at Nebraska — and starting a true freshman at setter for only the second time in Cook’s tenure — the Huskers earned the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 and sixth time overall under Cook.
• Cook was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in 2017, joining former Husker volleyball coach Terry Pettit in the hall.