Nebraska had just finished its most impressive victory of the season: a 3-0 sweep of Missouri.
A confident Sydney Anderson sat in front of reporters, basking in the glory of the win.
“I dare any other team to come in here and try to beat us,” she said.
Meanwhile in Ames, Iowa, the Iowa State Cyclones were in a fifth set battle with undefeated Texas.
By the end of the night, Wednesday, Nov. 4, the Longhorns had suffered their first loss of the season, and Nebraska had begun preparing for a Saturday matchup against ISU.
For the first time in a long time, though, Nebraska was the underdog.
“We never look at it as if we are an underdog, or if we are favored,” NU head coach John Cook said. “We never even go there. It was an opportunity to show that in two weeks we got better and send Iowa State a message: We’re going to compete.”
No. 10 NU did more than just compete. The Huskers dominated the No. 8 Cyclones.
Nebraska is once again a team to be feared, but this season’s road has included a lot more ups and downs than past years.
The Huskers started the year ranked third in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. The hype surrounding the team at the beginning of the season was quickly wiped away.
Nebraska was swept by Michigan in the first match of the season, taken down by UCLA in five sets at home and found itself 2-2 after four matches of Big 12 Conference play.
A win at Oklahoma on Sept. 30 was supposed to be a turning point for NU. The five set victory over the Sooners jump-started a five match winning streak, which included two outstanding offensive performances in the Coliseum and a road sweep of ranked Baylor.
When Nebraska was on its way back up, the streak ended in a most unexpected way.
Iowa State, which had lost to Nebraska in every match played between the two schools in history, beat the Huskers in five sets.
The win put Iowa State firmly into second place in the Big 12, and when the Huskers headed to Ames to take on the Cyclones on Nov. 7, they weren’t expected to win.
“We were ticked off, and we were going to show them how ticked off we were,” Anderson said.
The upset victory has been able to bring back the hype that usually surrounds a Nebraska volleyball squad.
“They haven’t been happy with the results this year,” Cook said of his players. “That’s one of the reasons Iowa State felt so good. We’ve been investing a lot, and they finally got rewarded.”
Now ranked ninth, NU is playing its best volleyball of the season and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
The Huskers hit a season best .451 against Missouri and hit .327 against Iowa State. Brooke Delano had 18 kills and did not commit an error in the Huskers’ previous two victories.
“The message that is being sent is that there is no backing off,” Cook said. “That’s where this ‘November to remember’ comes in. It’s about this entire month and getting better and being hot going into the NCAA tournament.”
Home or away, underdog or favorite – it doesn’t matter. The Huskers have figured it out and are ready and willing to take on anyone.
doug burger is a sophomore news-editorial major. Reach him at dougburger@dailynebraskan.com
Be the first to comment on this article!