Volleyball team changes up formation

The Cornhusker volleyball team ended 2009 with Sydney Anderson, a two-time All-American, manning the setter position.

But before her senior season, Nebraska's world was flipped upside-down with the addition of UCLA transfer setter Lauren Cook, the national freshman of the year.

NU coach John Cook went back to the drawing board and switched to the 6-2, a formation that incorporates two setters and allows for three front-row hitters at all times. The new system is built around solid passing and setting that creates attacking opportunities.

"The whole key is ball-handling," John Cook said. "If we can get the ball to our setters in a nice position, we're a really, really good team."

And three games into the season, the new plan has earned a lot of admirers. Just ask the guy who tried to stop it first.

Kentucky coach Craig Skinner watched his Wildcats get demolished in a three-game sweep when the Huskers debuted their 6-2 formation last Saturday.

"Lauren and Sydney are accomplished setters, so they're going to know who to set at the right time," Skinner said. "You feel heat all the time. You don't ever feel a sense of relief – ‘Hey, we're going to score a few points because they're in this rotation.' All the rotations seem the same."

One reason the rotations look identical to some is the similar skill sets of NU's players.

In addition to possessing two of the nation's top setters, NU also boasts two 6-foot-5 right-side hitters: senior Lindsey Licht and freshman Morgan Broekhuis. The 6-2 allows for either of the left-handed hitters to join a middle blocker and an outside hitter on the attack.

"I absolutely see why they're doing it," Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said after NU swept the Jays on Tuesday. "First of all, you can't exactly plug lefties into different positions. They need to play right side, and you have two great right sides and two All-American quality setters."

And the system certainly isn't built on offense alone.

"It's easy to look at yourself as, ‘We're just a good hitting team,'" John Cook said. "But we want to pride our players on playing great defense. Having two 6-foot-5 right-side blockers certainly helps slow hitters down."

Licht is tied for the team lead with 10 blocks and has notched four of Nebraska's nine solo blocks. She also owns the team lead with 35 kills.

But seven other Huskers have recorded double-digit kills after just three matches as No. 7 NU heads to Provo, Utah, this weekend to challenge BYU, Cal Poly and Idaho State at the BYU Nike Invitational.

"In our 6-2," John Cook said, "we can set it anywhere on the court – front row, back row, either antenna – so you can't gang up anywhere and the ball's always coming from different angles. It just has a lot of variety."

johnschreier@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM