Five reasons to watch Nebraska on VBTV this week

The eighth week of action in the Big Ten women’s volleyball conference will start on Wednesday and, over the next few days, VBTV will offer its subscribers around the world a unique opportunity to watch the top team in the country, Nebraska, in action not once, but twice.

The Cornhuskers will play Northwestern on Wednesday, at 19:00 local time (01:00 Thursday, GMT), and Illinois on Sunday, at 14:00 local time (20:00 GMT), and both encounters will be streamed live for subscribers around the world.

• Watch the Big Ten Volleyball matches live on VBTV.

Here are five reasons why you shouldn’t pass on the opportunity to watch Nebraska this week:

They’re the best team in the country

By any measure, the Cornhuskers have to be considered the best team in not only the Big Ten conference, but the entire National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) system this season. Nebraska are the only undefeated program in the entire country at this point of the season and have been in first place in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll since October 23, when they defeated reigning Big Ten champions Wisconsin in a five-set thriller.

They’re on pace to make history

Undefeated in their first 23 matches of the season, the Cornhuskers could have the best season in program history if they continue at this pace. They have 14 wins in conference play and, if they manage to win the remaining six matches, would complete their conference schedule with a perfect record of 20 wins for the first time since they joined the Big Ten, in 2011. Also, with six more Big Ten matches to play and potentially another six in the National Championship, Nebraska could end the season with 35 victories and no losses for the first time in program history.

Merritt Beason is on fire

One of the new faces for Nebraska this season, junior opposite Merritt Beason has been in great form, especially in the last few weeks. She settled in the team very smoothly after arriving as a transfer from Florida University and is coming from a 58-point week, in which she led the Cornhuskers to wins over Penn State and Rutgers and earned her fourth Big Ten Player of the Week award. Just two weeks ago, Beason also was awarded the AVCA/GameChanger National Player of the Week, becoming the first Nebraska player to be named since 2017. She's considered the frontrunner to collect the Big Ten Player of the Year award at the end of the season.

They have amazing young talent

Nebraska have developed several players who found great success at the international level, such as Olympic champions Jordan Larson, Kelsey Cook and Justine Wong-Orantes and Canadian beach volleyball world champion Sarah Pavan, and the trend looks set to continue with this squad. The Cornhuskers have in their roster six players who helped the United States win bronze at the 2021 U18 FIVB Girls’ World Championship – setter Bergen Reilly, opposite Caroline Jurevicius, outside hitter Harper Murray, middle blockers Rebekah Allick and Maggie Mendelson and libero Laney Choboy – and who should appear in the senior national team in a few years from now.

They play in packed stadiums

Nebraska made the international headlines in August, when a non-conference match against Omaha drew a crowd of 92,003 to Memorial Stadium, setting a new world attendance record for women’s sports events, but the Cornhuskers have long been used to playing in packed stadiums. The program has led the NCAA in attendance in the last nine years and entered the season with more than 300 consecutive sellouts when playing at home. In the current campaign, Nebraska not only set a new attendance to their stadium, Bob Devaney Sports Center, drawing 9,198, but also saw some of their opponents, such as Indiana, Michigan State and Rutgers, do the same when they were in town.

Quick links:
Big Ten Volleyball
VBTV
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter