<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1q4Omd_0vlksn9O00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1q4Omd_0vlksn9O00" width="1210" height="806" ></figure><h2>#2 Nebraska (10-1) vs UCLA (6-3)</h2><h2>When: Friday, September 27th 2024, 7:00 pm (CT)</h2><h2>Where: Bob Deveney Center, Lincoln, NE</h2><h2>Watch: BTN</h2><h2>Radio: Husker Radio Network</h2><h2>Live stats</h2>Nebraska and UCLA have played 18 times over the course of 45 years. The first meeting was in 1979. Nebraska lost the first meeting but won the last meeting which was in 2019. This is the first time these two teams will play as Big Ten opponents. Well, that is exciting.UCLA has a rich volleyball history. They have won four NCAA championships and produced numerous Olympians (13) since their women’s program began in 1965. Nebraska began its’ volleyball program ten years later in 1975 and has won five national championships. Volleyball became an NCAA sport in 1981. Prior to that women’s volleyball was part of the Associate for the Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. UCLA won three national championship under this organization in 1972, 74 and 75. UCLA Volleyball Olympians include (not a complete list): Karsta Lowe - 2016 Indoor volleyball Rio Olympics - bronze medalHolly McPeak - Beach volleyball now a TV commentator - bronze medalElaine Youngs - Beach volleyball - bronze medalLiz Masakayan - Indoor and BeachUCLA most recently won the NCAA championship in 2011 when they beat Illinois in the finals. They also beat the four time defending champions that year, Penn State. This was really their last great team; the next 13 years up until now have been mediocre, by their historical standards, anyway. There have been some deeper runs in the NCAA tournament but no more trips to the final four.Last season they were 6th in the Pac-12 with a 10-10 record. They missed the NCAA tournament and were dubbed one of last teams on the outside looking in. There are seven new players on the Bruins roster, three are transfers and four are freshmen. In this 2024 season the Bruins were picked to finish 8th in the Big Ten and currently have a 6-3 record with a notable win over #13 Georgia Tech and losses to #20 Tennessee and #22 TCU. UCLA plays a lot of different line ups so it is challenging to know who will start and what they will try to do against Nebraska. We know they are well coached by Alfee Reft. He is in his second season as the head coach of the Bruins. He is also an assistant coach with the US Women’s National Team. He earned a silver medal at the Paris Olympics. Prior to arriving at UCLA Reft was the associate head coach at San Diego. He was part of the same team as Leyla Blackwell which made it to the National Semifinal of the NCAA tournament.What we know for sure is that they will play Anna Dodson, 6’5’’ graduate student, in the middle. She averages 2.08 kills per set and 1.11 blocks per set. She trained with USA Volleyball this summer and was an honorable mention All American in 2023. She will earn her kills and Nebraska middles will key in on her.The Bruins have two quality outside hitters, freshman Kiki Horne and junior Cheridyn Leverette. They average 3.04 and 4.07 kills per set respectively. UCLA also has a familiar name to Merritt Beason on their roster, Sofia Victoria. Victoria played for Florida from 2020-23. She and Beason were teammates there. Victoria is a dynamic outside hitter but is yet to show up on the UCLA stat sheet. I will be scanning the UCLA bench to see if I can spot her.Grayce Olson is a 6’4’’ opposite hitter. She is hitting .313. for the season so similar to Beason for Nebraska, she opens up the UCLA offense and is a fast option just three feet behind the setter. She earns about 2.48 kills per set so Nebraska’s blockers are prepared for her and keyed in on her movements.Nebraska’s preparation for UCLA is largely inward focused both because that is where the growth will happen and also because it is very hard to determine who UCLA will put on the court from match to match.While Nebraska was impressive and playing at a high level against both Stanford and Louisville in their most recent matches, Coach Cook is focused on improvement. When he was asked about “peaking too early” he talked getting better every day. At first this answer seems to answer a different question, but upon deeper thought, if a team continues to get better each day then they haven’t reached a peak. Moving forward and up mean the peak is higher, there is more mountain to climb. Unlike an actual mountain, where we know the elevation, we have no idea how high a team can climb in their individual and team ability.The Huskers were specifically proud of the low reception errors against Stanford and Louisville; two and zero. The better Nebraska’s serve receive passers do, the harder and more aggressively opposing servers must serve to earn aces. This means they will also make errors hitting long, or into the net. Nebraska’s offense also spread almost evenly between the five attackers. Bergen Reilly sets each hitter as if she is balancing the books before the IRS walks through the door. She is highly accurate in her even set distribution. There is one exception, Rebekah Allick. The connection appears to be okay, Allick earns on average 1.83 kills per set and hits for a .396 hitting percentage. These numbers do not describe a problem. She does not, however, get set as often as Andi Jackson, the other starting middle, and it’s tough to know why.Against Louisville, coaches wore microphones and during a timeout, Cardinals associate coach, Dan Meske, talked about #5 Allick not being an offensive threat. If the opposing team notices a lack of offensive production midmatch, it is something to work on and change. It is not something that changes through a week of practice. This change will take several weeks and repetitions. Look for Allick to be set more in this match but not dramatically more. Reilly knows she isn’t setting Allick as much. She will work to change it, but over time.Nebraska’s challenge is to play at the high level they achieved last week and to continue to climb up to an unknown height, to this theoretical peak.<h2>#2 Nebraska (10-1)</h2>#2 Bergen Reilly 6’1” SO Setter#5 Rebekah Allick 6’4” JR MB#6 Laney Choboy 5’3” SO DS/L#7 Maisie Boesiger 5’6” JR DS/L#8 Lexi Rodriguez 5’5” SR DS/L#9 Kennedi Orr 6’0” SR Setter#10 Olivia Mauch 5’6” FR DS/L#11 Leyla Blackwell 6’4” SR MB#12 Taylor Landfair 6’5” SR OH#13 Merritt Beason 6’4” SR OH#15 Andi Jackson 6’3” SO MB#21 Skyler Pierce 6’2” FR OH#22 Lindsay Krause 6’4” SR OH#27 Harper Murray 6’2” SO OH<h2>UCLA (6-3)</h2>0 Joy Umeh 5’8’’ OPP GR2 Anna Dodson 6’5’’ MB GR3 Kate Duffey 6’0’’ S FR4 Brooklyn Driscoe 6’4’’ MB R/FR5 Katie McCarthy 5’6’’ DS R/JR6 Peyton Dueck 5’7’’ DS SR7 Sofia Victoria 6’1’’ OH GR8 Leilani Dodson 6’1’’ MB GR9 Cheridyn Leverette 6’0’’ OH JR10 Sydney Breon 5’10’’ DS SO11 Audrey Pak 5’11’’ S GR12 Grayce Olson 6’4’’ OPP JR14 Kiki Horne 6’2’’ OH JR15 Kate Reilly 5’9’’ DS GR16 Ashley Mullen 5’11’’ S SO19 Anastasija Ivkovic 6’3’’ OPP FR22 Kat Lutz 5’4’’ DS SO24 Zoe Humphrey 6’2’’ MB FR25 Carly Hendrickson 6’2’’ OH JR</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Volleyball: Nebraska vs. UCLA Preview

#2 Nebraska (10-1) vs UCLA (6-3) When: Friday, September 27th 2024, 7:00 pm (CT) Nebraska and UCLA have played 18 times over the course of 45 years. The first meeting was in 1979. Nebraska lost the first meeting but won the last meeting which was in 2019. This is the first time these two teams will play as Big Ten opponents. Well, that is exciting.