Last time Nebraska played at home, Wednesday night, it was against the #2 team in the country and set a new attendance record in Devaney. You could see how a Saturday afternoon match against a 3-7 Wichita State team could get overlooked. After all, Nebraska begins the conference season, beginning with at #19 Illinois next. But overlooking a young Shocker team with a long standing coach would be a mistake.
Wichita State’s losses are to #4 Penn State, San Jose State, Cal Poly (receiving top 25 votes), #12 BYU, VCU, #2 Texas and #15 Creighton. Some great teams in there. They played University of Wyoming today in Omaha at 2 pm. Wichita State lost in four.
Some of their losses look like the match wasn’t competitive. They lost to Creighton in three, 15-25, 17-25, 19-25. Penn State in three 14-25, 14-25, 7-25. A young team with lots of new starters is surely going through ups and downs. I expect they have some talent that will find a way to perform over the course of the season. This many highly ranked teams in their schedule should help make them better or at least see where they need to go.
They have eight freshmen and on the team and three transfers. There are only two starters returning for head coach Chris Lamb, who is in his 20th season. They missed the NCAA tournament last year but in 2017 were the 16 seed.
I suspect Nebraska has some specific team goals that will focus them during this match, but among them will be elevating their overall play. Coach Cook commented after the Stanford match “I don’t have to keep telling them about the next level of volleyball, they just experienced it. Now it matters how they come to practice tomorrow.”
How to Watch, Listen or Stream
The match against Wichita State is Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Devaney Center. The match will be televised on NET and streamed online at BTNPlus.com or the BTN+ app (subscription required). Larry Punteney and Kathi Wieskamp will call the action. Saturday’s match can also be heard on Husker Sports Network radio affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and 105.9 FM in Omaha. A live audio stream will be provided at Huskers.com and also on the official Huskers app.
Do you know why they are called the Shockers??? Hint: similar in reason to why Nebraska is the Cornhuskers.