Volleyball looks sharp against Iowa in a Saturday Sweep

600 wins for Coach John Cook. Congratulations Coach! Nebraska beat Iowa in three sets, 25-14, 25-20, 25-12.

There are some names that I haven’t written about all season, but tonight they were great. Let’s talk all about Jazz Sweet and Callie Schwarzenbach. Jazz hit .733 with 12 kills. She had 3 blocks and while the official stats missed it, I counted 2 digs! She was dynamic, quick and reliable on the right side pin for Nebraska tonight.

Schwarzenbach hit .667 with 4 kills and 5 blocks. Hames was clearly pushing the ball to Sweet and Schwarzenbach to get them going. Every hitter for Nebraska had almost the same amount of attempts (Sun- 19, Kubik-15, Stivrins-13, Sweet- 15, Schwarzenbach- 5). That is the definition of a balanced offense.

After the match Sweet talked about how she feels comfortable in her role on the team and that this is what they train everyday in practice. I think it is pretty clear that, as fans, we saw something different tonight but the coach staff and team keep saying that this happens in practice everyday. They see the play that Sweet and Schwarzenbach are capable of, and it is only a matter of translating it to a match.

Coach Cook talked about the outside hitters for Nebraska. He confirmed that Riley Zuhn is out for the remainder of the year with a broken bone in her foot. He said Zuhn and Jazz competed hard on Monday during practice and that this hard competition is what drove Sweet’s performance tonight and could mean good things for the rest of the season for her, “I want Jazz to write a great chapter this year for her career.”

Coach isn’t worried about the depth at outside hitter. With Zuhn out Nebraska has three outside hitters, Sun, Kubik and Sweet. Coach said Knuckles and Akana can hit outside but really “we’ve won national championship with just three hitters.”

I hear you, I know you are sitting there saying something about how Iowa wasn’t much of an opponent for this Nebraska team. Nebraska is more talented and experienced. This weekend wasn’t about the team on the other side of the net. This weekend was about Nebraska could do on their side of the net. They needed to see if they could control what they can control. Yes, they can.

Next up: Nebraska travels to Ann Arbor to play U of Michigan Thursday and Friday. Both matches are scheduled for BTN.