Volleyball: #6 Nebraska Travels to #16 Stanford

#6 Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-1) vs #16 Stanford (4-2)
When: Tuesday, September 14, 2021, 7:00 pm (CT)
Where: Maples Pavillion in Stanford, CA
Video: Pac 12 Network
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network - Lincoln (B107.3 FM); Omaha (AM 590); Huskers.com; Huskers App

University of Nebraska (6-1)

#1 Nicklin Hames 5’10’’ SR Setter
#2 Kenzie Knuckles 5’8’’ JR DS
#3 Kayla Caffey 6’0’’ SR MB
#4 Anni Evans 5’9’’ SO Setter
#6 Keonilei Akana 5’9’’ SO DS
#7 Rylee Gray 6’4’’ FR MB
#8 Lexi Rodriguez 5’5’’ FR Libero
#9 Kennedi Orr 6’0’’ FR Setter
#10 Madi Kubik 6’3’’ JR OH
#11 Lexi Sun 6’2’’ SR OH
#13 Whitney Lauenstein 6’2’’ FR OH
#14 Ally Batenhorst 6’4’’ FR OH
#20 Kalynn Meyer 6’3’’ SO MB
#22 Lindsay Krause 6’4’’ FR OH
#25 Callie Schwarzenbach 6’5’’ SR MB
#26 Lauren Stivrins 6’4’’ SR MB

Stanford (4-2)

#22 Caitie Baird
#10 Kendall Kipp
#14 McKenna Vicini
#16 Natalie Berty
#3 Holly Campbell
#2 Kami Miner
#9 Elena Oglivie

This is the last non-conference match Nebraska plays until the NCAA tournament. #16 Stanford sits at 4-2 after a tough schedule, thus far, with wins are over Villanova, Temple, #14 Florida and #20 Penn State. Their two losses are to #1 Texas and #11 Minnesota.

They are starting a freshman setter, #2 6’0’’ Kami Miner. She was the starting setter and team captain for the U.S. at the 2021 FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship, and the fourth ranked recruit according to PrepVolleyball. While she is wildly talented, starting a freshman setter in college is always going to mean there is a learning curve for the entire team.

Stanford was unable to compete last season due to COVID protocols. They finished with a 2-8 record overall. Not only did they not compete as much as some teams, but they were also not able to practice very much. This team is still figuring themselves out.

You might remember their head coach Kevin Hambly. He was the head coach at Illinois until the Stanford job opened up in 2017, making this his fifth year at Stanford. He has been very successful there so far both on the court and in recruiting.

Nebraska is coming off the 5-set loss to Utah. The match up with Stanford will challenge the Huskers in similar ways to Utah: A big block and strong outside hitters. The match up with Stanford will pose a few new challenges the Huskers haven’t faced much of yet: Powerful offensive middles and tough serving.

This is a toughening experience for the young and old players, especially coming off the loss. They will win in California, but go through a roller coaster to get there.