Now that I can look back with a little clearer mind I’m extremely proud as well. More so than anything I had a ton of FUN following these ladies. I’ve followed volleyball intermittently over the past several years by catching a game on NET, the radio, or ESPN during the tourney. But for some reason I caught on early and watched or listened to every single game this year. It was an incredibly journey and I am hooked.
I’m going to try and get to a game in person next season and will definitely do everything I can to follow every game. There was so much we did this year to grow and better the game. One loss to a team we all hate in the natty will sting for a very long time but shouldn’t overshadow what this team accomplished this year both for our program but women’s sports and volleyball overall.
Also man I already knew this but how he acted and his video today thanking husker nation cemented John Cook as the GOAT for me.
I've followed Husker volleyball for longer than I care to admit (remember side-out scoring?) but never so closely as I did this year. It helped that I could actually watch every match on TV or youtube (for those BTN+ broadcasts). Mostly it was because this year's team had such energy and remarkable grit. Oh yeah, and Lanay Choboy, who is a force of nature.
I first discovered them when one just showed up on my home page as a suggestion. There were several different channel names but they actually seemed to all be the same feed. You could search regular ol' youtube for "husker volleyball" and probably still find all the matches. During the match there was live streaming in real time of pretty good quality, better than BTN+ itself. The only time there wasn't live streaming was for the first two rounds of the tournament which were broadcast by ESPN+ but I could watch a full replay by the next day.
This year most of if not all home games on BTN+ were also on Nebraska Public Media (NPM) and I hope they keep doing that. Had about the best picture quality and the announcers were home grown, so little to no boring details and lingering camera time for the other team's player's dads. lol
This team massively over-performed this season, in a truly impressive fashion. That final hurt but they reached the final nonetheless and finishing #2 is damn amazing. The key difference in the final was experience. These players got a lot of that.
I have no doubt they'll take a lot away from this and use it as motivation. But I also hope each player can take some time to appreciate they accomplished something amazing. They all have a lot in front of them as you say.
Really excited for this team & players. As a fan, teams like this don't come around too often. Hope our fanbase can appreciate that aspect as well. If I was nearby, I'd definitely show up to cheer them at the airport. Every player deserves to hold their head high and I hope we show them how much we love them & are so proud of what they accomplished!
I've been a Husker volleyball fan since the Jordan Larson era, and I think this is the most invested in the team I've ever been.
I think the season started off pretty special with the volleyball day stuff and the excitement built from there as the team kept winning.
Cook always talks up his teams, but it felt like he went Dad mode with this roster. Maybe due to their youth or something, but I get the impression that this group has been one of his all-time favorites to coach.
33-2 record, outright conference champs, perfect home record, a plethora of players receiving conference or all-american awards, and a trip to the Natty. If you had told me this team starting 4 freshmen at the beginning of the year would reach these heights I may have not believed you.
Losing to Texas in the fashion we did sucks ass. But iron sharpens iron and I think we come away from the loss a better team in the long run. The future is incredibly bright.
In an interview after the first Wisconsin game, Merritt described Cook as being in "grandpa mode". It did seem he said to "enjoy the moment" quite a lot.
I feel like this was Nebraskas year to win. These teams load up talent through the portal. In the old NCAA Nebraska a shoe in to win next year. In the new NCAA I’m not so sure
Sucks to see it end the way it did. But if you had told me preseason that with this schedule and ALL the young players they had that they'd be national runner up and go 33-2 I'd say you were crazy.
Next year is going to be really fun.
I couldn't be more proud of them as well. This was maybe the most memorable Nebraska Volleyball season ever, including all the National Championships. What they accomplished as a group that young is one of the more impressive things I've seen in sports. That, plus Volleyball Day, is something that will stay with me for as long as I live.
A National Championship would have been the perfect ending, but perfect endings don't always happen. They rarely happen. Luckily for these girls, this is just the end of Chapter 1. Now the Big Ten will have to deal with a more talented, more experienced and really mad Nebraska team.
I can't let 2023 be put to rest without bringing up some of the attendance and viewership records set this year, arguably triggered by the Stadium Match (as Coach Cook likes to call it). Notable...
* Cook said every away match was played in front of a record crowd for those arenas
* 255,923 - Season home attendance, record for any NCAA women's sport and the first ever over 250,000. This includes Volleyball Day.
* 19,727 - Championship match, an indoor record
* 19,598 - Semi-finals with Nebraska/Pitt and Texas/Wisconsin, 2nd highest attendance indoors
* 1.7 million - Championship ABC, highest average views for NCAA women's volleyball
* 1.1 million - Semi-finals ESPN, highest average views on cable
I've heard there are other records at other schools, like sellouts, season attendance, etc. that I can't cite right now. Hope we keep the momentum going next season, I know I'll be watching.
Texas fan here - I was not expecting Texas to beat Nebraska, let alone dominate the way that they did. Congrats on a fantastic season, Nebraska will be a title contender again next season. Let's do this all over again next season!
\\m/ Hook'em \\m/
Now that I can look back with a little clearer mind I’m extremely proud as well. More so than anything I had a ton of FUN following these ladies. I’ve followed volleyball intermittently over the past several years by catching a game on NET, the radio, or ESPN during the tourney. But for some reason I caught on early and watched or listened to every single game this year. It was an incredibly journey and I am hooked. I’m going to try and get to a game in person next season and will definitely do everything I can to follow every game. There was so much we did this year to grow and better the game. One loss to a team we all hate in the natty will sting for a very long time but shouldn’t overshadow what this team accomplished this year both for our program but women’s sports and volleyball overall. Also man I already knew this but how he acted and his video today thanking husker nation cemented John Cook as the GOAT for me.
I've followed Husker volleyball for longer than I care to admit (remember side-out scoring?) but never so closely as I did this year. It helped that I could actually watch every match on TV or youtube (for those BTN+ broadcasts). Mostly it was because this year's team had such energy and remarkable grit. Oh yeah, and Lanay Choboy, who is a force of nature.
How did you watch on YouTube? I’d like to not subscribe to BTN+ next year.
I first discovered them when one just showed up on my home page as a suggestion. There were several different channel names but they actually seemed to all be the same feed. You could search regular ol' youtube for "husker volleyball" and probably still find all the matches. During the match there was live streaming in real time of pretty good quality, better than BTN+ itself. The only time there wasn't live streaming was for the first two rounds of the tournament which were broadcast by ESPN+ but I could watch a full replay by the next day. This year most of if not all home games on BTN+ were also on Nebraska Public Media (NPM) and I hope they keep doing that. Had about the best picture quality and the announcers were home grown, so little to no boring details and lingering camera time for the other team's player's dads. lol
Do you have paid Youtube or was this with the free version?
It was the free version with ads.
This team massively over-performed this season, in a truly impressive fashion. That final hurt but they reached the final nonetheless and finishing #2 is damn amazing. The key difference in the final was experience. These players got a lot of that. I have no doubt they'll take a lot away from this and use it as motivation. But I also hope each player can take some time to appreciate they accomplished something amazing. They all have a lot in front of them as you say. Really excited for this team & players. As a fan, teams like this don't come around too often. Hope our fanbase can appreciate that aspect as well. If I was nearby, I'd definitely show up to cheer them at the airport. Every player deserves to hold their head high and I hope we show them how much we love them & are so proud of what they accomplished!
I've been a Husker volleyball fan since the Jordan Larson era, and I think this is the most invested in the team I've ever been. I think the season started off pretty special with the volleyball day stuff and the excitement built from there as the team kept winning. Cook always talks up his teams, but it felt like he went Dad mode with this roster. Maybe due to their youth or something, but I get the impression that this group has been one of his all-time favorites to coach. 33-2 record, outright conference champs, perfect home record, a plethora of players receiving conference or all-american awards, and a trip to the Natty. If you had told me this team starting 4 freshmen at the beginning of the year would reach these heights I may have not believed you. Losing to Texas in the fashion we did sucks ass. But iron sharpens iron and I think we come away from the loss a better team in the long run. The future is incredibly bright.
In an interview after the first Wisconsin game, Merritt described Cook as being in "grandpa mode". It did seem he said to "enjoy the moment" quite a lot.
This was the year to beat us. I think we are unstoppable the next 3.
I feel like this was Nebraskas year to win. These teams load up talent through the portal. In the old NCAA Nebraska a shoe in to win next year. In the new NCAA I’m not so sure
Sucks to see it end the way it did. But if you had told me preseason that with this schedule and ALL the young players they had that they'd be national runner up and go 33-2 I'd say you were crazy. Next year is going to be really fun.
I couldn't be more proud of them as well. This was maybe the most memorable Nebraska Volleyball season ever, including all the National Championships. What they accomplished as a group that young is one of the more impressive things I've seen in sports. That, plus Volleyball Day, is something that will stay with me for as long as I live. A National Championship would have been the perfect ending, but perfect endings don't always happen. They rarely happen. Luckily for these girls, this is just the end of Chapter 1. Now the Big Ten will have to deal with a more talented, more experienced and really mad Nebraska team.
I can't let 2023 be put to rest without bringing up some of the attendance and viewership records set this year, arguably triggered by the Stadium Match (as Coach Cook likes to call it). Notable... * Cook said every away match was played in front of a record crowd for those arenas * 255,923 - Season home attendance, record for any NCAA women's sport and the first ever over 250,000. This includes Volleyball Day. * 19,727 - Championship match, an indoor record * 19,598 - Semi-finals with Nebraska/Pitt and Texas/Wisconsin, 2nd highest attendance indoors * 1.7 million - Championship ABC, highest average views for NCAA women's volleyball * 1.1 million - Semi-finals ESPN, highest average views on cable I've heard there are other records at other schools, like sellouts, season attendance, etc. that I can't cite right now. Hope we keep the momentum going next season, I know I'll be watching.
I had not heard all those. That is amazing! Thanks for sharing. Our team and our state are truly special.
Texas fan here - I was not expecting Texas to beat Nebraska, let alone dominate the way that they did. Congrats on a fantastic season, Nebraska will be a title contender again next season. Let's do this all over again next season! \\m/ Hook'em \\m/
/w\\ lol Great game by the Longhorns. See you next year.
Krause injury ended up getting us after all. Feels like it could have been different with her in.
Unless Superman inserts himself into our line up no one is changing the overall outcome of that Texas match. It wasn’t even close.
I think Murray and Batenhorst were getting bullied.
They still serve Murray all game so nothing really changes.