Nebraska to Host UCLA For Double Header in September (Full Schedule)

The 2015 NCAA Champions and 2016 national semi-finalists from the University of Nebraska will begin their 2017 season on August 25th at the VERT Challenge. There they will play a pair of teams that advanced to the second round of last year’s NCAA tournament, Oregon and Florida. Texas, who beat Nebraska in last year’s national semi-finals, will also be at that tournament, but the two aren’t scheduled to play.

The big change to the schedule for 2017 is that Nebraska will host just one tournament, the Ameritas Players Challenge, and instead of a second tournament will welcome in UCLA for back-to-back games on September 8th and 9th. The two had a long-standing rivalry, playing 8 times from 2000-2012, but then went on a 5 year break.

Other highlights of the non-conference schedule is a matchup with former Big 12 foe Kansas State on September 15th in Omaha at the Omaha Challenge. That tournament will also include a matchup with the University of Nebraska Omaha: the teams’ first since UNO joined Division I in 2011.

In the Big Ten, teams play 7 opponents twice and 6 opponents once each season. In 2017, the Huskers’ 6 single-play opponents are Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Penn State. While they avoid a double header with the defending Big Ten Champion Gophers, they do have to face fellow Elite 8 qualifiers Wisconsin twice in their first 7 games of the season.

That opening to the season is the toughest stretch of the season for the Huskers. They start on the road against Penn State, then play Rutgers, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin again, and Purdue. That means 5 games against NCAA Tournament invitees from last season. As compared to last year, though, Nebraska will have a relatively-forgiving finish to their regular season while the national selection committee.

Nebraska will try and avoid a letdown after big graduations that includes 3 of their top 5 players in kills last season. With twins Amber Rolfzen and Kadie Rolfzen gone, along with Andie Malloy, the Huskers will turn to 6’3″ outside hitter Mikaela Foecke to pick up an even bigger load offensively than her 2.93 kills/set last season. In the spring game, senior Annika Albrecht led the team with 11 kills. Last year, she played almost exclusively in the back row, with 229 digs and a team-high 28 aces, but in early returns is coming into her own offensively as well.

Nebraska will also have to replace the best libero in the country, Justine Wong-Orantes, with Sydney Townsend and Kenzie Malloy both playing in all 3 sets in the team’s spring game.