Nashville Notes: Best Way to Learn Lessons is with tough WINS

Nashville Notes:

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I’ve said for a few years now, the great thing about me following volleyball now, while being a former high school and college football coach, is that I don’t know nearly enough about the fine points of the sport to be an All-Star Coach from the stands or to second-guess strategies, techniques, or substitutions. It has really made it enjoyable that I just get to watch and cheer because (as I’m sure most of you know) I don’t know enough to even try and criticize what DBK “should have done” or “why didn’t she try this lineup here or this was a questionable subsection at this point in the match.”

So that is why I talk much more about the other things of volleyball and things that I can see and witness and can confirm with coaches later on, rather than strategy. IF you hear me talk about any of that, you know it is being regurgitated from another source.

Now with all of those things said, there were quite a few positives I took away from watching the #1 Huskers grab a couple of W’s in the Music City last weekend. Here are some of my takeaways from watching the Huskers vs. Kentucky on Sunday.

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*Veteran Poise: I didn’t get the great TV angle, but from my seat, I really tried to watch the end of set #2 and into set #3. What was the demeanor of Nebraska? Was there panic? Was anyone pushing a bit too hard to make a play, pointing a finger, or showing frustration? I remember especially taking a look at Bergen Reilly at one specific point, and it was almost a look of “ok, whenever you guys want to get going, it’s cool.” Point one of the match type of look. No panic anywhere, very businesslike out of timeouts. I was very impressed with that demeanor from the Corn.

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*Talent and overall experience show later. I made a tweet in the 5th that you could see the depth showing late because while UK’s stars were making plays down the stretch some of their inexperienced players were making slight errors that were costing them and Nebraska was flawless and that simply was the difference, no matter where it went on the floor everyone made a solid play and there were no mistakes in the 5th for Nebraska. They continued to put pressure on Kentucky until, eventually, an inexperienced Wildcat made a small error, and then the Huskers made them pay, and that was the difference.

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*There is BUY IN with DBK’s Culture. I had mentioned this before the season that I wondered how it would truly go if she pulled one of her famous “lineup switches” like she did often at Louisville, with a known player at Nebraska? How would that player handle it, and how would the rest of the core Huskers handle it? Well, that question was answered on Sunday when the Libero change was made after Set 2. Pulling Choboy could have gone a couple of different ways, but credit to Laney she NEVER let herself check out of that match mentally for one play and continued to do a solid job when she rotated in as DS the remainder of the match and credit to her other teammates that actually played a much higher level after the switch and it could have gone much worse. To me, this shows me they are completely on board with DBK as the HC and are bought into what she is preaching and her way of leading, or that wouldn’t have gone as well as it did. To me, this might be the most significant point of all!

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*Skylar Pierce literally is a "Minute Woman" in US Revolutionary War terms! You have to give a big high five to the Kansas native and fan favorite in Lincoln, who not only saw her first career action Friday night vs. Lipscomb, but she was called into some extended duty as she got some minutes in the 4th set as a change-up to give the Huskers a boost at OH down the stretch. Pierce stepped up in a solid role in a spot that was needed at a crucial time for the Huskers.

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Husker Weekend Stars:

I’m giving performance STARS to:

Liv Mauch: Hey, she righted the ship and was a rock in the back and as solid, not perfect, but solid in the back.

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Harper Murray: I felt like she stepped up more like a POY candidate and WANTED the ball down the stretch, and when Bergen found her, Murray did not miss at all, man, was she $ in the end of the 4th and the five closing out Kentucky.

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Skylar Pierce: Again, the way she was thrown in, later in the match with no real warm-up, and after following back-to-back. She was very good at keeping a couple of key rallies alive in her time! She also played with such a high level of confidence right away, and no doubting or questioning her belonging, she was ready for the moment, no doubt. Pierce provided a stopgap on the outside at a time when the Huskers just couldn’t find a #2 for Murray, and to come in like that is not easy, as anyone who has played athletics knows. One can only imagine at that level.

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Bekka Allick: What a start to the season Allick has had, matching if not exceeding Jackson in some areas, and how dangerous does that make Nebraska! She simply was what Kentucky didn’t have, and that was another offensive option in the middle, and she came up so big when it mattered.

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Closing Thoughts:

Nebraska is the most talented and deep team in college volleyball. If you think or thought they would stroll to the Natty A. You were more full of the Big Red Kool-Aid than the outside world claims you are already, and B. You have been woken up now.

Nebraska is the most talented and deep team in college volleyball. They took the best shot from arguably one of the best contenders in the country on a day they didn’t come out their best and figured out a way to win. That is the sign of a championship squad. All positives that coaches secretly love early in the season, like this, because they have all season to remind teams of this whenever an “Ego Meter” might start running on high or they have a sluggish day of practice, etc. AND they still WON:)

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They showed the depth out of necessity.

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DBK is learning how individual members handle adversity early, early on. If you remember one of her first pressers (might have been BTN Media Days??), she said something to the effect of “I really don’t know them yet and what I have. That is what I need to find out early so we can work on those things by December.” Well, she got a great lesson on Sunday, so now they have “film to work” from.

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Even with the veteran Jrs/Srs, you are still mixing in new pieces. Talented as everyone may be, it’s going to take time to be the Huskers of December. The point is they have a big start over everyone else in the NCAA and do have more depth and more talent in the end, so those are both big pluses.

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Great weekend in Music City, and as always, Big Red Nation was amazing and in FULL FORCE!!

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