The Battle of Nebraska Returns Tuesday Night in Omaha

Nebraska volleyball hosted #22 Utah and Grand Canyon at the Husker Invitational this last weekend for a couple of matches that helped the Huskers i...

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Nebraska volleyball hosted #22 Utah and Grand Canyon at the Husker Invitational this last weekend for a couple of matches that helped the Huskers in different ways. This was the last non-conference showcase of the season.

#22 Utah pushed the Huskers on Friday night as they came out hot in the 1st set and made the Huskers claw back into the match to win it in 4. This didn’t faze a tough-minded Husker squad though because they just had a total reset after the 1st to get back into their game.

On Saturday

night, Grand Canyon payed a visit to the Bob and the Huskers had a little bit of a different look than they usually do. It was really cool to see DBK play, basically, a whole different lineup. This is something John Cook didn’t do that much. He usually always started with the regular lineup.

Saturday’s lineup changes included Campbell Flynn starting at setter, Olivia Mauch at libero, Teraya Sigler at outside, in the front row this time, Manaia Ogbechie at middle, and Maisie Boesiger in the back row for Skyler Pierce. Virginia Adriano also got the nod at opposite. Harper Murray, Taylor Landfair, and Andi Jackson had the night off.

A Look at Creighton

2024 season: 32-3 (18-0 in the Big East)
2024 Ranked Wins: #6 Purdue, #10 Kansas, #13 Texas, #20 USC
2024 NCAA Tournament Run: Lost in Regional Final to Penn State

Creighton has had quite the schedule so far this season and the losses they suffered on their roster have been showing in these matches. The Bluejays lost started like Kendra Wait and Norah Sis after last season. These two were game changers in their offense.

Creighton did participate in the AVCA First Serve Showcase, along with the Huskers, but only played 1 match. They got dealt one of the toughest matchups and it was also a rematch from the regional final last year as the played Penn State and got swept.

They, then, traveled to Madison, Wisconsin for the Opening Spike Classic and played yet another top 5 team in the Texas Longhorns. They got swept once again and only hit .118% for the match, but held Texas to hitting .185% too.

They were finally able to get their first win of the season against #14 Kansas in this showcase on August 31st. Ava Martin was their leader in kills as she had 17 for the match.

Other wins for the Bluejays, as of 9/14, include San Diego (3-1), UC Santa Barbara (3-2), and Rice (3-0).

As mentioned above the Bluejays lost a good amount of fire power after last season, but they did return SR OH Ava Martin who has been the go-to girl for Creighton, so far, this season. She has 119 kills and is hitting .223% this season.

SR MB Kiara Reinhardt has also been, part of, the heartbeat of the Bluejay offense as well. Reinhardt and Martin have been a very good, and very dangerous, dynamic duo this season at the net. When they need a kill in crunch time, it’s going to one of these two. Reinhardt is hitting .451% and also has 27 blocks, with 4 of these being solo, this season.

Sophomore Jaya Johnson and Junior Eloise Brandewie are their other key pieces to the offense. Both Johnson and Brandewie have over 50 kills this season and over 1.50 kills per set. Johnson is hitting .173%, as an OPP/MB,and Brandewie is hitting .315%, as a MB.

While both of these girls have pretty good offensive numbers, they are both leading the Bluejays on defense as well. Brandewie is leading the team with 32 blocks and Johnson is right behind her with 30. These two are the key to their defense and will be tough to get balls around at the net.

Sophomore DS/L Saige Damrow is the final key player to be highlighted for the Bluejays. A transfer from Wisconsin, Damrow came to Creighton to be able to start and be a top notch player at a top program. That is what she has been so far this season.

Damrow is averaging 4.33 digs a set this year compared to Nebraska’s starting libero, Laney Choboy, with 3.15 digs per set. Damrow’s numbers do sit higher right now as she has played 3 more sets than Choboy and has also had the libero jersey all season while Choboy has had it taken away in the Kentucky and Utah matches.

As of Monday, 9/15, after another weekend sweep, the Huskers are leading the nation in Opponent Hit % as they are currently holding teams to .100% through 8 matches so far this season.

While Creighton may be a better hitting team and could affect this some it is still really cool to see this after playing teams like Pitt, Stanford, and Kentucky.

Tuesday’s match will begin at 6:30pm at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, NE. The match will be televised on FS1 or you can listen on Husker Sports Radio.