John Cook a little surprised with Nebraska’s No. 1 preseason ranking

Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook is in the grind of preseason practice, including two-a-day workouts.

So front and center for him — more than a No. 1 preseason national ranking — is getting new players ready to go quickly.

Cook says he was a little surprised when the Huskers got the No. 1 ranking in the AVCA poll on Monday.

“Everybody says we return everybody,” Cook said on Tuesday during the Nebraska volleyball radio show. “Let’s see, we’re replacing two middles, we’re replacing setter, we lost (Keonilei Akana at defensive specialist). One-third of our team is brand new.”

Texas is No. 2 in the poll, and defending champion Wisconsin is No. 3.

Nebraska’s new players are transfer Kaitlyn Hord and freshmen Bekka Allick, Maggie Mendelson, Hayden Kubik and Maisie Boesiger.

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While four-year starting setter Nicklin Hames returns, Kennedi Orr may take over at setter and Hames move to defensive specialist.

Cook said you could make the case for several teams at the top, including Wisconsin, Texas and Louisville.

“There are so many good teams, and nobody is going to roll through this thing,” he said.

Cook is focused on building a strong team.

“We’re just trying to get better every day and figure out what our best lineup is so we can try to win the Big Ten and peak in December,” he said.

Cook said a friend joked with him, asking how Team Waverly is doing. The Huskers are up to three Waverly grads with right-side hitter Whitney Lauenstein, backup setter Anni Evans and Allick.

“Waverly has got it going,” Cook said of the town of about 4,000 residents just outside of Lincoln.

Lauenstein played some as a freshman at right-side hitter, and had a good offseason.

“All summer I’m like, ‘Boy, that girl is on a mission,’” Cook said. “She’s very determined. She’s worked really hard. She’s gained a lot of respect from our team.”

Lauenstein will probably always have some lots of competition to play at outside hitter or right-side hitter, but Cook sees a lot of potential, especially with her hitting.

“We just got to unleash it,” he said. “I’ve talked about some other (players) like Christina Houghtelling. Her freshman year she was a middle and barely played, and two years later she’s the national player of the year. We were able to get that out of her. (Lauenstein’s) job is to work hard and be coachable, and our job is to teach her and coach her up.”

Looking back at the last five seasons of Nebraska volleyball 2021

2021

Record: 26-8

AVCA All-Americans: First team: Lexi Rodriguez. Second team: Kayla Caffey. Third team: Madi Kubik. Honorable mention: Nicklin Hames.

Notables: Season ended with loss to Wisconsin in the national championship.

EILEEN T. MESLAR, THE WORLD-HERALD 2020-21

2020-21

Record: 16-3

AVCA All-Americans: First team: Lauren Stivrins. Second team: Nicklin Hames. Third team: Lexi Sun. Honorable mention: Madi Kubik.

Notables: Season ended with loss to Texas in the regional final of the NCAA tournament, ranked No. 6 in nation at end of season, regular season was played in the spring and featured only Big Ten opponents due to COVID-19

ANNA REED, THE WORLD-HERALD 2019

2019

Record: 28-5

AVCA All-Americans: Second team: Lauren Stivrins. Third team: Lexi Sun. Honorable mention: Nicklin Hames, Madi Kubik.

Notables: Season ended with loss to Wisconsin in the regional final of the NCAA tournament, ranked No. 5 in the nation at end of the season

LINCOLN ARNEAL, THE WORLD-HERALD 2018

2018

Record: 29-7

AVCA All-Americans: First team: Mikaela Foecke, Lauren Stivrins. Third team: Kenzie Maloney. Honorable mention: Nicklin Hames.

Notables: Fell to Stanford in the NCAA tournament championship, ranked No. 2 in nation at end of the season 

RYAN SODERLIN, THE WORLD-HERALD 2017

2017

Record: 32-4

AVCA All-Americans: First team: Kelly Hunter. Second team: Annika Albrecht, Mikaela Foecke. Honorable mention: Briana Holman.

Notables: Won program’s fifth NCAA title, ranked No. 1 in the nation at end of the season, tied for the Big Ten regular season title 

MATT DIXON, THE WORLD-HERALD

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