Heading into the 2017 season, there were a lot of unknowns for John Cook's Nebraska women's volleyball team.

After yet another national semifinal appearance, the Huskers graduated a trio of All-Americans in Kadie and Amber Rolfzen and libero Justine Wong-Orantes, as well as their starting outside hitter Andie Malloy. In the offseason, both of Cook's assistant coaches left for head coaching jobs with other Division I programs, and he was tasked with hiring a whole new staff. Five freshmen joined the team, and former Husker basketball player Allie Havers was also added to the roster.

Cook's fellow DI coaches had enough faith in the Huskers to rank them fifth in the AVCA preseason poll, but in the very first weekend of competition Nebraska lost to Oregon and Florida at the Vert Challenge, marking only the third time in program history that the Huskers started the season 0-2.


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In the next poll, the Huskers came in at No. 12.

Fast forward nine weeks, and today Nebraska is tied with Penn State for the top spot in the Big Ten with only one league loss (to Wisconsin on October 11) and the NCAA women's volleyball committee placed it second in a top-10 ranking released on October 29.

The Huskers have come a long way, but looking back on it, Cook was never too concerned.

"[In those matches versus Oregon and Florida], we were missing Kelly Hunter," Cook said. "We were missing her for the first few weeks, so we were playing a lot of new people, a lot of new positions, had three freshmen out there. It's a tough tournament to go to without your starting setter."

In addition to having Hunter back in the lineup, a few other factors have propelled the Huskers onward and upwards.

1. An on-point team mantra.

With six new players and two new coaches, Cook knew the team needed to gel, and they need to do it quickly. So over the summer, when the coaching staff is limited on how much they can interact with the players, he had the team work with sports psychologist Dr. Brett Haskell.

Haskell helped the team come up with its mantra: "With each other, for each other."

"I think is one of the coolest things I've seen as a coach, that a team would come up with that in the summer before we started the season," Cook said. "I think it's pretty powerful for us."

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2. Wins in key matches.

Nebraska entered the Big Ten season with three losses (the two from the Vert Challenge, and one to Northern Iowa at the Omaha Challenge), and it steeled itself to take on three of the top teams in the conference in the first two weeks of league play.

First, the Huskers took down Penn State, beating the Nittany Lions in straight sets at their home in Rec Hall. Then, a week later, Nebraska toppled Minnesota, holding the Gophers to a season-low .183 hitting percentage. The next day, it was Wisconsin that the Huskers devoured in a back-and-forth five-setter.

It was the first time a Nebraska team had ever beaten three top-10 opponents in a span of nine days.

"When you're really proud of something, it's hard not to get emotional," Cook said to the team in the locker room after the Wisconsin match as he fought back tears. "[All] I gotta says is it's 'with each other, for each other,' because that's what it was about."

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3. A consistent lineup.

Five Huskers have played every one of Nebraska's 77 sets so far this season. Setter Kelly Hunter missed the first four matches of the season with an undisclosed injury, but since returning has played every set, and middle blocker Briana Holman missed one match (Rutgers on September 23) due to an ankle injury.

With just six starters, a libero, and one defensive sub, the eight Huskers who see the court have had plenty of time to build their chemistry.

One key change that has made that eight-player core a reality is junior outside hitter Mikaela Foecke playing all six rotations for the first time in her collegiate career.


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"When you have six-rotation outside hitters, you have a group of people that is out there fighting together, instead of so many in and outs, in and outs," Cook said. "You've got a core group that is leading your team and fighting together, and so it's probably pretty appropriate for our 'with each other, for each other,' because we have a core group that is out there for all the points."

4. Continued focus. 

Nebraska's Friday-night match versus Purdue is the Huskers' final regular-season meeting with a ranked opponent. As it stands, if both Penn State and Nebraska win out, the Huskers would win the conference title thanks to their head-to-head victory over the Nittany Lions in the two teams' sole meeting this season.

From the outside, it might be easy to think that Nebraska shift into cruise control: They're well positioned to earn the Big Ten title and a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament.

But Cook refuses to look at it that way.

"I don't even know who we're playing next week," he said. "We've got Purdue and Indiana this weekend, and all we're focused on is trying to find a way to get two wins."

To do that, Nebraska will have to find a way to keep rallies going, even with the Boilermakers' terminators Danielle Cuttino and Sheridan Atkinson hitting over the Husker block.

Cook reiterated the refrain you often hear from coaches in this conference.

"It's almost relief when you get a win in the Big Ten," he said. "It's such a fight every night. You have to have the mindset of going point-by-point and match-by-match. If you have a big win, it doesn't mean anything, and if you have a loss it doesn't mean anything cause you're going to have another great opponent the next night or the next week."


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FloVolleyball is live streaming four Nebraska volleyball matches this month:

Nov. 3 vs. Purdue @ 8 PM ET
Nov. 4 vs. Indiana @ 8 PM ET
Nov. 18 vs. Maryland @ 7 PM ET
Nov. 22 vs. Northwestern @ 8 PM ET