Nebraska volleyball notes: Crowning the most athletic Husker; team ‘willpower’ and more

TAMPA, Fla. — John Cook can see how much more potential Andi Jackson has, especially in blocking.

He also knows there’s a lot of great qualities for the freshman middle blocker to build on.

“She is tall (6-foot-3), fast, quick, she jumps,” Cook said. “So those are some good qualities to have as a volleyball player, and she works really hard. She’s got really good competitive fire in her. She just needs reps and experience to help her really blossom into being a premier middle blocker in this country.”

From Brighton, Colorado, Jackson didn’t come to Nebraska with the extensive club volleyball and United States junior national team experience that some of her fellow Husker freshmen have.

But she’s still had an impressive first season. Her hitting percentage of .402 leads the Huskers and ranks 18th nationally. She was chosen for all-Big Ten second-team honors.

Jackson has only been in Nebraska’s strength and conditioning program since January, and she already the team leader in athletic performance test index, which tests jumping, agility run and more.

“Andi blows us out of the water,” junior Merritt Beason said.

So who is the best athlete on the team?

“Andi (Jackson) tests the best,” Cook said. “But if I need a heptathlete it would be (freshman right-side hitter Caroline Jurevicius). She can do it all.”

From this year’s team, the list of the best athletes, based on testing, in order is: Jackson, Beason, Jurevicius, Laney Choboy and Harper Murray.

Program records for athletic testing date back to 2016. Kenzie Maloney, a defensive specialist from 2015 to ’18, is No. 1 all-time. Jackson is already No. 7 on that list.

In recent seasons, Nebraska has had one of the best defenses in the nation, and now it can say the same about its offense.

And part of why Cook feels good about the Huskers in the NCAA Tournament is that it can win matches in different ways.

“We’ve won it with defense; we’ve won it with offense,” Cook said. “We’ve won it by outserving and passing (the opponent). We’ve won it with winning super-long rallies. I’d say this year we’ve won most of the long rallies. And then just winning it by being gutsy and gritty and finding a way to win a joust at the net — just whatever it takes. It’s just a willpower. Those are all of the different ways I think we’ve won matches this year.”

Nebraska has had more kills than its opponents in 31 of 33 matches — the exception being the three-set loss to Wisconsin and the win against Missouri in the second round of the tournament.

A team that posts a .300 hitting percentage in a match almost always wins, and Nebraska did it 15 times this season.

And there have been several matches when the Huskers crushed their opponent with defense. In 14 matches, the Huskers’ opponent has hit .100 or worse, including in the Elite Eight match against Arkansas.

Another way Nebraska has won some matches is with offensive balance that its opponent couldn’t keep up with.

Beason leads the Huskers with 444 kills, followed by Murray (371), Jackson (228), Ally Batenhorst (186), Bekka Allick (178), Lindsay Krause (110) and Bergen Reilly (68).

Nebraska plays Pittsburgh in the national semifinals at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

The team flew to Tampa on Tuesday afternoon, and will get Final Four week started Wednesday with an open-to-the-public practice at Amalie Arena — home of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning — from 10 to 11:30 a.m. local time.

The other open practices: Pittsburgh (11:35 a.m. to 1:05 p.m.); Wisconsin (1:20 to 2:50 p.m.) and Texas (2:55 to 4:25 p.m.).