Is It National Championship or Bust for Nebraska Volleyball?

Are the expectations for Nebraska volleyball dangerous? That was a question Jeff Sheldon and Lincoln Arneal unpacked on the latest episode of Volleyball State.

Below is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.

Jeff: If you told me that Rebekah Allick ends up being a captain for Nebraska, that wouldn't surprise me at all. I think that she has a lot of respect from her teammates, and you know, a lot of confidence that Dani Busboom Kelly must have in her, and bringing her as one of the team representatives to Big Ten Media Days. Rebekah Allick, now a senior, this is kind of the end of the road for her as far as college goes. And I'd be interested to see kind of what her perspective is on her growth journey over these last couple of years.

Rebekah Allick celebrates a kill from freshman Teraya Sigler. | Amarillo Mullen

Lincoln: Yeah, we talked to her after one of the matches this spring. I feel like she's one of the players who feels urgency, like this is it. This is your last year, and how much that's driven her. I see on her social media that she's doing store appearances and Grand Island doing camps everywhere, and very involved too.

So I think she's really put herself out there and owns the responsibility that comes with being a Nebraska volleyball player. I wonder what her approach is, too. With that urgency [that] causes pressure and leads to that. What are your thoughts?

Jeff: You can go a number of ways. Pressure can produce diamonds or it can break things into small pieces. I think that all of these players that we're talking about; Harper Murray, Bergen Reilly, Rebekah Allick, they've been to the Final Four three of the last four years, or the last two years for this class specifically. They played for a national championship. They've been a swing away from playing for the national championship. They've kind of done everything except win the NCAA title.

Coach Busboom Kelly smiles after a rally on the court. | Amarillo Mullen

You know, one of the things I would be interested in finding out their true feelings on is like, [are] those expectations dangerous? Because this is a question I kind of wrestle with going into the year is, if you say that the only way the season is considered successful is if you win the national title, is that a dangerous thing to do? Because that's a lot of pressure you put on yourself, and winning a title is really hard. Nobody can sit here and say Nebraska's had disappointing seasons or unsuccessful seasons these last couple years, when they've gone to the Final Four and played for titles.

I think it's got to be about more than that. But you know, the players of course are going to tell you, “Yeah, like our goal is to win the national championship and we're not going to shy away from that.” So maybe that's more of a question for Dani is like, “how do you manage a team who has all the expectations in the world, but to get them to kind of enjoy the journey?”

Lincoln: I think especially the journey is important as well, too. I mean, Dani’s coming off a year where she was coaching at Louisville; Louisville hosted it this year. The Final Four is in Kansas City, which is different than having in Omaha, but Nebraska is the closest major power to Kansas City, too. So I don't know if just having [the] Final Four so close raises the stakes at all, or if it doesn't have an impact as well.

The Huskers run towards Andi Jackson after her kill. — The Huskers run toward Andi Jackson after her kill. | Amarillo Mullen

Jeff: The 2017 Final Four when Nebraska won the title in Kansas City, you could have said it was in South Lincoln, basically. There were so many Nebraska fans there. And if Nebraska goes to the Final Four again, this December, Kansas City is going to be painted red, too.

Lincoln: Yeah, for sure.

Watch the entire clip below!

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