• last year
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to the KRK Chronicles, again, the people's show.
00:12 Checking the pulse of Husker Nation.
00:14 Ladies and gentlemen, it's a very happy Husker Nation.
00:17 I don't think I've ever recorded two gut reactions, not only in one day, but in the span of about
00:22 three hours.
00:23 All right, if you missed my gut reaction to Nebraska beating Northwestern in football,
00:26 go back and check that out from earlier, but I'm here to talk about Nebraska volleyball.
00:30 Number one, Wisconsin comes into Lincoln, plays number two, Nebraska.
00:35 Great, great volleyball match.
00:38 Up and down, back and forth, competitive.
00:40 These are the two best teams in the country.
00:43 Of course, I think we know who might be number one after Nebraska beats Wisconsin.
00:48 Again, phenomenal match, three sets to two.
00:51 We're going to talk about it, dive into it, have some fun here.
00:54 Okay, I don't think I've ever seen John Cook smile that much or look that happy.
00:59 He's always so calm, confident, and steady.
01:02 But even Coach Cook, listen to some of this, after beating the number one team in the country,
01:08 the first time the Huskers have done it since 2017, and breaking a 10-game losing streak
01:13 versus Wisconsin, getting that win tonight, okay, even Coach Cook couldn't help but crack
01:20 a few smiles, and well-deserved, I might add.
01:23 All right, the Huskers, number two team in the country, down the number one team in the
01:26 country, Wisconsin to move to 19-0.
01:29 This is only the fifth time since 2000 that a number one versus number two ranked match
01:37 has gone five sets.
01:40 Now if you're as proud of this Nebraska volleyball team as I am, then smash that like button.
01:45 Now these are two of the most storied programs in the entire country.
01:50 Just by comparison, since 2011, basically since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, amount
01:54 of NCAA titles, Wisconsin has one, Nebraska has two, amount of Final Four appearances,
01:59 Wisconsin has three, Nebraska has five, amount of Big Ten championships, Wisconsin has five,
02:03 Nebraska has three, Big Ten Coach of the Year award winners, each program has two.
02:08 Now right off the bat, Nebraska won that first set, and 25-22, they jumped out early and
02:18 jumped on the Badgers quick.
02:21 Now this was the first set that Wisconsin volleyball has lost all year to a Big Ten
02:27 opponent.
02:28 They hadn't lost a single set all year to a Big Ten opponent after that first set, and
02:33 they had won 30 consecutive sets.
02:35 So that was their first loss in 30 consecutive sets after winning those sets.
02:41 Now let's look at some of the stats real quick from that first set.
02:45 Number two Nebraska rides an early 6-0 run to win the first set, 25-22.
02:51 Okay, Jackson and Riley with the block at the end to win it.
02:54 The Huskers hit 214 with four kills from Beeson, Battenhorst, and Murray.
02:59 Wisconsin hits 125 in the set with three kills from Robinson, Franklin, and Booth.
03:04 Now it was kind of cool because the student section was wearing cowboy hats and overalls
03:08 in honor of John Cook, and if you didn't know this, he's a cowboy himself.
03:12 He even lives in Wyoming part of the time.
03:15 He does a little calf roping.
03:17 He's big into horses and their loyalty and things of that nature.
03:21 So the student section was kind of raucous, a lot raucous, but kind of supporting John
03:26 Cook in that way.
03:27 Of course, Wisconsin bounces back and they're not going to roll over.
03:30 They win set two, 25-17.
03:33 Some of the stats from the next two sets.
03:35 All right, number one Wisconsin answers back.
03:37 Okay, and the Badgers record 12 blocks in the set, forcing 16 and new hitting errors.
03:43 The Huskers hit minus .077 in the set on 52 attacks.
03:48 Wisconsin with just seven kills on 29 swings at a 138 clip.
03:52 Okay, now a couple of other things real quick I want to chat about.
03:56 There was an attendance record set at the Vannity Center tonight.
04:00 They'd never had more than 9,000 people attend an event there.
04:04 Okay, and they added 400 seats over this past offseason, so they'd never had more than 9,000
04:09 people there.
04:10 So, 9,198 people in attendance tonight, which was a record.
04:14 Okay, now keep in mind Nebraska volleyball, if you didn't already know, this is the only
04:18 Power Five women's sports program that actually made money a year ago.
04:22 My point, there truly is no place like Nebraska.
04:25 All right, Wisconsin won the third set, 25-20, to go up two sets to one.
04:30 All right, now reminder, Nebraska is a young team.
04:33 I've talked about this before.
04:34 They don't have a single senior on this team.
04:36 They got a lot of young players on this team.
04:39 How are they going to fight back?
04:41 How are they going to bounce back?
04:42 How are they going to respond?
04:44 That was my question at this point.
04:46 You're facing the mighty Wisconsin, a team that's had your number, the number one team
04:49 in the country.
04:50 Okay, so, and the other thing I couldn't help but notice, and I knew this coming in anyways,
04:55 the height advantage that Wisconsin has is pretty large and basically impossible not
05:01 to notice.
05:02 Now, if you didn't know this, the Badgers are one of the best offensive teams in the
05:05 country statistically.
05:07 Statistically, the Black Shorts, okay, the Black Shorts, Nebraska is the number one defensive
05:13 team in the entire country coming into the match tonight as well.
05:18 Another interesting stat, never before in the history of the Big Ten Conference have
05:22 two teams prior to this year started 18-0.
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05:53 Now, Nebraska comes back.
05:56 They bounce back, they win the fourth set by scoring the final three points of the set
06:01 to win 26-24 to even it up at two sets apiece.
06:06 All right, now the fifth set, man, it was back and forth.
06:12 The crowd was raucous.
06:13 It was awesome.
06:14 Nebraska is up 14-13 and it looks like Wisconsin ties it up.
06:19 John Cook, challenge.
06:23 Now the announcer immediately was like, maybe this is just to calm the team down, you know,
06:27 rather than using a timeout, something like that type deal.
06:30 But in the replay, you could see the Cook was right.
06:33 So here's the deal.
06:34 They change it.
06:36 Nebraska gets the point.
06:37 The place erupts and Nebraska wins basically on that challenge 15-13.
06:42 All right, and they beat Wisconsin three sets to two.
06:47 They win the final two sets to win the match and go 19-0 by beating Wisconsin, the number
06:53 one team in the country.
06:55 I'm pretty sure who we know who the number one team in the country is going to be next
06:59 week and Wisconsin should absolutely still be number two.
07:02 And we're going to play them again this regular season, probably again in the Big Ten Championship,
07:06 maybe again in the NCAA Tournament, who knows.
07:08 But we're going to enjoy this right here, right now, tonight, because it's well-earned.
07:12 Okay, here's something that I noted as well.
07:17 You watch the fans at the Husker football game today.
07:19 You watch the fans in the Bob Devaney Center.
07:23 You watch two records were set this year in attendance when it comes to Nebraska volleyball,
07:27 the 92,003 Memorial Stadium, early on in the season, setting the Bob Devaney record tonight.
07:33 There truly are no better fans in the country than Husker fans, and our volleyball team
07:38 is clearly, right now, the number one team in America as well.
07:41 Go big red.
07:42 Now here's some things that stood out to me about this volleyball team.
07:45 They're highly resourceful, obviously very talented, phenomenal culture, okay, ton of
07:52 heart, resiliency.
07:54 And when I interviewed Jordan Larson a week and a half ago, if you missed that, go check
07:58 it out.
07:59 She talked about a high standard, and they're just going to do what they do in their respect,
08:03 but they don't worry about what the other team does, and that showed through tonight.
08:06 Now I've got a couple of questions for you fine folks at home.
08:09 Number one, is this Nebraska volleyball's biggest regular season win ever?
08:13 Let me know in the comments below.
08:14 Number two, Nebraska volleyball set two attendance records, as I mentioned, this year.
08:20 Now here's my question, when Iowa basketball tried to do something similar in their football
08:25 stadium a week ago, and I think they had 55,000 people show up, not horrifically horrible,
08:31 but serious question, did you kind of chuckle when you saw the empty seats like I did?
08:35 It didn't quite measure up to what Nebraska volleyball did.
08:37 I'll do respect, but did you chuckle like I did?
08:40 Also, last question, what stood out the most to me?
08:43 Tonight was the heart of these ladies, okay?
08:46 What stood out the most to you as you watched them play?
08:50 Until next time Husker Nation, go Big Red, and always remember to throw the ball out.
08:54 God.