Lincoln Arneal lives in Lincoln and covers Nebraska volleyball for Huskers Illustrated. Follow him on Twitter at @lincoln_VB
By Lincoln Arneal for VolleyballMag.com
Nebraska’s 2022 season came to an abrupt early end on a Thursday afternoon in December in Louisville, Kentucky. For the first time in a decade, the Huskers failed to advance to an NCAA Tournament regional final after failing to convert several match points against Oregon.
What’s more, the Huskers dropped three of their final five matches to cap off an unpredictable season, ending up 26-6. They began the year as the preseason No. 1, but stumbled down the stretch, finishing second to Wisconsin in the Big Ten. In the end, Nebraska struggled to rebound from losing its emotional leader, Kenzie Knuckles, to a knee injury before the last week of the regular season. All season long, coach John Cook shuffled through more than a dozen lineups as they dealt with injuries and toggled between a one-setter and two-setter system.
We caught up with Cook, who just finished his 23rd year at the helm in Lincoln, a week into the second semester at Nebraska. Cook welcomed six new players to the roster and had just started beach volleyball practices. We talked about last season, what lies ahead, the…
