LINCOLN, Neb. — Two weeks into this volleyball season at Nebraska, after the school set a world attendance record for a women’s sporting event, freshman Laney Choboy approached her teammates with a question.
“Are we good?” she asked.
Some of the older Huskers, part of a team that uncharacteristically lost in the NCAA postseason round of 16 last year, responded quickly.
“Yeah, we’re really good.”
“I was like, ‘OK,’” Choboy said. “‘It’s hard to know.’”
Actually, it’s not.
Choboy’s naivete is symbolic of this moment for coach John Cook’s 24th team. Nebraska, five weeks in, remains unbeaten in 11 matches. What’s more, the Huskers are torching opponents. They’ve lost just three of 36 sets.
Nebraska has rolled to victories since Sept. 12 against Stanford, Kentucky, Ohio State and Minnesota. All are nationally ranked. The Huskers’ four-set win against the No. 5 Cardinal marked their first ever on the road against the nine-time national championship program.
The Nebraska roster does not include a senior. Juniors Lexi Rodriguez, an All-America libero, and opposite hitter Merritt Beason, a transfer from Florida, lead the Huskers. Sophomore Bekka Allick, third nationally in blocking, provides the emotional spark.
But it’s the freshman class that has…
