Husker spikers just keep winning

John Cook may be one of the top college volleyball coaches in the nation, but there are still things about the game that he can't explain.

For instance, how can a team that seemed to have everything -- like his 2007 Husker team -- not play up to par down the stretch and get beat in the regional finals?

The same thing happened in 2001. The Huskers were coming off an unbeaten national championship season, plus All-American Nancy Metcalf was returning after setting out the 2000 season.

Can't miss, right? Wrong.

The Huskers made a good run that year but were beaten in the national semifinals by Logan Tom and Stanford.

Now comes 2008. Nebraska lost four All-Americans from last year's can't-miss team. The Huskers were supposed to be down this season.

Instead, Cook's team is now 17-0 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12 Conference after beating  Missouri Sunday.

"Nothing in sports surprises me," Cook said. "The longer I coach the less I know. I've seen it with our programs and the teams here.

"The teams you think can't miss, something's missing. The teams you think aren't going to be very good … I remember 2000. That team was picked out of the top 10 in the preseason and went undefeated. You just never know in sports. That's what makes it so interesting."

Or,  as former Saints coach Jim Mora once said, "You don't know. You just don't know. You may think that you know, but you don't know. And you never will."

Mora wasn't talking about Nebraska volleyball, but the quote still fits. You just never know how the pieces are going to fit together.

You have a new setter (Sydney Anderson), sophomores starting for the first time (Tara Mueller and Lindsey Licht) and a senior middle blocker who has been a back up her entire career (Amanda Gates).

But it's worked so far, and the Huskers are similar statistically to where they were in 2006. This year they're hitting .270 while opponents are hitting .146. In 2006, it was .296 to .146.

 "Right now we're very close to where we were in 2006," Cook said. "We're not close to where we were in 2007 because those stats were off the charts. The things you can compare head-to-head without the shortness of the games, that's what I'm comparing. We're very close in those areas.

"Statistically that wasn't a great team, but again they found a way to win."

This team is doing the same, and the switch to 25-point sets hasn't hurt the Huskers either. That may be one part of the puzzle when you try to find reasons for their success.

"I think our team is geared toward playing well to 25 points," Cook said. "The reason is we're a good serving team. We can put pressure on teams and we're a good side out team. As long as we're siding out, we know we're going to score some points.

"For us 25 points is good because of that. We can run off three or four points pretty easily because we are so good defensively and serving."

Bob Hamar is assistant sports editor for The Independent.