Good morning, and welcome to Husker Hurry Up! This is your guide to news, analysis and other tidbits as we get you caught up and prepared for everything that’s going on in Nebraska football, recruiting, volleyball, basketball and more throughout the week. So grab your coffee and sit down to read up on your favorite Huskers players and teams.
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Loaded volleyball schedule sets up revenge dates
The Huskers will be on a revenge tour in 2022. And now the grudge matches have dates on them.
Nebraska released its regular-season volleyball schedule on Tuesday, and it's loaded up with juicy storylines, a rigorous final stretch and a few chances to settle the score from last season.
Of the Huskers' eight losses a year ago, they either didn't get the chance for a rematch or failed when the opportunity came. Of those eight, there are four on the schedule this season, starting with one of the 2022 slate's high-profile non-conference matchups in a home match against Stanford on Sept. 13.
The other three reside in conference, as the Huskers will look to avenge losses to Ohio State (at home Sept. 24, on the road Nov. 13) and Minnesota (Nov. 26) from a season ago.
Obviously, the biggest chip on the Huskers' shoulder is painted red and white. Nebraska has lost eight consecutive matches to Wisconsin, but Oct. 26 in Madison and Nov. 25 in Lincoln will be the next opportunity to snap the skid and get some payback for the epic thriller in the 2021 national championship match.
Wisconsin is vulnerable this season after having lost national player of the year Dana Rettke and All-Americans Sydney Hilley and Lauren Barnes. The Huskers are not as susceptible. They return seven players who saw action in the national title match, headlined by the return of three All-Americans:
– Lexi Rodriguez: First-Team libero who won the freshman of the year award after she averaged 4.45 digs per set and helped the Huskers defense limit opponents to a .144 hitting percentage.
– Kayla Caffey: Second-Team middle blocker who hit for a team-best .376 and averaged 1.13 blocks per set.
– Madi Kubik: Third-Team outside hitter who led the Huskers in kills, kills-per-set and averaged 2.09 digs per set.
Caffey's situation, however, remains in limbo. She was cleared by the NCAA for a rare seventh season but is still awaiting awaiting word from Nebraska on whether or not she will be able to return.
"We are still working through it," Huskers coach John Cook said on an April episode of the Kicking Back with the Cooks podcast. "It's very complicated. It may take a while."
If Caffey is given approval, she will be part of one of the strongest rosters in the country that will be powering the Huskers' goal of winning their first national championship since 2017 following two runner-up finishes in the past four seasons.
That road begins on Aug. 26 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and concludes Nov. 26 against Minnesota before the postseason begins. In between is a potential preview of the Huskers' home come NCAA Tournament time when they travel to Omaha – the site of this year's Final Four – for a Sept. 7 matchup at Creighton. The matchup with Stanford precedes a road match against Kentucky on Sept. 18 to conclude the non-conference slate, and then the Big Ten schedule opens with some potential jet lag.
Nebraska plays its first two conference matches at home before hitting the East Coast for matchups at Rutgers and Maryland with trips to Michigan State and Michigan to follow. Seven of the Huskers' first 11 conference matches are on the road. But that tough road test to start sets them up for a three-match home slate in a loaded final week: Purdue on Nov. 20, Wisconsin on Nov. 25 and Minnesota on Nov. 26.
For more discussion on the Huskers' schedule release, head to the Insider's Board where our Inside Nebraska readers debated the team's depth chart and how the schedule shaped up.
Summer enrollees officially arrive
It's officially Go Time for the newest batch of Huskers.
Media Day has come and gone, and there are 15 additions to the Huskers roster who were officially announced by the team on Tuesday. That includes nine members of their 2022 signing class:
Running back Emmett Johnson, wide receiver Decoldest Crawford, tight ends Brodie Tagaloa and Chase Androff, offensive lineman Justin Evans-Jenkins, outside linebacker Jake Appleget, cornerback Malcolm Hartzog and safeties Gage Stenger and Jalil Martin.
The Huskers also welcome on a group of six walk-ons: quarterbacks Cooper Hausmann and Mikey Pauley, offensive lineman Dylan Parrott, tight end Luke Lindenmeyer, athlete Roman Mangini and kicker Charlie Weinrich.
Shakeups to Nebraska official visitors list
It's looking like Nebraska's number of official visitors for this coming weekend is not going to be as long as we previously anticipated. There have been some changes to the list as we reached out to players who were previously marked down for official visits.
The biggest shakeup is with 2023 Simeon (Chicago) four-star receiver Malik Elzy, who told Inside Nebraska that he is now taking an official visit to Cincinnati this weekend. He canceled his originally scheduled official visit to Nebraska for June 10-12 because he elected to compete in the Overtime OT7 showcase.
he Huskers are still one of Elzy's top schools, and he remains in communication with Mickey Joseph. The two of them are working to set up an official visit to Nebraska, but nothing is scheduled yet. He does not have an official visit set up for June 24-26, the last period until July 25-31 that is open for official visits this summer.
Take a look at the other changes to the list in our thread on the Insider's Board, where we will be updating those coming and going throughout the week.
Site Stuff
Be on the lookout for more Nebraska football recruiting coverage as we will be rolling out a pair of previews today from that group of six confirmed visitors, and another update on a priority offensive target will be coming on Thursday morning.
We will also be starting a new series this week as sit 74 days away from the Huskers' Dublin Debut against Northwestern in the season opener in Ireland on Aug. 27.
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