Nebraska Volleyball: What Huskers, Georgia Tech said ahead of Sweet 16 game

As always, it's sweet to be a part of Nebraska volleyball.

The Huskers have reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament, as they have done every season except one in John Cook's 24-year tenure, and will be looking to get back to the Elite Eight after their 10-year streak of reaching the fourth round ended last year against Oregon.

This time around, the opponent standing in their way comes from the other corner of the map (or close to it) in Georgia Tech. Technically speaking, it will be a Top-12 matchup as the Huskers were ranked No. 1 in the country and the Yellow Jackets were ranked No. 12 in the regular season's final AVCA Top 25 poll.

The Huskers (30-1, 19-1 Big Ten champions), the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, and Georgia Tech (24-6, 13-5 for 5th in the ACC), the No. 5 seed in the Nebraska Regional, are set for an afternoon matchup.

Fans of Judge Judy and Judge Mathis will have to set those midday TV dramas for DVR and instead watch the court battle between Nebraska and Georgia Tech that's set for 1 p.m. (CT) on ESPN2. After that, the winner will find out its Elite Eight opponent as No. 2 Kentucky and No. 3 Arkansas get underway at 3:30 p.m. from the Devaney Center.

As the Huskers and Yellow Jackets geared up for their showdown, Cook and Husker stars Lexi Rodriguez and Merritt Beason met with the media for a Wednesday press conference for the final pre-match media availability prior to the match. Georgia Tech coach Michelle Collier and stars Bianca Bertolino and Bella D'Amico also met with the media for a press conference at the Devaney on Wednesday.

Watch the videos below to hear what both sides had to say ahead of their matchup this afternoon. Those videos are available below and on the Inside Nebraska YouTube channel.

1 NEBRASKA vs. 5 GEORGIA TECH

Time: 1:00 p.m. Central Time

TV Channel: ESPN2 (TV Announcers: Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak and Katie George)

Streaming: Watch ESPN (Link to free trial), YouTube TV (Link to free trial), FuboTV (Link to free trial)

Radio: Huskers Radio Network, Lincoln 107.3 FM and AM 590 Omaha (John Baylor will handle play-by-play duties in his 30th season doing so for Husker volleyball games, and former Nebraska All-American setter Lauren (Cook) West will provide color commentary)

Listen online: Huskers.com

App Audio: Official Huskers App

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2 KENTUCKY vs. 3 ARKANSAS

Time: 3:30 p.m. Central Times

TV Channel: ESPNU

Streaming: YouTube TV (Link to free trial), FuboTV (Link to free trial), Watch ESPN (Link to free trial)

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ELITE EIGHT

Today's winners will meet in Saturday’s regional final at 5 p.m. on ESPNU.

• No. 5 seed Georgia Tech upset No. 4 seed Florida, 3-2, in the NCAA Second Round to advance to a regional for the fourth time in program history.

• Tamara Otene leads the Yellow Jackets with 3.64 kills per set and 3.00 digs per set. Bianca Bertolino adds 3.04 kills per set and has served 62 aces this season, sixth-most in the country. Both outside hitters were named AVCA All-Region and All-ACC First Team.

• Georgia Tech runs a 6-2 with Isabella D’Amico and Heloise Soares providing 6.97 and 5.57 assists per set, respectively.

• As a team, Georgia Tech is hitting .251 and allowing opponents to hit .182.

• Nebraska and Georgia Tech have only played twice and split the all-time series, 1-1. The Yellow Jackets won 3-2 on Sept. 14, 2003, while the Huskers won 3-0 on Sept. 12, 2015.

NCAA TOURNAMENT:

• Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional for the 12th consecutive season and for the 39th time in program history. The Huskers’ 39 regional appearances are the most in NCAA history, while Nebraska’s 12 consecutive regional berths rank second nationally.

• Nebraska is 127-36 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in postseason wins and winning percentage (.779).

• The Huskers have won 20 consecutive home matches in the NCAA Tournament dating back to 2013. NU is 81-7 all-time in home NCAA Tournament matches, including 26-2 at the Devaney Center.

• Cook coached in the 118th NCAA Tournament match of his career last Saturday (including his time at Wisconsin). He tied John Dunning (Pacific/Stanford) for the second-most NCAA Tournament matches coached in NCAA Division I history.

• Cook is 86-19 in the NCAA Tournament as Nebraska’s head coach. He is 94-24 in his NCAA Tournament career.

• Cook ranks second all-time in career NCAA Tournament victories and NCAA Tournament wins at one school.

2023 SEASON:

• Nebraska is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history. The other years were 2000 (NCAA Champion), 2004 (NCAA Regional Finalist), 2005 (NCAA Runner-Up), 2006 (NCAA Champion) and 2016 (NCAA Semifinalist).

• The Huskers won the outright Big Ten title this season with a 19-1 league record, earning their first Big Ten title since 2017. Nebraska has now won four Big Ten titles since joining the conference in 2011. The years were 2011, 2016, 2017 (co-champions) and 2023. All-time, Nebraska volleyball has won 35 conference titles, including 13 under John Cook.

• Nebraska has won 30 matches in a season for the first time since 2017 and 24th time in program history, including 12 under Cook. Nebraska's 28-1 finish, which included a 27-0 start, was its best regular-season record since going 28-1 in 2005.

• The Huskers went 17-0 in home matches in the regular season. The last time the Huskers went undefeated at home in the regular season was 2017 (15-0). Their home record has moved to 19-0 after sweeping both Long Island University and Missouri in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, respectively.

• From Sept. 12-Sept. 29, Nebraska played five straight ranked teams and won all five matches. It was the sixth time in school history Nebraska played five matches in a row against ranked teams but the first time NU won all five.

• The Huskers went undefeated in non-conference play for the first time since 2016 and just the second time since 2008.

• The Huskers, who led the nation in defense in 2022, have held their opponents this season to a combined .140 hitting percentage, which ranks third nationally going into the Sweet 16. On offense, they are hitting .281 (17th nationally) with 14.10 kills per set (10th) and 13.06 assists per set (14th).

• Nebraska had four All-Big Ten First Team selections and two All-Big Ten Second Team selections for a total of six all-conference players this season, the most in program history.