Nebraska Cornhuskers Advance To NCAA Final In Front Of Largest Crowd In Tournament History

The ability to handle pressure can make or break a team. Not only did the Nebraska Cornhuskers women’s volleyball team beat Kansas in four sets to advance to the NCAA Championship game, but they did so in front of the largest crowd the tournament has ever drawn.

Over 17,000 fans packed the CenturyLink Center, located only 50 miles from the Lincoln campus to watch the Huskers. Coming out there in front of 17,000 people on your home court, that’s just crazy,” Cecilia Hall said. “Having that support makes it so much fun. You get a point, the whole crowd is with you.”

Despite winning the first two sets comfortably, Nebraska needed the crowd to help them through a tough spot later in the match. In the fourth set, Kansas was pushing to equalize the match at two sets apiece. But then Kelly Hunter stepped up and rattled off seven straight service points to end the match.

“Kelly makes a run and we got the crowd into it, so it was a really nice way for us to finish that match,” Nebraska coach John Cook said. “All of a sudden we just started playing really well. We played some flawless volleyball from that point on.”

Nebraska will be back in action on Saturday, when the Huskers face former conference rival Texas for the national title.

Photo: Nebraska Cornhuskers women’s volleyball by Enoch Lai, via Wikimedia Commons