Jessica Yanz to return to Lincoln this weekend

[knapplc]

Good article on Yanz, but I'd like to know what she said when she called in to Cook's show.

 

 

Former Husker returns as Flyer

By Todd Henrichs

 

The voice was so familiar.

 

The caller to John Cook's radio show claimed to be from Grand Island. But Nebraska's volleyball coach knew better.

 

That voice had to belong to Jessica Yanz, the former Nebraska setter now playing at Dayton.

 

"She's still Jess," Cook said.

 

It seems Yanz, after announcing she was done with the sport last winter, still has much to say. A whirlwind of events last spring -- some tragic, others triumphant -- led Yanz to the Flyers. And as fate would have it, she'll return with her new team to face Nebraska in Thursday night's opening match of the Ameritas Players Challenge at the NU Coliseum.

 

Yanz, who spent the last two seasons with the Huskers, said earlier this week that she couldn't wait to return.

 

"There are two things I already know about Jess. I think she's a competitor, and I think she's a people person," Dayton coach Kelly Sheffield said. "I think she's looking forward to the challenge of playing an elite team, but I think she's really, really excited about seeing her friends."

 

To be clear, everybody at Nebraska is excited to see Yanz in her role as starting setter for the No. 20 Flyers.

 

Her college career began at Penn State, where playing time was limited with All-American Alisha Glass running the team. She transferred to Nebraska, hoping for the opportunity to replace Rachel Holloway. But when she didn't get her scholarship release, she had to sit out 2008, and last year, Yanz played in 10 matches behind All-American Sydney Anderson.

 

After all that, it's not hard to imagine the butterflies Yanz said were working overtime before Dayton's first match this season.

 

"Walking on the court and knowing this was my team, knowing this is what I was here to do, it was a weird experience," Yanz said. "I hadn't felt that in four years."

 

As few as four months earlier, Yanz was completely out of the sport. Only days after NU's season had ended last year, she told Cook that she was retiring.

 

"Physically, emotionally, mentally, I thought I was done," Yanz said.

 

That is, until her phone rang in April. Her club coach had heard about an opportunity at Dayton. The Flyers, coming off a 30-win season and with six starters returning, needed a setter after two-year starter Kacie Hausfeld had died in a plane crash.

 

At the time, Yanz said "a thousand things" went through her head. How would her Nebraska teammates feel if she came back? How would those left grieving at Dayton accept her?

 

And could she even do it? As a second-time transfer, Yanz needed a waiver from the NCAA to even be eligible. Sheffield went to compliance officers at his school and asked them to rate the chances.

 

"They said maybe 5 percent," Sheffield said.

 

Stunningly, the waiver came through in only days. Yanz herself provided the NCAA with a position paper. And Nebraska officials, led by Gary Bargen, lent their full support.

 

Yanz says she can't thank them enough. The NU graduate is pursuing a master's degree in education at Dayton. Her future career? Athletics administration.

 

"After all this," Yanz said, "I would be perfect in compliance."

 

To the bold/underlined part: Attention Russ Rose/Penn State - this is how you help a player. This is how you act in the best interest of a kid, not your program. If the Flyers beat the Huskers this week, I'll guarantee you there isn't any hard feelings on the part of Cook or the Husker Athletic Dept. $20 says they'll be happy for Yanz.

[Vince from ShamWOW]

Good for her. I think she will show she is a very talented setter. Too bad she really never got a chance at both Penn State and NU. I love the class move on the part of NU, Gary Bargen, and I'm sure John Cook.

 

Well done all involved!!!