Huskers 2019

The really crazy thing .... we really don't have any Juniors, let alone any who contribute.  Kurkova is a setter which means she's not likely to be much help.  (Major contributors in red)

Juniors - Mari Kurkova

Sophomores - Sami Slaughter, Anezka Szabo, Lexi Sun, Jazz Sweet, Lauren Stivrins, Hayley Densberger

Freshmen - Nicklin Hames, Megan Miller, Chen Abramovich, Capri Davis, Callie Schwarzenbach, 

 
Losing Foecke and Maloney will hurt for sure but dang, there'll be a very experienced and solid core for the next couple of years. Just going to need a couple players to step into the roles of big hitter and dig everything libero not to mention team leaders and captains.

I was very impressed with Stivrens and Swarzenbach. And another players that seemed to always come through was Capri Davis. She would come in for one rotation and it seemed like almost everytime she was going back off court was because she had just scored a point. That's what you call doing your job.

 
JJ Husker said:
Losing Foecke and Maloney will hurt for sure but dang, there'll be a very experienced and solid core for the next couple of years. Just going to need a couple players to step into the roles of big hitter and dig everything libero not to mention team leaders and captains.

I was very impressed with Stivrens and Swarzenbach. And another players that seemed to always come through was Capri Davis. She would come in for one rotation and it seemed like almost everytime she was going back off court was because she had just scored a point. That's what you call doing your job.
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Plus another great recruiting class. 

 
JJ Husker said:
Losing Foecke and Maloney will hurt for sure but dang, there'll be a very experienced and solid core for the next couple of years. Just going to need a couple players to step into the roles of big hitter and dig everything libero not to mention team leaders and captains.

I was very impressed with Stivrens and Swarzenbach. And another players that seemed to always come through was Capri Davis. She would come in for one rotation and it seemed like almost everytime she was going back off court was because she had just scored a point. That's what you call doing your job.
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Foecke may be harder to replace than realized. As I said on another post, she was easily the best player on the court in the NCAA finals which included a total of 9 All-Americans and the 'consensus' POY. Throughout her career, Foecke has come up huge in the big moments. Stivrins can take up some of that slack, but Sun needs to be more consistent in primetime. Great against Illinois in the semi's, not so much against Stanford in the finals. 

But you're correct that there will be solid core with Sun, Stivrins, and Hames. Stivrins and Hames appear to be the new leadership on this team, I would be surprised if they are not co-captains next fall. I am curious how Husker Power will impact Sun, Schwarzenbach, Hames and the newcomer Madi Kubik. Kubik is a 6'2" outside hitter who should be on campus in January. She wants to be a six rotational player and her goal is to go pro after college. Stivrins is a workout warrior and I doubt she will let anyone slide in the weight room. 

Sweet remains a curiosity to me. She had glimpses in pre-conference play of having a breakout  year, but when they ran into the meat of conference play, it was as if she lost her confidence. Her play in her sophomore year wasn't noticeably better than her freshman year. If she doesn't improve appreciably  this year, she may be finding more time on the bench. 

Stanford returns most of their team (including the POY Plummer) with the exception of their All-American Libero. They will likely be the top ranked team pre-season. Minnesota and Illinois both lose their All-American 'generational' setters and Nebraska fan can relate to how difficult that transition can be regardless of how highly touted the replacement is. Penn State also loses a senior setter and an All-Conference outside hitter, but, like Nebraska, returns a solid core of young players who gained a lot of experience last year. 

I guessing, with the John Cook effect thrown in, Nebraska will be the B1G pre-season favorite and probably ranked 2 nationally to start 2019.

 
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