Nebraska Volleyball John Cook, Lindsay Krause and Merritt Beason after Kentucky win I Huskers I GBR

uh great atmosphere Kentucky does some really nice things Brooklyn and that set are really good players uh it took us a while to get in a good Rhythm but I really started finally offensively games three and four started clicking we got our midds going and um there's some pretty good volleyball so again we're we're static we got a win tonight and uh again in a great atmosphere and a great job by the ABCA putting this thing on and it it was great environment felt it from the down there and I love the LED boards because you know our players are jumping over we getting some jump training going so it makes it look really cool we got to get those into questions from the medium how uh how impressive was Becca especially late too mean what would she be able to do on the court to really open things up for the offense yeah I mean Becca played really really well tonight but I think what stood out to me the most was her blocking defensively um I know we were talking a lot that was our game plan was to shut Brooklyn down and we knew that if we wanted to win this match that we needed to do that pretty early on and I thought she did a really good job I mean it's tough being a middle and each way she did a one heck of a job so I mean she's just continuing to get better day in and day out so I'm really excited to see her reach her full potential one day how much did that open up you had a lot of one-on ones there later the match how much should her kind of success and Andy success open things up for you on the pin yeah I mean I mean there was a one point I literally looked at organ and I was like I have so much room on the red like you said um so it does make my life a lot easier but I mean they're both great Vol ball players and then being effective helps all of us out a ton on the left and the right in Middle coach just your thought on thoughts on the uh the event itself and just having an early tough season match up well it's you never it's very nerve-wracking playing the first match against the top 10 teams so I can tell you that and I think our team was I think nervous tonight and I was felt nervous it's just you just there's so much uncertainty plus we're playing in a final four venue and like I said the environment was really really great I mean I love the fast pace the short timeouts I mean it just was really moving of course we we challenged their uh punch in the iPad system on the on the rot so they're going to they'll be a referee clinic on that one but you know we're just trying to make everybody better after the first match Lindsay what changed for you guys in between the second and the third set was it something you said in the locker room or did you switch things up yeah I think something that was really big for us was just understanding how good we can be when we really come together and we trust everybody and we trust our own training and we have the trust in one another and I think that was something that was really big and going into the third set we talked a lot about how um how great we are when we just keep playing us and not worrying about what's happening on the other side of the Court we talked a lot about um in certain matchups it's not one person versus one person it's you know versus the whole team and that's kind of what we pride ourselves on is our defense and I think that really showed tonight in our digging and our blocking so we really came together on that and like coach said our offense was a little shaky but we kind of grew into that and we let our defense kind of speak for it in the first couple sets so I think coming to the third set our offense really came alive and our defense just kept doing what it does best and that's really what worked for us Meritt there's been so much since the last time you played there's been so much focus on Nebraska but none of it's been playing yeah you know off the court stuff just the just Nebraska volleyball the documentary everything what do it mean to play yeah I mean that's one thing that we've been talking about a lot as a team is we are just so excited to play someone else this team is so deep and it's so competitive day in and day out sometimes we have to remind ourselves that like we're basically playing a national championship match at practice every single day because the gym is so high level so like you said there's been a lot of attention around it but we tried to block that out for the most part and do what we can on our part to kind of remain in the moment and remain present and focus on our team and what we need to do and I hope I mean we just talked about in the locker room we still are nowhere near where we can be and so I'm just really excited to for us to continue working on the little things so that we can be as good as we can be hey John in the back right here uh I know it's a while until you guys play Lo but to come back see the community Danny's had such a big part in building just how much pride do you see the success that she's having here and what she learned from you guys well it's great I mean she uh took me to Church Hill DS today that was really cool so uh but Danny's had done one of the greatest turnarounds in college volleyball and what she's done with this program has been amazing and now hosting the final four and um all the great wins they've had um so yeah it's and Craig Skinner I hired twice once it was uh let's see once at Wisconsin and once I actually hired him twice at Wisconsin i h him three times and then once at Nebraska so it's always yeah there's a lot of Pride there back here you talked about the environment a couple of times and your program has been one of the programs that have set the standard in women's volleyball for so long the sports just seems to be exploding right now among young kids what is being a part of an event like this and what does this do there are a million kids out there tonight you know how do y'all feel about that when you see this and what it does for the sport yeah I'm glad those kids were out there because I know it's Tuesday night school's in so so uh but uh you know the ABCA is and Jamie's doing a great job of trying to build events to continue to build on the momentum that I think really started with with the stadium match last year and then the final four and and it it's and then in the Big 10 conference I mean almost every arena is selling out and it's hard to get tickets I've read we have 7,000 people on the waiting list so it it's it's happening and um volleyball is a great Sport and there's a lot of great players that are great role models for these kids as well and you know Le I thought you asked a great question that's one of the reasons I think we're a little shaky tonight to start with because we have had a lot of distractions and and there's been a lot of stories and documentaries and things like that all that stuff takes energy from us and and it was it was really cool just to kind of you know be in our locker room for Change and not well the ESPN guys were in there but uh but you know it's just like all of a sudden we could just focus on us tonight and as one of the reasons this is this was you know such a rewarding victory for us and a and a fun match to play coach following up on the stadium match and the momentum for the sport I I think back to the stadium match last year where that was on Big 10 Network which is available in about 45 million us homes um at the same time FS1 was rerunning the UCLA USC Volleyball game from I'm sorry football game from the previous season ESPN has touted a massive volleyball schedule this year of 16 games or eight fewer eight fewer than the number of college football games they will televise in week one how what still needs to happen what would you like to see happen to build momentum for this sport well I I think we're pretty much on TV every match so for from my perspective we're getting televised uh I just think uh what has to happen is is the ACC needs to start getting big crowds those West Coast Schools need to start drawing big crowds and continuing to build this you know frenzy that's going on with women's volleyball and create the interest and uh but I think it's on a great trory right now the ABCA is doing their part and of course Big 10 Network has gone gone above and beyond uh I think for televising and so we're very fortunate to be in the Big 10 and I think the Big 10 has really helped lift up the whole country in volleyball with their television support and media support and the media day we did I mean I I wish you guys could have seen the faces on the Pack 12 coaches in Chicago coming to that media day I mean they were blown away like this is happening for volleyball um so shout out to the Big 10 and and again I think just let it build John speaking of atmosphere too are you gonna try to find a bugler to kick off matches I yes I love that that was awes that's what they do before the Kentucky Derby right yeah I I tell you what I'm I almost found out I can buy and share of race horses today but that bugle thing would be really cool I'm going to ask our band that they'll do that that was aome you should learn how when you should do quit while you're while you're how much flexibility do you have in that back row I think eight different people play in the back row for you I mean you're able to play different player six rotations how much flexibility do you have back there well we we like we've been trying to develop a system where if uh we can have bring our liberos in or you know our DS's you want call them uh to give us breaks to make plays to create energy because you know we got to play back to back in the Big 10 we play the most of anybody so there's going to be nights where I've got we got our outside haters going to need breaks and and you know like Laney made some plays T night that are just you know ESPN highlights and saves the ball and uh these guys can try that but they can't do what Laney can do and so anyway I just think it's a we got depth in there we got people that can help us and we're going to continue to rotate Meritt I had Olivia Babcock on a podcast recently and when your name came up she raved about just you and the experience of playing with you can you talk a little bit about how playing with Team USA just kind of informs your game and just can kind of inform your season yeah um I loved live and I loved playing with her and training with her day in and day out we became really really close really quick and and so anytime you get the chance to wear a USA Jersey it's an honor but I thought this summer was really special because it was so high level and so competitive that it just continued to push all of us um so it was a great opportunity and I loved training with her and she's a goof so it was it was fun to play with her and to train with her Lindsay what was it like for you to finally get back out there in a real match yeah I mean it was so super special it's been something that has been a long time coming you know working so hard and just you to be back on the court even just with my teammates you know they're they're the best part and the environment our fans everything about it um you know I love playing volleyball so just get the chance to do that again with all the people that I love being around you know it's something that's super special and I I'm so happy that the opportunity finally came back with that coach we'll go ahead we know you have a flight to catch so thanks for being