For generations, football gave Nebraska a statewide identity. But with Husker gridiron fortunes flagging, volleyball is the new signature sport with booming participation and success.
Here and nationally, more girls now play volleyball than basketball (according to the National Federation of State High School Associations).
โItโs the main or premier sport for women right now,โ Doane University coach Gwen Egbert says.
Omaha has become a volleyball showcase. The city hosted NCAA Division I Finals in 2006, 2008, and 2015, with the Cornhuskers competing on all three occasions (winning the national title in 2006 and 2015).
Packed crowds at the CenturyLink Center will once again welcome the nationโs top teams when Omaha hosts the championships in 2020. Meanwhile, Creighton University is emerging as another major volleyball powerhouse, and the University of Nebraska-Omaha has made strides in the Mavericksโ first two years of full Division I eligibility since joining the Summit Conference.
In the 2017 NCAA tournament, Creighton advanced to the second round (but fell to Michigan State). As this edition of Omaha Magazine went to press, the Cornhuskers headed to regionals in hopeful pursuit of a fifth national championship.
โThe fact Nebraska has done and drawn so well, and that kids are seeing the sport at a high level at a young age, gets people excited to play,โ says Husker legend Karen Dahlgren Schonewise, who coaches for Nebraska Elite club volleyball and Duchesne Academy in Omaha.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln first reached a national title game with Schonewise in 1986. The dominant defensive player set Nebraskaโs career record for solo blocks (132)โa record that still standsโbefore going on to play professionally. (The Cornhuskers didnโt win the national championship until 1995.)
โI think the amount of kids that play in Nebraska is No. 1, per capita, in the country. I think the level of play is far higher than many states in the country,โ says Omaha Skutt Catholic coach Renee Saunders, whose star freshman, 6-foot-3 Lindsay Krause, is a UNL verbal commit.
Volleyballโs attraction starts with plentiful scholarships, top-flight coaching, TV coverage, and professional playing opportunities.
Few states match the fan support found here.
โWe have probably the most educated fans in the nation,โ Saunders says. โTheyโre a great fan base. They know how to support their teams, and theyโre very embracing of volleyball in general.โ
The lack of physical contact appeals to some girls. The frequent team huddles after rallies draw others.
Omaha Northwest High School coach Shannon Walker says โthe camaraderieโ is huge. You really have to work together as a unit, communicate, and be six people moving within a tiny space.โ
Volleyballโs hold is rural and urban in a state that has produced All-Americans, national champions, and Olympians.
The Husker program has been elite since the 1980s. Its architect, former UNL coach Terry Pettit, planted the seeds that grew this second-to-none volleyball culture.
โHe really spearheaded a grassroots effort to build the sport,โ says Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. โBesides winning, he also worked diligently to train our high school coaches.โ
โItโs important to realize this goes back many years,โ former Husker (2009-2012) Gina Mancuso says, โand I think a lot of credit goes to Terry Pettit. He created such an awesome program with high standards and expectations.โ
Pettit products like Gwen Egbert have carried those winning ways to coaching successful club and high school programs and working area camps. Egbert built a dynasty at Papillion-LaVista South before going to Doane. Several Papio South players have excelled as Huskers (the Rolzen twins, Kelly Hunter, etc.).
Their paths inspired future Husker Lindsay Krause.
โSeeing the success is a big motivation to want to play,โ Krause says. โJust watching all the success everyone has in this state makes you feel like itโs all the more possible for you to be able to do that.โ
Many top former players go on to coach here, and most remain even after they achieve great success.
Walker says quality coaches donโt leave because โitโs the hotbed of volleyballโtheyโre staying here and growing home talent now.โ
โItโs us colleges that reap the benefits,โ Bernthal Booth says.
Pettit says itโs a matter of โsuccess breeds success.โ
Schonewise agrees, saying, โOnce you see success, others want to try it and do it and more programs become successful.โ
โThe standard is high and people want to be at that high level. They donโt want to be mediocre,โ UNO coach Rose Shires says.
Wayne State, Kearney, Hastings, and Bellevue all boast top small college programs. In 2017, Doane was the first Nebraska National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics program to record 1,000 wins.
โWeโve got great Division I, Division II, NAIA, and junior college volleyball programs,โ says Bernthal Booth, who took the Creighton job in part due to the areaโs rich talent base. She feels CUโs breakout success coincided with the 2008 opening of D.J. Sokol Arena, which she considers among the nationโs best volleyball facilities.
โAll these colleges in Nebraska are in the top 25 in their respective divisions,โ Saunders says. โItโs crazy how high the level of play has gone, and I think itโs going to keep going that way.โ
โItโs really built a great fan base of support,โ Mancuso says, โand I think the reason the state produces a lot of great volleyball players is the fact we have great high school coaches, great college programs, and great club programs.โ
Club programs are talent pipelines. There are far more today than even a decade ago. Their explosion has meant youth getting involved at younger ages and training/playing year-round. Nebraska Elite is building a new facility to accommodate all the action.
โThe athleticism found in the state has always been pretty high, but the level of play has definitely improved. The kids playing today are more skilled. The game is faster,โ Egbert says. โWhen I started out, youโd maybe have one or two really good players, and now you could have a whole team of really good players.โ
โYou have your pick of dozens of clubs, and a lot of those clubs compete at the USA national qualifiers and get their players that exposure,โ says Shannon Walker, the Northwest High School coach who is also the director of the Omaha Starlings volleyball club.
โVolleyball is such a joy to be a part of in this state,โ Mancuso says.
โItโs cool to be a part of everything going on in Nebraska and watching it grow and develop,โ Skutt freshman phenom Krause says.
โMy goal is to make Lindsay ready to play top-level Division I volleyball by the time she graduates here,โ Saunders says. โShe already has the physicality, the competitive edge, the smarts. Now itโs just getting her to play to her full potential, which she hasnโt had to yet because sheโs always been bigger than everybody. Sheโs definitely not shy of challenges. I feel like every time I give her a challenge, she steps up and delivers.โ
Krause values that Saunders โgives great feedback on things I have to fix.โ
Native Nebraskans dot the rosters of in-state and out-of-state programs. Along with Krause, Elkhorn South freshman Rylee Grayโwho holds scholarship offers from Nebraska and Creightonโmay emerge as another next big name from the Omaha metro. But they are both still a few years from the collegiate level.
UNOโs Shires says โimpassionedโ coaches like Saunders are why volleyball is rooted and embraced here. Shires came to Omaha from Texas to join the dominant program Janice Kruger built for the Mavericks at the Division II level. Kruger, now head coach at the University of Maryland, was previously captain of the Cornhuskersโ team (1977).
Further enhancing the volleyball culture, Shires says, is having former Olympian Jordan Larson and current pro Gina Mancuso come back and work with local players. Mancusoโs pro career has taken her around the world. She wants the players she works with at UNO, where sheโs an assistant, to โsee where it can take them.โ
As volleyball has taken off, itโs grown more diverse. Most clubs are suburban-based and priced beyond the means of many inner-city families. The Omaha Starlings provide an alternative option. โOur fees are significantly lower than everybody elseโs,โ says Walker, the clubโs director and Northwesternโs coach. โAnybody that canโt afford to pay, we scholarship.โ
Broadening volleyballโs reach, she says, โis so necessary. As a result, we do have a pretty diverse group of kids. Iโve had so many really talented athletes and great kids who would have never been able to afford other clubs. Weโre trying to even the scale and offer that same experience to kids who have the interest and the ability but just canโt afford it.โ
โItโs very exciting to see diversity in the sportโitโs been a long time coming,โ Schonewise says.
Forty-five Starlings have earned scholarships, some to historically black colleges and universities. Star grad Samara West (Omaha North) ended up at Iowa State.
Starlings have figured prominently in Omaha Northwestโs rise from also-ran to contender. Eight of nine varsity players in 2017 played for the club.
Walker knew volleyball had big potential, yet itโs exceeded her expectations. She says while competition is fierce among Nebraska coaches and players, they share a love that finds them, when not competing against each other, cheering on their fellows in this ever-growing volleyball family/community.
โItโs awesome,โ Walker says. โBut I donโt think weโve come anywhere close to reaching our peak yet.โ
This article was printed in the January/February 2018 edition of Omaha Magazine.