The Nebraska volleyball team has boots on the ground in Omaha for the NCAA Tournament.
The Huskers, who arrived Monday night, will have two days of COVID-19 testing before their first practice at CHI Health Center Omaha on Wednesday.
The tournament begins Wednesday, but No. 4-ranked Nebraska has a one-round bye and will play its first match at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
“It’s nice to finally be here,” Nebraska senior Lauren Stivrins said. “I think everyone is really excited. We haven’t got to see the (courts) yet. We’re all super-excited to be here, and it’s setting in that this is all real. It’s kind of crazy seeing all of the teams that are here and seeing people at (COVID) testing.”
Many of the 48 teams arrived at the Omaha airport on charter airplanes — some on Sunday, others on Monday.
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Nebraska coach John Cook is upbeat about how the trip has started.
“I have a really nice room with great views of Omaha and the Missouri River, so I’m pretty happy,” Cook said.
Cook said his excitement level for the event went up after seeing some of the other teams. Also, it helps to be in Omaha, where Nebraska has twice won national championships, in 2006 and 2015.
“Being at the (CHI Health Center Omaha), it brings back a lot of memories for Nebraska volleyball and for me,” Cook said. “We’ve played some big matches in there, so that part gets you a little fired up.”
All 47 matches of the tournament will be played under one roof in the unique tournament for this season. Usually, at the start of the tournament, Nebraska players would be staying at their homes, and only three other teams would be in Lincoln for matches.
All of the teams in one location makes for a different feel.
“Every time the elevator opens, it’s a new team, so it’s weird to see that, too,” Stivrins said. “I think it’s really exciting, and you can feel the excitement in the air and I think everyone is ready to begin.”
The teams are staying at six large hotels in downtown Omaha, with Nebraska’s place just a short walk from the arena.
“In our hotel, we have Minnesota and Wisconsin and Ohio State and Purdue,” Stivrins said. “It’s pretty much like a Big Ten hotel. All of our meeting rooms are right next to each other, too, so you walk out and you see different players and coaches from each team. That’s kind of cool, but it’s also very strange.”
On Tuesday, teams began to get their first look at the four courts that will be used for matches. Bleachers have been set up at the end of the court. Each team is allowed to distribute 86 tickets for the first match, meaning some of the players' family and friends will be able to attend.
With limits on the number of people allowed inside, coaches won’t be able to do in-person scouting.
Some coaches complained last week about the tournament setup, with matches in the first three rounds being played in the convention center instead of arenas.
The convention center hosts a wide variety of events, so there aren’t traditional locker rooms. Event officials have set up wall tents, with chairs inside, so each team has its own area before and after the match and during intermission.
Once the decision was made by the NCAA volleyball committee to not also use nearby arenas at Creighton and UNO, in part to limit potential COVID exposure to one group of event staff, traditional locker rooms for all matches weren’t feasible.
Stivrins was asked if everything about the NCAA Tournament has been sufficient so far.
“I’d like to say yes, and I feel like I should say yes, but I’ve also heard from a lot of the teams that are practicing that play (Wednesday) that the gym is not quite what we want it to be, and stuff like that,” Stivrins said. “The locker rooms that we all have for the first few rounds are just little white tents that they pitched right next to the court, so that’s kind of interesting.
“And then I know they worked really hard at getting (Nebraska’s Taraflex volleyball courts) here and stuff, but from what I’ve heard it's still a pretty rough setup for a championship event.”
One year ago, the college sports world was completely shut down due to COVID-19, so Stivrins is grateful the Huskers will have a chance to play for a national championship over the next two weeks.
“I’m grateful that our team is even in the tournament,” she said. “I think we need to focus on that and focus on our team and not really what’s going on outside of all of that, because it’s completely out of our control.”
Time to play: Since Nebraska’s final weekend series was canceled due to COVID cases at Penn State, and because there were a few extra days before the tournament began to allow for uniform COVID-19 testing, Nebraska will go 19 days between matches.
In what is certainly a first for Cook during a season, he’s had four news conferences and a one-hour radio show in the 2½ weeks since Nebraska last played a match, which he joked about as he wrapped up another news conference on Tuesday.
“OK, you guys be creative on what you’re going to write about and talk about,” he said. “It’s pretty slow.”
Reach the writer at 402-473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSSportsWagner.
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