Nebraska's Lauren Stivrins (left) pounds the ball past the block of Illinois' Jacqueline Quade and Ali Bastianelli (right) last season. Stivrins has been through the Big Ten wars before as the Huskers prepare to open the conference season at Illinois on Friday.
JOURNAL STAR FILE PHOTOIt’s the start of a 10-week stretch where Nebraska will play 20 conference matches. “Fun” will be weeks when Nebraska may have to play two top-10 opponents in one week, weeks with back-to-back matches and a few late-night flights home from the East Coast.
“We’re trying to pursue starting this week for the next 10 weeks what I think is one of the hardest championships in college sports to win,” said Nebraska coach John Cook.