MINNEAPOLIS — Nebraska's Mikaela Foecke and Kenzie Maloney reached three Final Fours and won two national championships in their first three seasons playing volleyball with the Cornhuskers. Midway through their senior season, though, a fourth trip to the national semifinals didn't look all that promising. Not with five losses in seven matches during the heart of Big Ten play.
Even Nebraska coach John Cook was unsure of what his team with eight newcomers — more than he's had in his 19 seasons in Lincoln, Neb. — would accomplish this season. What ultimately became one of his best serving teams was "lollipopping it in" early in the year, and Cook would have taken all bets that the Cornhuskers wouldn't lead the Big Ten in blocking and have the No.