Path to Nebraska runs thru San Diego

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: March 16, 2023

Nebraska's Lindsay Krause / Cornhuskers courtesy photo

2023 GROSSMONT COLLEGE WOMEN’S BEACH VOLLEYBALL

By Nick Pellegrino
ECS Senior writer

CHULA VISTA – The line of succession — and success — finds all fingers pointing from San Diego to the University of Nebraska.

Cornhuskers indoor women’s volleyball John Cook is a product of coaching the San Diego Volleyball CLub, then he found national coaching success at UC San Diego and Francis Parker High School. Thus, Cook was granted the opportunity to tern Nebraska volleyball into a national power, too.

John Cook

The results so far: four NCA Division I national championships in seven finals appearance.10 Final Four berths, and much more, becoming the seventh winningest coach in NCAA history. In fact, Cook is already a member of the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Hall of Fame inductee in 2017 FULL BIO

How did Cook do it? One way was to recruit Southern California talent, convincing them they can reach at the top at Nebraska after West Coast schools like USC, UCLA and Stanford selected other players to recruit.

Cook’s current assistant is Jaylen Reyes, a product of BYU, who is both in charge as f recruiting coordinator and is the Huskers head coach for women’s beach volleyball.

Reyes has learned from Cook: come to California to garner recruits. And he does.

Thus, those in the volleyball community were hardly surprised when Nebraska came to town Thursday (Mar. 16) to meet a pair of state-power community colleges in a one-day tournament at Grossmont College.

The Huskers meet (and defeated) both the Griffins and San Diego Mesa, each, but it’s no secret, many of the players on the losing teams will be asked to become future Cornhuskers.

Technically, Grossmont was the host, but the matches were held at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. Also participating was Hope International University, an NAIA school baed in Fullerton, which plays in the same conference as San Diego Christian College.

Nebraska (11-5 overall) picked up a 5-0 sweep over San Diego Mesa, but Grossmont did a touch better in taking one match against the 4-year school in a 4-1 setback.

Despite the lob-sided score, the winners for Grossmont College were their No. 1 rated team of Madi Bogle/Alana Embry, The pair won 22-20, 21-14,

NU will now travel to Irvine,to play Saddleback College and Orange Coast College on Friday, followed by Irvine Valley College and Hope International on on Saturday to conclude the beach season.

The Huskers opened the road swing with a match against nationally ranked Hawaii (14-3), falling, 5-0. READ MORE

If nothing else, the matches will be an excellent preview to the CCCAA community college championships later this spring.

Game Stats

Nebraska 5, San Diego Mesa 0
1. Bekka Allick/Lexi Rodriguez (NEB) def. Sophia Jarosz/Tia Mendiola (MESA) 21-13, 21-19
2. Merritt Beason/Harper Murray (NEB) def. Maddie Harris/Tori Goff (MESA) 21-9, 21-17
3. Ally Batenhorst/Bergen Reilly (NEB) def. Isabelle Bakken/Nicole Eden (MESA) 18-21, 21-18, 15-13
4. Laney Choboy/Lindsay Krause (NEB) def. Maya Jessee/Emily Eltrich (MESA) 22-20, 21-16
5. Maisie Boesiger/Andi Jackson (NEB) def. Kaila Keovilaysane/Izzy Restani (MESA) 23-21, 21-16
Exh. Caroline Jurevicius/Hayden Kubik (NEB) def. Haley Engelbrecht/Madison Daniels (MESA) 21-14, 21-7

Nebraska 4, Grossmont College 1
1. Madi Bogle/Alana Embry (GC) def. Bekka Allick/Lexi Rodriguez (NEB) 22-20, 21-14
2. Merritt Beason/Harper Murray (NEB) def. Amanda Pena/Haven Del Guidice (GC) 21-14, 21-6
3. Ally Batenhorst/Bergen Reilly (NEB) def. Hannah Werner/Chelsea Trendler (GC) 21-19, 21-16
4. Laney Choboy/Lindsay Krause (NEB) def. Rylee Suggett/Aly Guise (GC) 21-16, 21-10
5. Maisie Boesiger/Andi Jackson (NEB) def. Kortney Hitt/Lauren Dumo (GC) 21-10, 21-15
Exh. Caroline Jurevicius/Hayden Kubik (NEB) def. Hannah Debbin/Penina Sio (GC) 21-5, 21-18.