Nebraska’s February Club Storylines to Follow
The grind continues. February is a fascinating month in the club calendar. While we won’t see the massive gauntlet of qualifiers that characterize March and April, we still aren’t skimping on major tournaments that will be worth keeping an eye…
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Continue ReadingThe grind continues.
February is a fascinating month in the club calendar. While we won’t see the massive gauntlet of qualifiers that characterize March and April, we still aren’t skimping on major tournaments that will be worth keeping an eye on. I’ve started building my schedule for this action-packed stretch, and that slate will come with some big Nebraska storylines.
Let’s lay out a few storylines as we dive head-first into February.
Will anyone steal the spotlight at Triple Crown?
Triple Crown NIT may not be a national qualifier, but the environment and level of play sure make it a big-time venue.
In fact, many would rightfully argue that Triple Crown is the most monumental event on the club calendar outside of nationals. We can frame all this from a local perspective and use this huge event as an early-season barometer for Nebraska’s top teams. There are few stiffer tests than Triple Crown.
And, as a testament to the depth of Nebraska’s talent on the national stage, we can safely assume that several teams from the Cornhusker State will be tabbed for Triple Crown’s coveted power pools. Getting chosen for those groups gives teams the distinct advantage of honing their skills against elite competition without the fear of being ousted from title contention right away.
What a perfect venue to see what Nebraska is made of.
Who prevails at the Presidents Day Challenge?
Keep your head on a swivel. We have another big event for Nebraska teams happening alongside Triple Crown.
The ASICS Presidents Day Challenge is another annual event that features a heap of competitors from across the Midwest. We’re going to learn a lot about the Nebraska hierarchy through this venue, and it helps that it’s right in our backyard at the CHI Health Center.
Above all, I’m ready to embrace the unique challenge of keeping tabs on both Triple Crown and Presidents Day at the same time. We’ve got a lot of work to do.
What will we learn about the 2025s and 2026s?
This conversation is about to rev up in a big way.
The early segment of the club calendar is usually geared toward the 18s and 17s. We’ve already seen that play out at the Northern Lights Qualifier, where both of these groups vied for January bids in Minneapolis.
That dynamic will eventually shift as more 15s and 16s get involved in the qualifier gauntlet. It’s worth reiterating that our Class of 2025 and 2026 rankings are still a work in progress, and there’s no better way to build on them than with some high-pressure events. With the 2025s due to encounter an especially important summer in the recruiting realm, we’re prepared to do our part in spotlighting these younger groups.
Who gets added to our list of stock risers?
Let’s bring the stock risers back into the mix.
In fact, you could probably tab this as an overriding theme for every month of the club season. It’s just that big. New names are going to rise to the forefront with many major events coming up, and we’ll be here to cover it all.
This is also a good way of revealing that our wholesale mid-season rankings updates are coming. We’ll start sifting through all the names and notes we’ve gathered through the end of February and give you some new rankings to chew on by the time March arrives. Until then, we’re going to sit back and cover some of the best club volleyball we’ll see all year.
On to February.