Last year Northern Colorado volleyball played in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years, losing in a five-set match to third-seeded Creighton, marking the first time since 2001 that a Big Sky team had gone to a fifth set in an NCAA Tournament match. Combined with regular season wins over Washington and Colorado State, and five-set losses to ranked teams BYU and Colorado, the Bears proved they were able to compete with some of the top programs in the country. As a testament to that Nebraska invited UNC to compete in a spring volleyball match in Chadron, Neb. on April 25. That match was televised on PBS in Colorado and streamed online on B1G Network, with Nebraska winning all four sets, 25-21, 25-18, 25-16, 25-21 in front of a sold-out crowd of 1,852.
There are plenty of connections between these programs and states. UNC has a pair of assistant coaches from either the state of Nebraska or the University of Nebraska. Jayden McCartney-Lamb, the Director of Operations and assistant coach, is from Chadron. Colin Heath is his first season at UNC as an assistant, as he was formerly a graduate assistant coach at NU. Bears sophomore Maddie Rink, a 6’3″ middle blocker, is from Lincoln, Neb. In high school her team won the 2023 state championship. Nebraska senior Andi Jackson is from Brighton. Jackson is not only a First Team All-American the past two seasons, but was also last year’s AVCA Middle Blocker of the Year. Chadron State senior volleyball player Bella Adams, who is from Pueblo, kept stats for the TV broadcast.
One big difference in these two teams is the depth that Nebraska has. This season NU returns three All-Americans, including Jackson, from a team that was the overall number one seed in last year’s tournament. The Huskers finished 33-1, with the only loss coming to eventual NCAA champion Texas A&M, and might field a better team this season. UNC meanwhile lost most of their firepower from their 2025 team. The Bears will have an extremely young team in 2026 with the key returners being setter Nerea Alvarez, who previously played at Northeastern Junior College, and defensive specialist Bella LaPore.
