HUSKER VOLLEYBALL NAMES FIVE FOR ALL-REGION TEAM:
The Nebraska volleyball team placed five student-athletes on the AVCA North All-Region Team on Tuesday. It marks the most all-region selections for the Huskers since earning six in 2016.
Madi Kubik, Lexi Rodriguez, Kaitlyn Hord, Whitney Lauenstein and Bekka Allick were all selected to the AVCA North All-Region Team. Hord earned her fifth career all-region honor, while Kubik picked up her fourth and Rodriguez her second. Lauenstein and Allick were honored for the first time.
Kubik, a senior outside hitter, is an AVCA All-Region selection for the fourth time in her career after leading the Huskers with 3.17 kills per set and a .247 hitting percentage, the best of her four-year Husker career.
Rodriguez, a sophomore libero, also repeated as an AVCA All-Region and All-Big Ten First-Team selection this season.
Hord, a senior middle blocker, was named to the AVCA All-Region Team for the fifth time and the All-Big Ten Second Team this season after ranking among the nation’s leaders in blocks.
Lauenstein is averaging 2.79 kills per set while hitting .243 and has a team-high 28 service aces, which earned her a spot on the AVCA All-Region team for the first time.
Allick, a freshman middle blocker, earned her first AVCA All-Region honor this season and was one of just two unanimous choices to the seven-player All-Big Ten Freshman Team.
WIEGERT SET TO JOIN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME TONIGHT:
Outland Trophy winner and Nebraska great Zach Wiegert will have his name permanently placed among college football royalty tonight when he is inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Wiegert is part of a 21-man 2022 College Football Hall of Fame class that will be honored at the National Football Foundation dinner in Las Vegas.
Wiegert is the only member of the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame class who was a member of four conference championship teams.
Wiegert is the 20th Nebraska player to earn induction into the College Hall of Fame. Nebraska is one of 12 programs nationally with 20 or more players in the College Football Hall of Fame. Wiegert is the seventh Nebraska offensive lineman to join the College Football Hall of Fame, including four coached by Tom Osborne and offensive line coach Milt Tenopir.
HUSKER WRESTLER LABRIOLA NAMED NCAA & USA WRESTLER OF THE WEEK:
Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola (174) claimed the NCAA Wrestler of the Week and the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week honor.
The Easton, Pa., native and four-time All-American recorded five-straight wins enroute to his second straight Cliff Keen individual title. He defeated Will Miller of Appalachian State, Ross McFarland of Hofstra, #30 Sal Perrine of Ohio and #5 Demetrius Romero of Utah Valley before facing the top-seeded #2 Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech. In the finals, the two were tied 1-1 after Period 3 and went into sudden victory. Labriola grabbed the 3-1 win with a late takedown.
Labriola, who is currently the second-ranked wrestler in the nation according to the InterMat rankings, has a team-leading 102 career victories. This past weekend he became just the 30th Husker wrestler to amass 100 or more career victories. He is also 12-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference competition.
HUSKERS OFFER FORMER HAWKEYES WIDEOUT:
Nebraska made their fourth transfer portal offer of the 2023 cycle on Monday. However, this one seems to have more meaning.
NU head coach Matt Rhule offered Iowa and former Bellevue (Neb.) West wide receiver Keagan Johnson. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Johnson is the son of former Husker wide receiver Clester Johnson. Out of high school, he picked Iowa over Nebraska, but his entry into the transfer portal has given NU another chance. In just a few hours, Johnson has already received portal scholarship offers from NU, Notre Dame and Kansas State. He tweeted all three offers publicly before eventually deleting them.
The former four-star recruit Keagan Johnson appeared in just two games this past season and 11 games overall, totaling 20 catches for 363 yards and two touchdowns.
He was named a finalist for Big Ten freshman of the year with Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.
MEMORIAL STADIUM REPORTS LOWER TICKET SCAN NUMBERS:
Memorial Stadium’s sellout streak remains alive for another year, however the strain of Nebraska football’s six consecutive losing seasons took a significant toll on gate attendance during the 2022 season.
For the first time since the Omaha World-Herald started requesting the numbers, the scanned ticket total for a game — Nov. 19 vs. Wisconsin — dipped below 50,000.
NU’s scanned ticket numbers for the kickoff against the Badgers registered at 46,613 — 8,225 fewer than the previous low of 54,838 for the frigid 2018 Illinois game.
Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts is spearheading a major overhaul of Memorial Stadium that will remake the massive south chunk of seats and reduce the stadium’s capacity by perhaps tens of thousands when complete. Alberts has said he wants the “right size” the seating to fit the kind of modern amenities and experience college football fans have come to expect. That renovation will occur as the Huskers play games.
MORE PORTAL EXITS AND DECOMMITMENTS FOR HUSKER FOOTBALL:
More players are exiting stage left on the Nebraska Football program with the new hire of Matt Rhule as Head Coach.
Nebraska reserve offensive lineman Alex Conn has entered the transfer portal, he announced on Monday.
The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Conn is a native of Derby, Kansas, and did not appear in a game during his three seasons in Lincoln.
New Orleans running back Arnold Barnes decommitted from Nebraska on Monday morning as well. He gave a verbal to former interim coach Mickey Joseph on Nov. 1.
The Top247 ranks Barnes as the No. 80 running back in the class.
HEISMAN FINALISTS NAMED:
Quarterbacks Stetson Bennett of Georgia, Max Duggan of TCU, C.J. Stroud of Ohio State and Caleb Williams of Southern California were announced as finalists for the Heisman Trophy on Monday night.
The award given to the outstanding player in college football, determined by a vote of more than 900 sports journalists and past winners, will be presented Saturday at the Lincoln Center in New York.
BRADY MAGIC AGAIN – ANOTHER MONDAY NIGHT COMEBACK:
Clearly frustrated and on the verge of being held without a TD pass at home by the Saints for the third straight season, Tom Brady led scoring drives of 91 and 63 yards and the Bucs (6-6) back to .500, tightening the team’s grip on first place in the weak NFC South.
The 45-year-old quarterback tossed a one-yard TD pass to rookie Cade Otton, pulling within 16-10 with exactly three minutes remaining. He got the ball back with 2:29 to go, then won it with a 6-yard throw to another rookie, Rachaad White, with three seconds left.
Tampa Bay ended a seven-game, regular-season losing streak in the series with a 20-10 victory in Week 2, sacking Jameis Winston six times and forcing five turnovers.
The Bucs rebounded from an overtime loss to Cleveland to extend their division lead over the Atlanta Falcons to 1½ games.
NFL SCORES/SCHEDULES:
MONDAY:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-16 New Orleans Saints
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
TUESDAY:
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Girls Basketball: @ North Platte St. Pats – 5:30 PM
- Boys Basketball: @ North Platte St. Pats – 7:30 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6 PM- 8 PM)
WEDNESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6 PM – 6:30 PM)
- Nebraska Men’s Basketball @ Indiana (6:30 PM – 10:15 PM)
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Wrestling: Triangular v. GICC & North Platte St. Pats – 6 PM
- UNK:
- Women’s Basketball: @ Missouri Western, St. Joe, MO – 5:30 PM
- Men’s Basketball: @ Missouri Western, St. Joe, MO – 7:30 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- NCAA TOURNAMENT – Nebraska Volleyball v. Oregon (9:30 AM – 1:15 PM)
- Sports Nightly (6 PM- 8 PM)
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Wrestling: @ Council Bluffs Wrestling CLassic Tournament @ Mid-America Center
- Wrestling: Lincoln Northeast Tournament – 2 PM
- Girls Basketball: v. Lincoln High – 5:15 PM @ Kearney High School
- KGFW Pregame at 5 PM
- Boys Basketball: v. Lincoln High – 7 PM @ Kearney High School
- KGFW Pregame after GBB contest
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Wrestling: @ Wood River – 10 AM
- Girls Basketball: v. Ord – 5:30 PM
- Boys Basketball: v. Ord – 7:30 PM
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: v. UNK Pre-Holiday Classic @ Cope Coliseum
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Kearney High Girls Basketball v. Lincoln High (5 PM – 7 PM)
- Kearney High Boys Basketball v. Lincoln High (7 PM – 9 PM)
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Wrestling: @ Council Bluffs Wrestling CLassic Tournament @ Mid-America Center
- Girls Basketball: @ Omaha Northwest – 1 PM
- KGFW Pregame at 12:45 PM
- Boys Basketball: @ Omaha Northwest – 2:45 PM
- KGFW Pregame after GBB contest
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- Women’s Basketball: @ Northwest Missouri State @ Maryville, MO – 1:30 PM
- Men’s Basketball: @ Northwest Missouri State @ Maryville, MO – 3:30 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Kearney High Girls Basketball @ Omaha Northwest (12:45 PM – 2:45 PM)
- Kearney High Boys Basketball @ Omaha Northwest (2:45 PM – 4:45 PM)
- NCAA TOURNAMENT – Nebraska Volleyball v. TBA (Join in progress – TBD)
SUNDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- Wrestling: @ Fort Hays State Open @ Hays, KS – 9 AM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- N/a
