LOPER FOOTBALL FINISHES 15th IN FINAL POLL:
The Nebraska-Kearney football team is ranked 15th in the final edition of the AFCA Division II Top 25 poll for the 2021 season.
UNK (10-3) garnered 304 points to be one of seven “Super Region 3” teams to be ranked. The others were Ferris State, Mich. (1st), Northwest Missouri State (4th), Grand Valley State, Mich. (7th), Harding, Ark. (10th), Ouachita Baptist, Ark. (23rd) and Washburn (25th).
This is the third-highest final ranking for a Loper football team in the AFCA poll. The 2011 squad (10-2) came in 10th with the 2009 Lopers (11-2) finishing eighth.
HUSKER FOOTBALL SPRING GAME DATE SET:
The Nebraska football team’s 2022 spring game will be played Saturday, April 9, NU athletic director Trev Alberts said Monday.
Speaking on the Huskers Radio Network, Alberts said the game will be played on an earlier date as Nebraska begins work to replace the playing surface in Memorial Stadium that has been in place since 2013.
The spring game will be the final game on the current turf.
The date is the same day as the third round of The Masters golf tournament, as well as a Nebraska home baseball game against Rutgers.
TREV ALBERTS SPORTS NIGHTLY COMMENTS:
ALBERTS – VOLLEYBALL A MICROCOSM OF HUSKER ATHLETICS
Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts spoke on his monthly update on Sports Nightly, and said he was proud of the effort shown by the Husker Volleyball team in another national title run…
Alberts continued saying that with the expansion of athletes’ advantages with NIL, the transfer portal, and other amenities, this Husker team has proven that Nebraska’s model works.
ALBERTS – COOK AN OPEN-MINDED COACH
Huskers Athletic Director Trev Alberts spoke on Sports Nightly for his monthly visit Monday night, and praised Volleyball Coach John Cook on his successful run to a national title game…
Alberts praised the Husker Volleyball team for their gritty run to the national title match as well as gave props to the undefeated Women’s Basketball team.
ALBERTS – FAN EXPERIENCE AIDS IN RECRUITMENT
Athletic Director for Nebraska Trev Alberts joined Sports Nightly on Monday for his monthly appearance and spoke about the Husker Volleyball team’s run to success in the national title game.
Alberts added that Husker fans play a key role not only in current success, but for future ambitions for Husker athletics…
Alberts added that a fan experience survey will be coming in January to improve experiences at all of the Husker locations.
HUSKERS’ MARKOWSKI EARNS ANOTHER HONOR:
Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski captured her second Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week honor of the season, when the conference announced its weekly award winners for women’s basketball on Monday afternoon.
The 6-3 forward/center out of Lincoln Pius X High School notched her second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to power unbeaten Nebraska to an 89-68 victory over Drake on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Markowski hit 6-of-8 shots from the field and all three of her free throw attempts, while adding a steal in just over 16 minutes of action off the bench.
McGOWENS SHARES BIG TEN AWARD:
Bryce McGowens shared Big Ten Conference Freshman-of-the-Week honors with Michigan’s Kobe Bufkin.
McGowens had 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in Sunday’s loss to Kansas State. It marked his eighth double-figure effort of the season, as McGowens leads all Big Ten Freshmen in both scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.1 rpg). It is his third weekly Big Ten honor.
The Huskers finish non-conference action on Wednesday night by hosting Kennesaw State. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. and tickets for the contest are available at Huskers.com.
HAC TOURNAMENT ASSIGNMENTS SET:
Both the Kearney High Girls Basketball (4-2) and the Boys (3-3) are seeded #6 overall in their respective brackets and will host their opening contest of the Heartland Athletic Conference tournament on Monday, December 27.
Both teams are coming off of back-to-back wins over a road weekend in Norfolk and Columbus.
The Bearcat girls will face #11 Lincoln North Star (2-4) at 2 PM on Monday, while the boys take on #11 Fremont (0-4) at 3:45 PM.
Both games will be broadcast on KGFW with Austin Jacobsen on the call.
HUSKER VOLLEYBALL: NATIONAL TITLE POSTGAME COMMENTS:
COOK – PROUD OF HUSKERS FOR RESILIENCY
The Nebraska Volleyball team could not overcome a 7 point deficit in the final set as Wisconsin was named the national champion on Saturday night. Husker Head Coach John Cook said in the postgame its the most proud he’s been of a Nebraska team…
The Huskers were seeded No. 10 in the tournament and was considered to be in a “reloading” season in Cook’s own preseason comments. Nebraska finished as a runner-up for the fifth time in school history.
STIVRINS – PROUD OF EFFORT FROM INEXPERIENCED HUSKERS
Senior middle blocker Lauren Stivrins added her post-game comments after the Huskers national title loss to Wisconsin she was happy to see the inexperienced Huskers fight…
The Huskers earned their fifth national runner-up in school history.
HAMES – EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO LAST GAME
Nicklin Hames was overcome with emotions during the national championship post-game as she realized it would be her last game with the Husker seniors, specifically middle blocker Lauren Stivrins…
The Huskers ended the season as the No. 10 overall seed and their fifth national runner-up in school history.
LOPER MEN OUTGUNNED AT HOME BY BRONCHOS:
Central Oklahoma used a late run to down Nebraska-Kearney, 84-63, Sunday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.
The Bronchos (9-2, 5-1) win a fifth straight MIAA game by double digits and improve to 17-5 all-time against the Lopers (5-6, 1-4). The two will meet again Feb. 3 in Edmond with each team not playing again until Jan. 1.
The Division II winter moratorium this year runs from Dec. 21-27.
LOPER WOMEN USE LATE RALLY TO UNSEAT BRONCHOS:
The No. 12/7 Nebraska-Kearney women’s basketball team closed on a 13-4 run to get past Central Oklahoma, 72-64, Sunday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.
UNK (10-1, 5-0) pushes its win streak to nine straight and sits atop the MIAA standings after the first semester. The Lopers are now off until Jan. 1 and will return to practice on Dec. 28 as this year’s Division II moratorium runs from Dec. 21-27.
These two teams will meet again Feb. 3 in Edmond. The Lopers are at Rogers State on Jan. 1 (Sat.) and Northeastern State on Jan. 3 (Mon.) to start the second semester.
NEBRASKA WOMEN CLOSE OUT NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE WITH WYOMING:
The Nebraska women’s basketball team wraps up its three-game pre-holiday home stand by playing host to Wyoming on Wednesday afternoon in Lincoln.
Tip-off between the Huskers (11-0, 1-0 Big Ten) and the 2021 NCAA Tournament-qualifying Cowgirls (4-4) is set for Noon (CT) at Pinnacle Bank Arena
Nebraska is coming off an impressive 89-68 win over Drake on Sunday in Lincoln. Five Huskers scored in double figures, led by the second straight double-double by Alexis Markowski (15 points, 10 rebounds), who earned her second Big Ten Freshman of the Week award for the performance.
NU is one of just seven remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
TUESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: v. Boone Central – 4 PM
- BOYS BASKETBALL: v. Boone Central – 6 PM
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
WEDNESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
