Omaha might host a lot more excellent college volleyball in April than just the NCAA Final Four.
The CHI Health Center already has been selected as the site of the Final Four, scheduled for April 22 and 24. But now there’s chatter that all 48 teams in the tournament might play their matches in Omaha in a coronavirus “bubble.”
Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook alluded to that possibility at a press conference about 10 days ago.
“I’m still not sure it’s 100%, but I think we’re pretty close to Omaha hosting, and maybe the whole thing, I’ve heard,” he said.
The NCAA has gone to the bubble concept — one city or area for an entire tournament — for the men’s basketball tourney, and probably the women’s tournament as well, to limit travel and contain the coronavirus.
Indiana has been selected for the men, and the NCAA said last week that the San Antonio area is under consideration for the women’s tourney.
People are also reading…
The NCAA, the Nebraska athletic department and other sources had little more to say about the NCAA’s intentions.
“There are a lot of different options being discussed” for the women’s volleyball tournament, Lauren McLaughlin of the NCAA said in an email. Changes in the way the tourney is handled would have to go through NCAA leadership, she said.
Another NCAA spokeswoman, Kristin Fasbender, said the organization will see how the season and pandemic unfold, and then make decisions about the tournament.
Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority spokeswoman Kristyna Engdahl said MECA and NCAA officials have discussed the possibility of Omaha hosting more than the Final Four.
MECA oversees the CHI Health Center, the city’s convention center and arena. Engdahl said the facility would be available for competition in April but offered little more information.
The Husker volleyball team, typically among the best in the nation, has won the NCAA title five times. Omaha has hosted the Final Four three times.
Deborah Ward, interim executive director of Visit Omaha, said the city would have no problem with hotel space.
“We know that the possibility of hosting that bubble event has been discussed, but there’s no final word yet,” she said Wednesday.
Ward said Omaha has experience with the bubble concept. Thirty-eight NCHC hockey games were held in Omaha in December to start the conference’s season.
Doug Parrott, public relations consultant for the Omaha Sports Commission, noted that Omaha also has experience hosting major sports events such as the Olympic Swim Trials and the College World Series.
“Things could probably be put together pretty quickly,” said Parrott. He said he had no information on the volleyball tournament.
University of Nebraska at Omaha Athletic Director Trev Alberts said coaches and college sports officials want the athletes to have the chance to compete.
“I think there’s a lot of discussions,” he said Tuesday. “You hear rumors, you hear thinking, you hear, ‘What about this?’ “
World-Herald staff writers Tom Shatel and Jon Nyatawa contributed to this report.
MEET THE 2021 NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL TEAM
Meet the 2021 Nebraska volleyball team
Kaylei Akana

Freshman /// Defensive specialist
Hometown: Hauula, Hawaii
About Kaylei: The Hawaii high school player of the year as a senior was a great late addition to this season’s squad. Akana had signed to play at Southern California, but she got her scholarship release after the coach left. She committed to Nebraska last April without having ever visited Lincoln, due to COVID-19. She leads Nebraska in ace serves with 20, and also has 143 digs and 23 set assists.
Did you know: The headband she wears when she plays is to cover the scar after having surgery twice to remove a brain tumor twice while in high school.
Kayla Caffey

Junior /// Middle blocker
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
About Kayla: She’s the latest example of the transfer portal being good to Nebraska, after she joined the Huskers from Missouri where she ranked ninth nationally in hitting percentage last season. “(Caffey) has a very fast arm and she can hit it all directions and in different body positions. So that’s a great arm,” John Cook says. Her most recent match was her best, when she had 10 kills on 13 error-free attempts for a .769 attack percentage against Michigan.
Did you know: Nebraska’s starter middle blockers, Lauren Stivrins and Caffey, are combining to average 5.2 kills per set. That’s up from last year when Callie Schwarzenbach and Stivrins combined to average 3.84 kills per set — a difference that can help decide some close sets.
Hayley Densberger

Senior /// Defensive specialist, libero
Hometown: Malcolm, Nebraska
About Hayley: The walk-on from the small town of Malcolm has had a nice college career, appearing in 103 matches, including 13 of 16 this season. She has 36 career aces, including eight during NCAA Tournament matches. She’s had several long serving runs this season.
Did you know: She’s believed to be the first player from Malcolm to play volleyball at Nebraska.
Anni Evans

Freshman /// Setter
Hometown: Waverly, Nebraska
About Anni: Evans is the backup setter and one of just two setters on the roster, along with Nicklin Hames. Evans has appeared in nine matches, mostly as part of a double substitution where Evans serves. She served an ace on the very first point she played during Nebraska’s four-set win against Maryland.
Did you know: She turned down scholarship offers to walk-on at Nebraska, where brothers Tyler and Erik were on the football team.
Emma Gabel

Redshirt freshman /// Defensive specialist, libero
Hometown: Lincoln, Nebraska
About Emma: The Lincoln Pius X graduate played for the first time this season, after missing all of last season due to a knee injury. When Nebraska was struggling in serve-receive during a match against Rutgers Gabel came in and helped steady the Huskers in that area. She’s appeared in two matches.
Did you know: She’s one of four players on the team that’s a product of Volleyball Club Nebraska, the club founded by former Nebraska setter Maggie Griffin about 10 years ago. Hayley Densberger, Anni Evans and Kalynn Meyer also played there.
Nicklin Hames

Junior /// Setter
Hometown: Maryville, Tennessee
About Nicklin: Hames has been Nebraska’s starting setter since Day 1 of her freshman season, and Nebraska has never been ranked lower than ninth with her running the show. This season she’s taking a few more risks with where she sets the ball, and at times that has made Nebraska’s offense really tough to stop. She earned first-team all-Big Ten honors after leading the league in assists per set (10.93).
Did you know: Her sister, Kayleigh, is a defensive specialist for 20th-ranked Pepperdine. Three Nebraska players have sisters playing college volleyball – Lauren Stivrins and Kaylei Akana are the others – but only the Hames sisters are each in the tournament this season.
Kenzie Knuckles

Sophomore /// Defensive specialist, libero
Hometown: Yorktown, Indiana
About Kenzie: The former outside hitter has been Nebraska’s starting libero since the first of her freshman season. She’s improved her serving from her freshman season, and her ace-to-error ratio of 13 to nine is one of the best on the team.
Did you know: Three players from her central Indiana club team (Munciana) were starting liberos for Big Ten teams this season – Ohio State’s Kylie Murr, Northwestern’s Megan Miller and Knuckles. Murr and Knuckles are close friends who were on the same teams for about six years, winning two high school state titles together for Yorktown and two club national championships (12 and 14 years) together.
Madi Kubik

Sophomore /// Outside hitter
Hometown: West Des Moines, Iowa
About Madi: She was the Big Ten freshman of the year in 2019. This season she ranks second on the team in kills with 151, trailing Lexi Sun (214) and Lauren Stivrins (181). Kubik’s hitting stats are similar to last season, and she’s improved her serving.
Did you know: She’s from a big-time volleyball family. Her mom, Renae, played in college at Missouri State, and her sister, Hayden, is the No. 1 national recruit in the junior class (committed to Nebraska). They also have two younger sisters who are good players.
Kalynn Meyer

Freshman /// Middle blocker
Hometown: Superior, Nebraska
About Kalynn: She’s appeared in four matches, but hasn’t been in long enough to have a block or hitting attempt. She’s behind a talented group of middle blockers with Lauren Stivrins, Kayla Caffey and Callie Schwarzenbach, but the coaches have liked Meyer’s improvements since joining the team last summer.
Did you know: Her mom, Peggy, played volleyball at Nebraska under Terry Pettit from 1991-94. So Meyer joins Kelly Hunter as Huskers who followed their mom in playing volleyball for the Huskers.
Callie Schwarzenbach

Junior /// Middle blocker
Hometown: Kearney, Missouri
About Callie: She’s appeared in eight of the 16 matches, mostly as a backup middle blocker. But she started during a recent win against Iowa and had one of the best matches of her career with five blocks and four kills with an .800 hitting percentage.
Did you know: Her recruiting story is an all-timer, coming on a tip from a farmer in Roca to assistant coach Dani Busboom Kelly’s father. “I saw that she was 6-foot-4,” Busboom-Kelly said. “I was like, ‘OK, I’ll invite her on a visit,’ and she ends up being one of the top middles in the country.”
Lauren Stivrins

Senior /// Middle blocker
Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
About Lauren: She’s a once-a-decade athlete at her position due to her combination of athleticism, years of experience playing and competitive fire. During the third match of the season against Maryland she absolutely dominated with 18 kills on 20 attempts. If Stivrins earns All-Americans honors for a third time this season she’ll be just the 13th player in program history to earn All-American honors at least three times.
Did you know: She’s likely to have two of the top three hitting percentage marks in program history. She’s hitting .471 this season, and hit .421 as a sophomore. Tracy Stalls has Nebraska’s record for hitting percentage in a season when she hit .473 in 2007.
Lexi Sun

Senior /// Outside hitter
Hometown: Encinitas, California
About Lexi: She’s probably on her way to a second All-American season with Nebraska, after earning third-team honors last season. Her 3.82 kills per set are a career best, despite not playing nonconference matches that can sometimes inflate stats. And she’s one of the best all-around players in the Big Ten. When combining kills, blocks and ace serves Sun ranks fourth in the league in points per set (4.53).
Did you know: Sun was one of just seven players, and the only outside hitter, who all 14 league coaches voted for first-team all-conference honors.
Jazz Sweet

Senior /// Outside hitter
Hometown: Topeka, Kansas
About Jazz: She’s had some big matches in her career – including 12 kills on .375 hitting against Penn State in the national semifinals as a freshman, and 10 kills in the national championship match as a sophomore. But to start this season she lost the starting job to Riley Zuhn. Now Zuhn is out for the season with a foot injury. “(Sweet) hasn’t had a great year, and I want her to write a great chapter for her career here on how she finishes the season,” John Cook said.
Did you know: In 2015 when Sweet committed to Nebraska she told the Nebraska coaches she was accepting the offer by sending balloons and cookies to the coaches’ offices, which is one of the most unique ways a player has ever committed to the Huskers.
Riley Zuhn

Sophomore /// Middle blocker, outside hitter
Hometown: Fort Collins, Colorado
About Riley: It was a surprise when Zuhn won the starting right-side hitter job to start the season because she’d only played in a few matches as a freshman in 2019. She suffered a season-ending foot injury in March.
Did you know: Her brother, Trey, is a four-star football recruit set to begin his college career at Texas A&M. Like his sister, he had a scholarship offer from Nebraska.