Nebraska and Florida were the last teams standing in the 2017 NCAA volleyball season when the Huskers claimed their fifth NCAA championship. Eight months later, they'll meet again as two very different teams when the Gators visit Lincoln, Nebraska, on Friday.
The Huskers have eight new faces from last season, including sophomore outside hitter Lexi Sun, the top 2017 recruit who transferred from Texas. The Gators have seven new faces, including freshman outside hitter Thayer Hall, the top 2018 recruit.
The main experienced players Nebraska and Florida do have back have different strengths. For the Huskers, it's outside hitter Mikaela Foecke and defensive specialist Kenzie Maloney, both seniors. Nebraska lost graduated setter Kelly Hunter, who shared most outstanding player honors with Foecke at last year's NCAA tournament.
The Gators get back fifth-year senior Allie Monserez at setter and junior middle blocker Rachael Kramer, but lost to graduation standout scorers Carli Snyder and Shainah Joseph and middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan, along with libero Caroline Knop.
In short, while they may be ranked Nos. 2 and 7 in the preseason AVCA poll, the Huskers and Gators have a lot of question marks.
"It's like kindergarten class, learning where to sit, where to line up, how to follow directions," Nebraska coach John Cook said of the Huskers, who were picked by fellow league coaches to win their third consecutive Big Ten title. "Over half our team, they don't know the drills or the terminology. We're in teaching mode, trying to get everybody comfortable, so we can start turning up the pace and intensity. If they have to think too much, it's difficult in a sport like volleyball to get any rhythm."
One thing the Huskers definitely developed last year was rhythm. They won their last 19 matches of the season, losing just nine games in that stretch. After Nebraska beat Penn State and Florida topped Stanford in five sets in the national semifinals, the Huskers, backed by thousands of fans at the final four in Kansas City, won 3-1 over the Gators.
Florida coach Mary Wise had been trying to win her first NCAA title -- and the first by any female head coach -- in her eighth trip to the final four. This year, the Gators are taking more of an underdog persona -- No. 5 Kentucky was picked to win the SEC -- but don't be surprised if Florida still puts together a very strong season.
"Let's just say there are a lot of wide-open positions," Wise said. "Ours is a team that the lineup could look very different match to match, week to week, and month to month. But that's good because of the depth we have. Defensively, I think we are already a quicker team than a year ago."
It will be challenging, though, as the Gators will face Nebraska, No. 3 Texas and No. 10 USC all in the first full week of the season. As for what it means to the Gators to start this season against the team that beat them to end last season, Wise said it's exciting ... but the people who would have appreciated it the most aren't there.
"I can think of a group of seniors who'd like to be on that floor. They'd have loved this opportunity," she said of the highly competitive class that finished in 2017. "We're not last year's team, though. But the Florida name doesn't change and our goals don't really change."
Wise said Monserez has been a strong leader for the team, which added her younger sister, freshman setter Marlie Monserez. Wise also thinks that the 6-foot-8 Kramer, Florida's top returning point scorer (370), could have a very big season.
"She realizes the deficiencies in her game: the need to be a more physical blocker, to create offensively in less-than-perfect situations," Wise said of Kramer. "As good as Rachael is, I don't think we're close to her top end."
As for talent, Cook knew he had a lot in Foecke, who led the Huskers in points last season (514), and Maloney, who was tops in digs (452). But he's been pleasantly surprised with their leadership with Hunter gone.
"If you'd have asked me a few years ago if they would be captains of Nebraska volleyball, I would have said no way," Cook said. "But one of the things I've learned about our program, and this environment for volleyball, is that we are molding and developing leaders.
"With Kelly, I would not have called her a leader at one point. I redshirted her because she wasn't ready to lead the team her sophomore year (2014). With Mikaela and Kenzie, I named them captains in January, the first day back. I said, 'We're not waiting or voting on it.' They've blossomed into great leaders."
Still, setter obviously is one of the most key positions in volleyball, and Nebraska is trying to replace the three-year starter Hunter with a combination of freshman Nicklin Hames, junior Mari Kurkova from the Czech Republic, and senior Brooke Smith. Cook counts Smith among the "new" faces because she wasn't with the team last year -- she played at Kansas State -- but she did spend her first two seasons with the Huskers in a limited reserve role.
"I have no idea what kind of team we'll be, but we have some good pieces," Cook said. "I think we're going to be pretty good at passing and serving. If you can do those things and play some defense, you've got a chance. I like the idea of seeing what we can become."