Cook says Nebraska program easy to sell to potential recruits

Being in a recruiting war for the top high school players each season can be a daunting task for any coach.

But as Nebraska Volleyball Coach John Cook told the crowd gathered at Fremont Golf Club Thursday night, being a volleyball player at Nebraska creates unique opportunities.

"Our players have an unbelievable platform to impact kids in this state. That's something we sell recruits on," Cook said. "If you go to Los Angeles, nobody cares that you're on the UCLA volleyball team because there's so much else going on.

"If you're a Nebraska volleyball player and you talk to some young girl, you can impact her life. ... It's a great opportunity for our young women to make a difference and give back."

Cook, along with former players Anna Schrad and Jenae Dowling, were guests at the Founder's Day celebration for the University of Nebraska's Fremont Area Alumni Chapter.

This past week, Nebraska added 6-foot-3 middle blocker Tracy Stalls of Arvada, Colo., to its recruiting class for the 2004 season. She will join 6-1 middle blocker Meghan Smith from Sidney and 6-5 right side hitter Sarah Pavan from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, as freshmen on the Huskers' roster this fall.

"They could have gone anywhere in the country. They visited Stanford, they visited USC, they visited Penn State," Cook said.

The atmosphere surrounding Nebraska volleyball, from the fans, to the Coliseum, to the academic support, makes the program easy to sell, Cook said.

He told how he is always asked when the Huskers are going to get a bigger arena to accommodate more fans. His answer is simple — the Coliseum is the perfect place to watch a volleyball match and the players love to play there.

"One of the things that makes the Coliseum so special is it is so intimate. When you're watching a match there, you get to reach down and almost touch Anna and Jenae out there," Cook said. "You can see their emotions. You can see how they're feeling. You can feel it and be a part of it. And we don't want to lose that."

Schrad and Dowling, who both completed their eligibility last season, echoed the statements of their coach.

Schrad, who graduated from Pius X High School in Lincoln, fulfilled a childhood dream by playing for the Huskers.

"It was more than I ever expected that it would be. It was amazing. I had so many wonderful experiences," Schrad said.

Dowling, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., passed up other scholarship offers to walk on at Nebraska. She said volleyball has impacted her life in many ways.

"In every aspect of my life, it's helped me. Being an athlete has helped me grow as a person," Dowling said.

Schrad and Dowling were freshmen on the Huskers' 2000 National Championship team, Cook's first year as head coach. Nebraska is looking to pave the way for another championship this fall through spring exhibition games. The Huskers have compiled a 5-0 record this spring and will compete against Minnesota — a Final Four team last fall — at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Coliseum.

Thursday night's festivities also included the awarding of a scholarship from the alumni chapter to Lincoln Arneal of North Bend. The senior journalism major at UNL has written about the Husker volleyball program the past two years for the Daily Nebraskan newspaper, in addition to providing sports coverage for the Fremont Tribune.

"He did a great job covering volleyball and you know that because if any of the (Daily Nebraskan) writers, if they're no good, we get rid of them right away," Cook joked. "Your biggest accomplishment has been being able to write about volleyball."