If everything goes according to plan this season, Nebraska will make three trips to the Bluegrass State.

The Huskers started the season against Kentucky in Louisville on Aug. 27. They will return a month later to play the hometown Cardinals. If NU advances to the national semifinals, it will play in Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center for a third time in 2024.

Nebraska has often made double trips to a city during a season. In the 1980s, the Big Eight hosted the conference tournament on campus sites for several years. NU also made a return trip in the postseason to Champaign, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana, in the 1990s. During the John Cook era, the Huskers went to Manhattan, Kansas; Omaha; Columbus, Ohio; and Madison, Wisconsin, twice in the same year.

Nebraska has made three separate trips to the same city only twice during one season.

The first came in 2008 when the Huskers opened the season with wins over Stanford and USC in the AVCA Showcase at the then-Qwest Center in Omaha. NU returned to the arena, now the CHI Health Center, to earn a sweep over Creighton in October. The season ended on the same court in December with a loss to an undefeated Penn State squad in the national semifinals.

The other time NU played in the same city three times came in 2018. The Huskers lost a regular-season match to Minnesota in October at Maturi Pavilion. NU returned in December for regionals and picked up wins over Kentucky and Oregon, which upset the host Gophers to punch its ticket to the national semifinal in Minneapolis, but three miles away in the Target Center. Nebraska topped Illinois but couldn’t defend its title as it fell in the championship match to Stanford.

To make that third trip happen this year, NU coach John Cook has tried to upgrade the roster and been more aggressive in the transfer portal.

Nebraska lost some of its depth after four players left via the portal in December and January — outside hitters Ally Batenhorst and Hayden Kubik, middle blocker Maggie Mendelson and opposite Caroline Jurevicius. Only Batenhorst saw significant playing time, appearing in 87 sets and being the No. 2 outside hitter after Lindsay Krause went down with an ankle injury in October.

While every other starter will return for the Huskers, they added two significant pieces to increase their offensive firepower after Texas swept NU in the national title match. Outside hitter Taylor Landfair and middle blocker Leyla Blackwell will raise the competition level in the practice gym and replenish the Huskers’ depth. The Huskers didn’t appear to have a significant need for an outside hitter with the return of second-team All-American Harper Murray and Krause, who played like an All-American before her injury. However, Cook added Landfair from Minnesota, hoping she would regain her form from 2022 when she was the Big Ten Player of the Year.

Nothing is certain at outside hitter, as each of the four players on the roster brings some uncertainty.

Landfair averaged 4.35 kills in 2022, but that number fell to 3.19 in 2023, and her hitting percentage dropped by 35 points. The 6-foot-5 junior was also targeted by opponents. Her digs average increased to over two per set, and she had 866 serve receptions, erring on 78 attempts. The Huskers hope a change of scenery will reengage Landfair and help her return to All-America status in her senior year.

Krause fully participated in the beach season and played in the spring match in Kearney. However, she admitted she was still working to regain strength and return to her high-flying self after tearing ligaments in her ankle. With another few months of training and physical rehab, she is expected to play the season at full strength.

The biggest unknown is the status of sophomore Harper Murray. This spring she had two separate encounters with the law. The first resulted in a DUI citation and four other charges. A month later, she was charged with shoplifting at a Lincoln sporting goods store.

Murray remained around the team and practiced with the Huskers but did not participate in the spring match. She settled her court case in July and received a six-month probation and a fine. Her shoplifting case can be dismissed pending completion of a pretrial diversion program. Cook said she’s made amends during the summer, learned from the situation and therefore was available when the Huskers started their season in Louisville.

Skyler Pierce, though a freshman, might bring the least amount of uncertainty. Among the nation’s top recruits, she was one of the best beach players and wowed the crowd in the spring exhibition match. She might have begun the season behind the upperclassmen, but she’ll be ready to contribute when called upon.

At middle blocker, Nebraska appeared set for the future, with Rebekah Allick and Andi Jackson penciled in the starting lineup for the next three years. However, after Mendelson left, they were the only two middles on the roster, leaving NU with no margin for error.

Enter Blackwell, who will use her final season of eligibility in Lincoln. She isn’t just a player to break out in case of an emergency. The 6-4 middle blocker starred at San Diego, earned All-West Coast Conference honors in the past three seasons and helped the Toreros reach the Final Four in 2022.

By including Blackwell in the position group, the Huskers should be able to rotate the trio to keep them fresh during the grinding season. Jackson played in every match last season except the season opener against Utah State.

Allick missed three matches and took more than a month off while sitting out the beach season to recover physically.

While the left pin and middle blocker spots will have battles likely to last into the season, the Huskers’ other positions appear set.

Lexi Rodriguez is coming off her second season as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year at libero and her third season as either a first- or second-team All-American. Along with opposite Merritt Beason, Rodriguez served as the captain for last year’s squad, and the two are guiding the Huskers through the season as they gird for another run at a national title.

After transferring from Florida, Beason was superb in her first year in the program. The first-team All-American played all but a handful of points and was often NU’s most reliable player. She rose to the occasion in most big matches and was a contender for Player of the Year in both the Big Ten and nationally.

Cook has continued to prod his leaders to up their level. Even after All-American seasons, he’s pushing Rodriguez and Beason to find areas to improve.

The other linchpin to the Huskers’ success a year ago was Bergen Reilly and her steady demeanor and elite play. The freshman setter made NU’s attack one of the best in the country. Reilly was a second-team All-American and the top setter in the Big Ten.

The NU coaching staff has given Reilly more control of the offense, hoping that she can pull the right strings to get the Huskers back to Louisville at the end of the season.

Behind Rodriguez, the Huskers have top defensive specialists to solidify the back row. Laney Choboy brought energy and intensity every time she stepped on the court. She’ll be joined by freshman Olivia Mauch, the libero for the junior national team that won the U19 World Championships last season. Also, Maisie Boesiger can come in and deliver effective serves.

While last year might have been a perfect storm of events, with the entire team on campus together in January and a foreign trip mixed in, Cook and Co. are banking on consistency carrying over to 2024. If the Huskers want to improve on their runner-up finish from last year, they will have to do something they haven’t done before: leave Louisville without a loss.

In 2004, top-ranked Nebraska defeated Louisville in the Kentucky International Convention Center before falling to USC 15-12 in the fifth set of the regional final. The Huskers returned in 2022 and were upset by Oregon in the regional semifinal. Only four players remain on the roster from the team that lost to the Ducks - Rodriguez, Krause, Allick and Boesiger.

Now, NU will get a chance to make more history with its multiple trips to Louisville this year. Still, the Huskers hope they have the right mix of experience, depth and familiarity with Louisville to leave the city in the winner’s circle.

OLIVIA MAUCH, DS/LIBERO, 5-6, FRESHMAN SKYLER PIERCE, OUTSIDE HITTER, 6-2, FRESHMAN LANEY CHOBOY, DS/LIBERO, 5-3, SOPHOMORE ANDI JACKSON, MIDDLE BLOCKER, 6-3, SOPHOMORE HARPER MURRAY, OUTSIDE HITTER, 6-2, SOPHOMORE BERGEN REILLY, SETTER, 6-1, SOPHOMORE REBEKAH ALLICK, MIDDLE BLOCKER, 6-4, JUNIOR MAISIE BOESIGER, DS/LIBERO, 5-6, JUNIOR MERRITT BEASON, OPPOSITE, 6-4, SENIOR LEYLA BLACKWELL, MIDDLE BLOCKER, 6-4, SENIOR LINDSAY KRAUSE, OUTSIDE HITTER, 6-4, SENIOR TAYLOR LANDFAIR, OUTSIDE HITTER, 6-5, SENIOR KENNEDI ORR, SETTER, 6-0, SENIOR LEXI RODRIGUEZ, DS/LIBERO, 5-5, SENIOR