LINCOLN — There will come a time when Nebraska hosting Illinois at the Devaney Center is just another key match in the battle for a Big Ten crown.

But in 2010, the final nonconference volleyball showdown between the Huskers and Illini will be no ho-hum affair.

Two weeks into the season, No. 7 Nebraska plays its first true home matches this weekend as it welcomes a formidable group of foes to its Players Challenge tournament. The Huskers take on 20th-ranked Dayton on Thursday and Western Michigan on Friday, with both of those matches set to be played at the Coliseum.

On Saturday night, Nebraska takes aim at No. 3 Illinois at the Devaney Center. It will be one of the biggest matches the Huskers have hosted in Lincoln during the past decade, and it represents a huge hurdle before NU opens its final Big 12 schedule next week.

“This is a great opportunity for us to take a step and see if we can become a better team,” Nebraska coach John Cook said. “We’re going to get three great opponents, and all of these teams are off to great starts.”

Dayton, with former Nebraska setter Jessica Yanz guiding its offense, comes to Lincoln with a 5-1 record, The Flyers boast a victory over No. 18 Northern Iowa, and their only loss was against 12th-ranked Minnesota.

Western Michigan is a young team, but the Broncos’ six-player freshman class was ranked among the top 50 in the country by prepvolleyball.com. Western Michigan, which is shooting for its fourth straight Mid-American Conference West title, is 6-1 with a win over Arizona State and a loss to Ohio State.

Illinois is off to an impressive 5-0 start. The Illini last weekend swept Texas in Austin, becoming the first team to accomplish that feat in seven years. Illinois’ No. 3 ranking is the school’s highest since 1988.

The Illini’s loaded lineup includes a conference-best four preseason All-Big Ten picks: senior outside hitter Laura DeBruler, senior middle blocker Johannah Bangert, senior setter Hillary Haen and junior outside hitter Michelle Bartsch. All four earned All-America recognition last year as Illinois finished 26-6 and lost to Hawaii in the regional semifinals.

But coach Kevin Hambly also added two high-profile newcomers in junior outside hitter Colleen Ward, a transfer who previously starred at Florida, and standout freshman libero Jennifer Bonilla, a two-year member of the USA youth national team.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 11,031 tickets had been sold for the NU-Illinois contest. Last year, when the Huskers fell in five sets to UCLA at the Devaney Center, a regular-season NCAA-record crowd of 13,870 attended the match.

“Illinois is playing really, really well, and that’s going to be a great challenge (on Saturday),” Cook said. “But I also think our other two matches are going to be really tough, too. This has turned out to be a pretty strong tournament.”

The 5-1 Huskers are coming off three victories last weekend at the BYU Invitational. But Cook said Nebraska hasn’t come close to playing its best volleyball, and the coach knows that his team will have to perform better if it wants to defend its home turf.

Cook still is eager to see the Huskers cut down on their errors. He wants them to show better overall consistency and avoid shaky play during the opening set.

“We’re still trying to work through some things, just making sure everyone’s comfortable with where they’re at on the court,” said Nebraska freshman Morgan Broekhuis, who hit .310 or better in all three victories at BYU. “It’s going to come. I think we’re all excited, which maybe has led to some of our errors. But I think once we calm down and get into our groove, we’re going to be fine.”

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

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