NCAA VOLLEYBALL: DEC 17 Division I Women — Lexi Rodriguez (Image via: Getty)

Lexi Rodriguez bids goodbye to Nebraska Cornhuskers, days after team's semifinal defeat at NCAA Volleyball Championships 2024

Modified Dec 21, 2024 21:21 GMT

Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball player Lexi Rodriguez bid goodbye to the team as her final year with the side comes to a close. This comes just after the Huskers' defeat in the semifinals of the NCAA Volleyball Championships 2024 against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

This match also turned out to be the last clash of the season for the Huskers, which meant the end of Rodriguez and her teammate Merritt Beason's playing time with the team. Rodriguez has also signed a deal to play with League One Volleyball team Omaha after the end of her collegiate career.

She took to her Instagram handle recently to share a stories post as she left the Nebraska Cornhuskers team after the NCAA semifinals. Her text overlay read:

"saying goodbye to a place that became home is not something that I could have been prepared for"

Screenshot of Lexi Rordriguez's Instagram stories featuring her goodbye post (Image via: Rodriguez Instagram)

Rodriguez concluded her playing career with the Huskers as one of the most successful defensive players of the current generation. She also has the most digs in Nebraska's playing time with 1896 digs to her name. Rodriguez broke the previous record held by Justine Wong-Orantes with 1890 digs.

Lexi Rodriguez shares kind words for the Nebraska Cornhuskers' volleyball program

Rodriguez bearing jersey No.8 during the NCAA Championships semifinals against Penn State (Image via: Getty Images)

Lexi Rodriguez shared her thoughts regarding the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball program.

In an interview just after the Huskers' defeat against Penn State, Rodriguez revealed that the growth of this program is something that she looks back to enjoy. She also mentioned the coaching staff of Nebraska and shed light on their contribution to the team. She said (via WOWT.com):

"I would say watching the growth of the program from my freshman year until now. Husker nation has done amazing things for this program and the coaching staff that I have been with throughout my college career has done amazing things as well. When I look back I'm going to remember all the groundbreaking things that we did for the sport of volleyball."

Lexi Rodriguez's Nebraska reached the final four of the NCAA Championships for two consecutive years, in 2023 and 2024, respectively. However, the team failed to clinch the title both times, losing to the Texas Longhorns in the championship-deciding match in 2023 and to Penn State in the semifinals. The team's last national title came seven years ago in 2017.