"This isn't a fluke" - Nebraska Volleyball's John Cook on two female head coaches guiding their teams to 2024 NCAA Championships Final

Modified Dec 20, 2024 18:02 GMT

Nebraska Cornhusker's head coach John Cook was full of praise for Dani Busboom Kelly and Katie Schumacher-Cawley, who are set to become the first pair of female head coaches to compete in an NCAA Final. Busboom Kelly led Louisville to victory against Pittsburg, while Schumacher-Cawley led Penn State to defeat Cook's Nebraska.

Penn State and Nebraska faced off in the NCAA semifinals on Friday. Despite Cook's team taking the lead in the first two sets, the Nittany Lions came roaring back with a clean sweep to win 3-2. Meanwhile, Louisville stunned overall No. 1 seed Pittsburg at the KFC Yum!

With both teams led by female head coaches, it's guaranteed that a women's head coach will win the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship for the first time in history and despite missing out on the national title, Nebraska's coach John Cook called it a 'silver lining.'

"There's two great stories for you guys to write about. Women are tough, and those two are ... I mean look at them as players. They were both great players, they both won national championships. So this isn't like a fluke, these guys are winners and they are tough and they are great competitors and their teams play like it," John Cook said during the post-game conference [8:50 onwards]

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Busboom Kelly played for the Huskers under Cook and won the NCAA title in 2007. She also remained his assistant before taking up the head coach role at Louisville while Schumacher-Cawley won the national title with Penn State in 1999 before elevating the program to new heights after joining as coach.

Praising her coaching skills, Cook said:

"I hope people appreciate what she's done here. Penn State have won more national championships than anybody and she came here, it wasn't a power program. She's done an amazing job."

"They have inspired a generation of young volleyball players" - John Cook gives farewell to senior Nebraska players in their last collegiate game

While head coach John Cook would have liked to send off his senior players Lexi Rodriguez and Merrit Beason with a national title, he nevertheless showered the highest praise on the trio and hailed them as amazing volleyball players.

"I told them in the locker room that the senior class has done some amazing things. They’ve been in three Final Fours. They’ve played for two national championships, and they pretty much have inspired a generation of volleyball, young players, volleyball players, a generation of fans that have really come to love volleyball and follow this team," he said

They joined the program during the 2020-21 season, and while they didn't manage to win a national title, they won back-to-back Big Ten titles in 2023 and 2024.