Playing defense against Andi Jackson isn’t for the faint of heart. 

Olivia Mauch knows the challenge first hand as she faces Jackson every day in practice and has lived to tell about it. 

The Nebraska libero said Jackson moves the ball around and is difficult to read since she can hit multiple from angles from all over the court. Plus she just hits the ball with a lot of force. . 

“It's harder than you think it is,” Mauch said. “You might think it's hard, but it's harder than that.”

Through 12 matches this season, Jackson is hitting a career best .490 with 2.56 kills and 1.28 blocks per set. Last week, she raised her game to another level with 3.33 kills and 1.56 blocks per set while hitting .578. 

As a result, Jackson earned her second career Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Monday, (the last came last November) and then on Tuesday, she was named the AVCA National Player of the Week. It’s just the 18th time a Nebraska player has earned the honor dating back to 1993. 

Jackson’s hitting percentage is the third best in the nation, only trailing SMU’s Natalia Newsome (.560) and Portland’s Taina Kaauwai (.527). However her use is different this year than previous seasons as the Husker continue to find new ways to use her. 

Jackson has taken the most pride this year on the improvement in her blocking game as she’s put a lot of time on the skill during the offseason. Her blocks per set is a career best as is her 10.3 touch percentage and 51.6 good touch percentage. 

All those numbers don’t mean much to Jackson, though, who said she doesn’t look at stats so she doesn’t get complacent. 

“There's still a lot of room for improvement,” she said after tying a season high six blocks against Missouri last week. “But it is nice to see it come to fruition a little bit in these games, and hopefully continue to do that.”

Reily said even during their fourth year playing together, they are still working on strengthening their connection on the court. In addition, the pair serve as captains for the Huskers this season

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said middle blockers typically have a high hitting percentage, but they force the ball to Jackson even when they don’t get a perfect pass. Jackson is second on the Huskers for kills per set and keeps adding new wrinkles to her game, like hitting a two-foot attack from the right pin. 

“She's doing a lot for us that middles and other programs aren't necessarily asked to do,” Busboom Kelly said. “For her to continue to be that efficient and keep getting better at those things, it just has to her because she could be the type of player that gets a little complacent. She's not whatsoever.”

Even though all her numbers are impressive, Busboom Kelly said Jasckons’s mental game has also improved and allowed her to play at an elite level and continue to improve during her fourth year in the program. 

“She's always been a great player, and statistically blocking, she's doing much better,” Busboom Kelly said. “The way she's leading and playing with joy, and letting mistakes bounce off her a little bit easier and quicker than she used to, I think those are probably the biggest changes.” 

More often than not, when Laney Choboy goes back to the service line, Nebraska will score a point. 

The senior defensive specialist not only leads the Huskers with 15 service aces, but NU also scores a point on her serve 61.4 percent of the time. Her service success was most evident last weekend against Rutgers when she ran off scoring runs of at least five points in each of the three sets. 

Mauch said Choboy’s serve is tough to get a read because it barely clears the tape with a lot of pace. 

“You don't know if it's going to drop or rise on you,” she said.

In addition to Choboy serving, the rotation is one of Nebraska’s strongest as it is hitting .347. The front row of Harper Murray, Jackson and Reilly presents an experienced, explosive look on offense and defense. The back row is equally as stout as Choboy plays next to Mauch and either outside hitter Teraya Sigler or defensive specialist Keri Leimbach. 

Reilly said the success of that rotation starts with Choboy’s serving, who she said they want to serve big points. It can be tough for the Huskers to figure out in practice, let alone for opponents to pass the first time they see it in a match.

“There's just a lot of experience — just knowing the game plan and knowing what's going to come, and just reading the game really well,” Reilly said. “But it all does start with how nasty her serve is.”