CHICAGO — It took four years, but Grace Heaney will get to play a college volleyball match in her home state. 

Heaney, a redshirt junior at Purdue, was injured in 2024, the last time the Boilermakers came to Lincoln to play Nebraska. Now the Elkhorn North graduate is scheduled to return to the court where she played in the 2022 Class B state championship match when Purdue plays Nebraska on Oct. 17. 

While she watched from the bench as her teammates pushed the Huskers to five sets in 2024, Heaney said it will be more special to be on the court this time. 

“Playing back at Nebraska is just a dream come true,” the 6-foot-2 opposite said. “Nebraska, as well as Indiana, is such a strong volleyball state in general. So seeing that support for volleyball as a whole, how far it’s come, is just so cool to see. I’m just really excited to play back there.”

For Mia Trvdy, the wait to return to Nebraska is three years. 

Trvdy spent her first year at Oregon, where Nebraska traveled to in 2024. Then, she transferred to USC and again hosted the Huskers last fall. Finally, in her junior year, she will suit up on Oct. 24 with the Trojans at the Devaney Center, where she played with Papillion-La Vista in the Class A title game in 2023. 

In addition to returning to Lincoln, Tvrdy will play a pair of matches in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, including one against hometown school Creighton and another at Iowa. The 6-foot-1 middle blocker said she is glad to finally play near all her family. 

“I think they probably have the majority of the seats there at Sioux Falls,” Tvrdy said. “It is really special to me just to be able to go home and have those grandparents that maybe aren’t really able to travel that much be able to be there for those games and watch me play and watch our team take off and kick off this season. But I hold it really dear to my heart. I’m really excited.

The duo is part of 14 Nebraska natives on the rosters of nine Big Ten teams. Just two play for the home-state Huskers (Bennington’s Olivia Mauch and Lincoln Lutheran grad Keri Leimbach), while Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers and USC all have two Nebraskans on their roster. 

These stats should be a big surprise, given that the state produces the most Division I volleyball players per capita. 

“I love to represent Nebraska as the state,” Trvdy said. “I obviously love the school, but I think great volleyball comes out of (the state). We have really good clubs there. I’m always proud to talk about Nebraska and tell people I’m from Nebraska.”

School, Name, position, height, year, hometown/school, club team

Heaney is the most heralded of the group, as she earned third-team All-American honors last season. In addition, she was named to the preseason AVCA Player of the Year watch list this year. 

Purdue coach Dave Shondell said Karch Kiraly called the school “Opposite U” for producing elite players like ​​Annie Drews, Danielle Cuttino, Sherridan Atkinson, and Grace Cleveland. However, out of all the opposites Shondell has coached, he said Heaney is the best blocker. 

“If you walk in our gym right now, I think there’s one player that really, really stands out, and it’s her,” Shondell said about Heaney. “We’ve got good players in our gym. But right now, so far with four practices, just how well she’s jumping, how much harder she’s hitting the ball. She’s a great natural blocker.”

Heaney isn’t the only local product drawing rave reviews from their coaches. Whiney Lauenstein joined Penn State this season after a pair of years at Texas and Nebraska. PSU coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said Lauenstein and her daughter Layla have been a welcome addition to the program and fit right in. 

“She’s a wonderful mother and wants to win and wants to get better and be a professional,” Schumacher-Cawley said about the Waverly product. “She knows when she has to work, and she’s been a joy to be around.”

Elsewhere, Michigan setter Morgan Burke is entering her fourth year at Michigan. During her time with the Wolverines, the Omaha Skutt graduate has started matches each year, while running both 6-2 and 5-1 systems. 

Wolverines coach Erin Virtue said she doesn’t know what the offense will look like this year yet, but Burke, who is also a member of the team’s leadership council,  has proven over the years that she’s up for whatever style helps Michigan succeed. Virtue said it can be challenging for setters to split time on the court and hand over the offense to a teammate. 

“I’ve been really impressed with Morgan’s development over time. She’s put in the work,” Virtue said. “We have to pull the reins if she’s wanting to do extra time. We’re always constrained with not only the hours we’re allowed by the NCAA, but her load on her body, making sure that she’s working smarter as well as she’s gotten older.”

A week after Nebraska was named the unanimous preseason pick to win the Big Ten this year. Several coaches said they are all chasing the Huskers, who went undefeated in the league last season. 

However, just because everyone is going to give Nebraska its best shot, Shondell said that doesn’t mean that they are going to be successful. 

“Nebraska is the kingpin,” Shondell said when giving an overview of the top teams in the conference. “Not only are they very talented, but they’re very angry based on last year’s final match of the season for them. We all know what they’re capable of doing, what kind of talent they’ve got.”

Maryland coach Adam Hughes grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, before attending Penn State. When he was around 13 years old, one of the four Little League baseball coaches was Matt Rhule. The current Nebraska football coach was a walk-on linebacker and a volunteer assistant for the Nittany Lions. 

The team had a tough start to the year, dropping the first seven games of the season. However, they turned the season around and finished the year 7-7. Hughes was named MVP of the team. While he was recognizing the young Hughes, he gave him his award, which ended up being a slice of pizza to the face. 

“He just rubbed it all over me, but he’s been great,” Hughes said. “I emailed him when he was at the (Carolina) Panthers; he responded. It’s cool to see him. I’m also rooting for him as well.”

Indiana had a banner year last season both in volleyball and football. Steve Aird led the Hoosiers to the most wins in program history while second-year coach Curt Cignetti guided the football team to a national championship. 

On Monday, Aird recalled the first time he met Cignetti in Bloomington. Cignetti had been at the school for three days, and Aird walked into his office with a bottle of bourbon as a gift. It was 10 a.m., and Aird asked the new football coach if they were opening it now or later. 

Cignetti stared at Aird for 10 seconds before sliding the bottle back and said he didn’t drink bourbon. Instead, the football coach pulled out a legal notepad and began interviewing Aird and putting together a dossier on him. Five minutes later, Cignetti put the notepad away, said he had to watch film, and left the room. 

“That was how we met,” Aird said. “He’s been so awesome for the university, so awesome for the state. I’ve told people it’s taken him a while. He’s in his mid-60s. If God is good, I’m doing this for 20-odd more years; hopefully I can find the same level of success.”

The rule changes have been coming fast as coaches adapt to new recruiting timelines, NIL and the newly added five-for-five eligibility rules. However, more are likely to come as coaches balance the best interests of the sport and avoiding burnout with the coaches. 

Ohio State coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg, who also serves as the AVCA president, said they are looking at the calendar to make sure the playing and practice season, recruiting timelines and the transfer portal work together and benefit everyone. 

She said they want to help create a healthier environment so coaches can enjoy longer careers and players have a better experience while in college. While coaching isn’t a 9-5 type of job, it shouldn’t dominate people’s lives 24-7. 

“Burnout is real,” Oldenburg said. “We are looking at those things to make our calendar make sense because right now it doesn’t. We’re talking about, yes, we need to refuel and recharge; how do we do that, when do we do that.“

Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly said the one rule change she would like to see is having coaching access to players over the summer. Currently, they do not receive any coaching after the spring season and before they return for fall camp. 

She said allowing coaches up to eight hours of skill instruction each week, similar access to what basketball gets during the summer, would be beneficial for everyone. 

“I think a little bit of summer access would be nice,” she said. “We don’t need the whole summer or complete 20 hours, but a little bit.”