Inside the rise of Andi Jackson, who is surging as sophomore

The News Guy

1 month ago

A volleyball player’s career goes to another level with an invitation to play for the United States junior national team.

For Andi Jackson, that moment came when she was a high school senior in Brighton, Colorado.

Jackson considers that a key milestone to where she is now as a major contributor and a fan-favorite playing for Nebraska.

“Being scouted by USA volleyball, and getting that opportunity to play against international teams, at such a high level, that was really what got me going and made me say, ‘Yeah, I can do this,’” Jackson said.

Now a sophomore middle blocker, Jackson continues to see her profile rise in both the USA system and college volleyball.

This summer, Jackson was back on one of the numerous national teams Team USA fields each summer. She helped the Americans win the gold medal at the NORCECA under-21 Continental Championship in Toronto, hitting .654 throughout the tournament with 39 kills and 10 blocks.

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In a sweep against Puerto Rico in the gold-medal match, Jackson had a team-best 14 points on 10 kills, three blocks and one ace serve.

Nebraska setter Bergen Reilly played with Jackson in the tournament.

“She was scary,” Reilly said. “I was scared she was going to hurt somebody on the other side of the net.”

This summer was another confidence booster for Jackson — making the U.S. team again, playing well and being a role model for the players making their first national team appearances.

“(My teammates) had made the comment to me that they enjoyed watching me because they could learn from me,” Jackson said. “No one has ever told me that before, so it was a huge confidence booster.”

Nebraska coach John Cook watched some of the matches and was impressed with Jackson.

“She’s catching up and starting to figure out how athletic she is and how to use that to her advantage,” Cook said. “She’s just becoming a better volleyball player. Instead of doubting that she can play, she knows that she can play and be a great player. We’re seeing it out there. She does some pretty impressive stuff.”

Watching Jackson execute the slide attack is something special.

On that play, Jackson makes a quick sprint to the right side of the court. Then she shows off her extreme athleticism to jump off one foot and achieve an overwhelming launch angle; then she finds the open spot in the defense and fires away.

There was a point last season when Jackson led the NCAA in hitting percentage – she finished ranked 19th at .399.

During Nebraska’s win against Kentucky on Tuesday in the first match of the season Jackson had 10 kills on 17 attempts. She also had five blocks — the area of her game she’s working hard to improve.

First home match

Nebraska plays its first two home matches of the season this weekend as part of the Ameritas Players Challenge. The Huskers play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (22-10 record last season) on Friday and TCU (17-15) on Saturday.

TV ratings gold

Nebraska’s win against Kentucky on Tuesday averaged 344,000 viewers on ESPN2, making it the second-most watched regular season match ever on the network.

The Wisconsin-Louisville match that followed — well after many people’s bed time — averaged 210,000 viewers.

Fan event Friday

Fans are invited to take part in Bash at the Bob on Friday from 4-7 p.m., outside the South entrance of the Devaney Sports Center. Fans will have an opportunity to take pictures with the Big Ten championship trophy won by the Huskers last season.

Photos: 2024 Nebraska volleyball’s Red-White Scrimmage

Nebraska players celebrate a point during the Red-White Scrimmage at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024.