John Cook: Nebraska is working on plan to allow fans at volleyball matches this

He believes there will be a season this fall, but that season will be conference only. Regardless, Cook said Nebraska is planning on trying to have fans inside the Bob Devaney Center for matches. 

“We can make money having matches at home, so that’ll hurt us not being able to have non-conference matches,” Cook said. “But in regards to fans, I know that they are working, Matt Davidson runs our events, and is working on a plan, I think there’s stages to bring fans back slowly and build it.”

Davidson is the associate athletic director for event management.

“Nebraska wants fans and we want sports and get it back to normal as much as we can and keep everybody safe,” Cook said. 

The status of fall sports remains up in the air, particularly for smaller sports like volleyball. The NCAA Division-I Council voted on Wednesday to allow football, men’s and women’s basketball to return to campus and start organized team workouts starting June 1. 

Cook said volleyball was ready to be included in that decision, but was left out. 

“We had everything set up, everyone tested and everybody ready to go,” Cook said. “Then the NCAA last week all of a sudden said, ‘Sorry, you can’t use your facilities.” 

Cook said Nebraska is on the “cutting edge” keeping athletes safe, and mentioned the volleyball program is working with a medical center in Omaha for testing and for some studies. 

“It’s pretty cool everything going on in this, I think we’re ahead of 99% of the rest of the country,” Cook said. 

Cook said he believes the season will be Big Ten-only based on meetings he’s been in over the past few weeks. Nothing has officially been announced about a potential volleyball season, or any fall sport for that matter. Cook said having a championship tournament is a priority for the NCAA. He said he could see a scenario in which the championship is played before Thanksgiving to avoid flu season and a potential second wave of coronavirus. 

Cook said he thinks there could be a good chance, even without non-conference matches, Nebraska would be able to set something up with Creighton or Omaha. ​