Fresh off a national championship, the future continues to look bright for the Huskers as Nebraska announced on Tuesday that former Texas outside hitter Lexi Sun is transferring to Lincoln.
Sun, a 6-foot-2 hitter who was a unanimous All-Big 12 first team and All-Freshman Team selection, averaged 3.27 kills per set for a Longhorns team that won the Big 12 and made it to the NCAA Regional finals. She also garnered an All-America honorable mention.
PrepVolleyball.com rated Sun, a native of Encinitas, California, as the No. 1 recruit in the country in the 2017 class. She will be eligible immediately for the Huskers.
“After visiting Nebraska for the first time, I found that overall the program is the best fit for me when taking into consideration what the entire program has to offer,” Sun said in a release. “I cannot wait to be a part of the enthusiastic Husker volleyball family and am so excited to experience it with my new teammates very soon. I want to thank my family, whom I consider my number one support system. I am so thankful to have them by my side in this journey. We all can’t wait to be Huskers.”
The Huskers lost Annika Albrecht to graduation after last season and Olivia Boender retired from the sport midseason, leaving the Huskers short on experience at outside hitter heading into 2018. Nebraska returns All-American Mikaela Foecke for her senior year along with sophomore Sami Slaughter who played in seven sets as a true freshman.
Coach John Cook signed two hitters in the 2018 class in Capri Davis and Kash Williams and also added a transfer in Jasmine Schmidt who played one semester of volleyball at Palm Beach Atlantic.
“Lexi really provides depth at the outside hitter position, where we’re a little thin,” Cook said. “What I like most about her is her commitment and desire to be a great player. She has big dreams and goals at Nebraska and beyond Nebraska. She’s somebody that we want to develop into a six-rotation outside hitter, and she knows that’s the key for her to play international volleyball someday. She’s a 6-2, physically gifted athlete with a tremendous work ethic. I really admire that when she plays, you can see her passion and enjoyment for playing the game of volleyball. She’s always smiling, and she loves what she’s doing.”
The Huskers return six rotation players including four starters from the 2017 national-champion roster while two other freshmen saw limited playing time. Sun is the seventh new player to join the roster this offseason and the Huskers might not be done yet as incoming freshman Nicklin Hames is the only setter on the roster following the departure of three-time captain Kelly Hunter.
You better believe 🌽🌽🌽 moved high up the list of Coach @jcook2’s favorite desserts, thanks to @lexiisun! #GBR #Huskers ☀️ pic.twitter.com/FK8D2PDzuD
— Husker Volleyball (@Huskervball) April 3, 2018
— Husker Volleyball (@Huskervball) April 3, 2018
Jacob Padilla has been writing for Hail Varsity since 2015. He covers football, volleyball men’s basketball and prep sports. He also co-hosts the Nebraska Preps Postgame and Nebraska Shootaround podcasts for the Hurrdat Media and Hail Varsity podcast networks. His love of basketball can best be described as an obsession and if you need to find him, he’s probably in a gym somewhere watching, coaching or playing hoops.
