The Nebraska volleyball program announced its 2022 recruiting class on Wednesday as all three commits — West Des Moines Valley outside hitter Hayden Kubik, Waverly middle blocker Bekka Allick and Norris setter/defensive specialist Maisie Boesiger — sent in their letters of intent.
All three players will enroll early and join the program in January. PrepVolleyball.com ranks Nebraska’s class second nationally behind only USC’s six-player class.
“Our Class of 2022 will all enroll early, and they are a very tight-knit group,” Coach John Cook said in a release. “They are great competitors and teammates, and all three will have a chance to play as freshmen next year. We are super excited to add them to the Nebraska volleyball program.”
West Des Moines outside hitter Hayden Kubik is the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Kubik is the younger sister of junior outside hitter Madi Kubik and the No. 1 recruit in the country according to PrepVolleyball.com (though it’s worth noting the website hasn’t updated its rankings since July of 2020).
“We’ve recruited Hayden for a very long time, due to the fact that she is Madi’s sister as well as one of the best players in this recruiting class,” Cook said. “Being rated one of the top six-rotation outside hitters in this class, we made her our first phone call back on June 15, 2020 to make sure she knew we wanted her to be a Husker.”
The 6-foot-2 pin-hitter averaged 5.2 kills per set on .296 hitting and 2.9 digs per set as a senior at Valley, and she surpassed 1,500 career kills during her prep career.
“I chose Nebraska because of the atmosphere in the gym and both the coaching staff and athletes,” Kubik said. “Everything about Nebraska Volleyball is competitive and high level. Every athlete in the program wants to be great, and when I saw that passion watching Husker volleyball at a young age, I knew I wanted to be a part of something just like that.”
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Allick is PrepVolleyball.com‘s No. 6 overall recruit in the class and the top middle blocker in the country. She committed to Nebraska in July of 2018, prior to her freshman year of high school. She spent her first two years at Lincoln North Star before a family move led to her transferring to Waverly before her junior year.
Waverly middle blocker Bekka Allick, the No 6 recruit in the 2022 class, signed with Nebraska on Wednesday. Photo by John S. Peterson.
“Finally, Bekka is going to be a Husker,” Cook said. “It seems like she has been committed forever. Being at the top of her position and one of the top recruits overall in this class, Bekka provides us some much-needed depth at the middle blocker position, and we expect her to make a big impact on our team from the day she steps on campus.”
The 6-foot-3 Allick follows Waverly teammate Whitney Lauenstein to Nebraska, and with Lauenstein moving on after the 2020 season, Allick moved to outside hitter this season to expand her game and play six rotations for the Vikings. She averaged 5.7 kills per set on .292 hitting, 4.4 dis per set and 0.5 aces per set as a senior while guiding Waverly to the Class B state semifinals. She capped her career with a school record 37 kills in a five-set loss to eventual Class B champion Omaha Skutt in the semis.
Allick is a member of the USA Volleyball youth national team, serving as team captain while guiding the United States to a bronze medal in the FIVB U18 World Championships in September.
“I chose Nebraska because the coaches and program invest into their athletes,” Allick said. “They not only push their girls to All-Americans and national champions, but hopefully to be gold medalists one day. Academically, Nebraska has so many options, and each of those are greatly funded. Whatever study you decide to go into, you won’t be cut short of anything.
“What really got me is the Nebraska fan base. I have never seen such loyal and hype fans. Regardless of a win or loss, Husker Nation always has the girls’ backs.”
Norris setter Maisie Boesiger will be switching to defensive specialist at Nebraska after signing with the Huskers on Wednesday. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Rounding out the class is Boesiger, who set records at Norris while playing for her mother, Christina, for four years. She guided the Titans to back-to-back Class B state runner-up finishes in 2020 and 2021 and finished her career as the school’s all-time leader in assists (3,460) and service aces (226).
“Small-town Nebraska girls have always been very important to us, and Maisie embodies that,” Cook said. “She is a kid who grew up in the gym down in Norris and just finished her high school career in another state championship game. Maisie will be changing positions when she joins us in January, but we expect her to come in and make an impact just like the other two members of this class.”
The 5-foot-6 Boesiger averaged 10.4 assists, 3.2 digs, 1.0 kills and 0.7 aces as a senior. She’ll move into a defensive specialist role at Nebraska after finishing fifth on Norris’ career digs list with 995 while playing setter.
“I chose Nebraska because I wanted to compete playing volleyball at the highest level possible,” Boesiger said. “There is no other atmosphere or culture better than Nebraska. I have grown up in Nebraska my whole life, and I can’t imagine not having my family there to support me.”
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.
