College volleyball: Sterling native Rodriguez looks back on memorable freshman season at Nebraska

When Crystal Rodriguez asked her daughter to show up at the Sterling City Council meeting on Monday night, Lexi Rodriguez was unsure of what to expect.

She certainly didn’t expect having Tuesday proclaimed Lexi Rodriguez Day in her hometown, to celebrate her accomplishments in a sensational freshman season playing libero for the University of Nebraska volleyball team.

Not only did Rodriguez and her Cornhuskers teammates make it to the NCAA National Championship match, she was also honored as the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Freshman of the Year – the first libero to win the award – and was the only freshman among the 14 first-team All-America selections.

A day named in her honor in her hometown was a fitting end to a memorable month for the former Sterling volleyball standout.

“They talked to my mom, and she asked me to show up to the meeting; I didn’t know what it was for,” Rodriguez said. “I’d been to a couple of those after we won state [titles in high school], so I thought it was just another one of those things recognizing what I did with Nebraska.

“But then they read off this proclamation, and I was speechless. It’s was pretty cool.”

Rodriguez was presented with a copy of the written proclamation, which listed all of her accomplishments in one of the most impressive freshman seasons in Nebraska history: in addition to the national honors, she was also the Big Ten Defensive Player of the year, was a first-team selection on the all-Big Ten team and all-Big Ten freshman team, and set a Nebraska freshman record for digs in a single season with 524.

[ Read all of the honors included in the Sterling City Council proclamation for Lexi Rodriguez Day ]

It’s just the latest chapter in the already-storied volleyball career for the girl who graduated from Sterling High School a semester early in December 2020 so she could get to campus in Lincoln for the 2021 spring season to get a head start on her college career.

Rodriguez was also the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019 – again, the first libero to win the award – and the MaxPreps “Best Player in Illinois” in 2020. She helped lead the Golden Warriors to back-to-back state championships in 2018 and 2019, and won a gold medal at the World Championships with Team USA’s U18 squad in Egypt prior to her junior year in 2019; it was, at the time, the first gold medal any Team USA age group had won.

But it was her work anchoring a strong back row for Nebraska this season that made her a national name on the collegiate volleyball scene. She was the only Husker to play in all 121 sets this season, and she had 133 assists and 16 aces to go with her team-high digs total.

Still, the awards weren’t something she was necessarily prepared for. With her focus on the day-to-day grind of the volleyball season, it’s sometimes tough to lift your head up to see the big picture.

“It was crazy, just because throughout the season, these awards are the last thing on my mind,” she said. “We had been through a lot this year as a team, and none of us were focusing on that individual stuff; we were focused on buying into the program and playing for each other. When I heard about it, I thought, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ You spend all year working hard every single day to get to the end goal with your team, and then once those awards come out, you realize what you’re doing is paying off.”

Rodriguez and the Huskers had another measuring stick to show that their hard work was paying off. After losing a few conference matches early in the Big Ten season, they thought their chances of winning the conference title were done.

But as the season progressed and Nebraska found its stride, it turned out the Huskers were very much alive in the title chase. That lit an even bigger fire under the team, and set the table for a long postseason run.

“I think once we realized that we could still potentially win the Big Ten, we hit another gear,” Rodriguez said. “Once we lost those early matches, we really just started working on getting better, and not focusing on winning the Big Ten. Once we realized we were still in the running, we knew we could still make this a really good season. I think what we were able to do was just a testament to how much we’d grown as the season went on.”

While the Huskers (26-8, 16-4 Big Ten) didn’t win the Big Ten title – they finished second by one game to Wisconsin, which handed Nebraska two of its four league losses – they still saw how good they were playing heading into the NCAA Tournament. They earned the No. 10 overall seed, and were placed in the bracket with No. 2 Texas. That served as a little extra motivation, since the Longhorns had knocked Nebraska out in the Elite Eight in the spring.

“Even from the start, just seeing our bracket, being on the same side as Texas, we knew if we won our first few matches, we lined up with them,” Rodriguez said. “We were definitely focused on the team at hand all tournament, but after we beat Campbell and Florida State and Illinois, we got really excited that Texas was next. A lot of the players from last year wanted to get revenge, and we were really ready for that match.”

This time, Nebraska turned the tables and came away with a 3-1 win in the Elite Eight, earning a spot in the Final Four.

Once the celebration ended, it was back to work for another week. But in addition to the hard work and excitement of a Final Four berth, the Huskers were playing with as much chemistry and confidence as they had all season.

“We still weren’t looking at the big picture, thinking about winning a national championship,” Rodriguez said. “We were focused on Pitt, and just taking everything as it came to us. We knew if we played like we were capable of, just played good volleyball, things would take care of themselves.”

Nebraska knocked off No. 3 seed Pitt 3-1, and ended up facing nemesis Wisconsin, the No. 4 seed, in the title match. Trailing 2-1, the Huskers pulled out the fourth set to force a fifth set, then found themselves down 7-0 in the race to 15 points.

But like it had done all season, Nebraska wasn’t about to give up, The Huskers went to work, cutting into the deficit until they got within three points at 10-7, 11-8 and 12-9. With the Badgers up 14-9, Nebraska fought off three match points to get within 14-12 before Wisconsin was able to end it.

“In some of our games earlier in the season, like against Purdue and Maryland, we would be down 10 points and come back to make it a two-point game, and I think being in those situations earlier in the season taught us how to stick together in pressure-filled situations like that,” Rodriguez said. “Even though we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, that comeback showed a lot about this Husker team and how we’re not going to give up and we’ll push all the way to the end as a team together – and we did that all the way to the very end of the season.”

In the end, with all the accolades and all the success, especially at the end of the season, Rodriguez said she’ll mostly remember her teammates, and being able to take the court with them every day in practice or matches, and also the fun they had off the court.

Every match, it looked as if the Huskers were simply out there having fun, not worried about the situation or the score, just a group of girls who loved playing volleyball – and playing it together.

“That’s what made this team very special, and that’s why even though we didn’t win [the title], everyone around the program – coaches, players, Husker Nation – was incredibly proud of the season we had,” Rodriguez said. “It was how we played as a team, how we played together. It didn’t matter the losses we went through, it didn’t matter that we were down 7-0 in the final game of national championship; we stuck together, and you can’t see that in every team.

“It was truly a special season with a special team, and it was because we had a lot of fun. You would think it would be businesslike and just hard work, but we had so much love for each other. We didn’t take any day for granted, we loved every opportunity that we had to play together, and we made the most of it.”

The run to the championship match should serve as a solid jumping-off point for next year’s Nebraska team. The Huskers lose seniors Nicklin Hames, Kayla Caffey, Lexi Sun, Callie Schwarzenbach and Lauren Stivrins – a setter and four hitters – but they did sign the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, according to some recruiting services.

But as talented as those seniors were on the court, Rodriguez says it’s the intangibles they brought to the team that will be missed the most.

“It’s not even just about losing their volleyball abilities, but their leadership,” she said. “Two of those seniors were captains, and looking at next year, us freshman from this year are going to have to step up and lead this team. The freshmen coming in are talented, but they won’t have that experience of the tournament run, so we need to take the team into our hands and be those strong leaders.”

While there are some big shoes to fill, it’s a role Rodriguez feels comfortable with and is ready to embrace.

“We’re ready, for sure,” she said. “I’d even say by the end of this season, I felt a lot more comfortable leading and stepping up in different situations. Next year, those of us who were able to play in the national championship match as freshmen are very excited and ready to carry on the legacy of Nebraska volleyball. We want to lead the 2022 team to another championship.”

That natural leadership ability, and her comfort in stepping into that role, might help Rodriguez far into the future as well. As the first libero to be named AVCA National Freshman of the Year, she might just be opening doors down the line for the next generation of defensive-minded stars to set their sights on bigger roles and honors.

It’s certainly not something that Rodriguez has thought about much, but she’s become aware of what example she might be setting for younger players.

There’s no question the 5-foot-5 libero is becoming a giant in volleyball circles.

“I’ve had people reach out – fans, older players, retired players, whoever it is – about being a role model, and I think it’s opening my eyes to the kind of inspiration I am to other kids, other liberos,” Rodriguez said. “Getting recognized as Freshman of the Year as a libero is huge for the sport of volleyball, and for other liberos around the country, and it’s not really setting in to me right now the impact it has. But down the road, it will be special for me to look back on it and say that I did something to help the volleyball community and everyone around the country who wanted to do the same thing by playing defense.

“That’s definitely not something you plan, or even think about really, but I’m very proud of it.”