Redemption is something Iowa volleyball has been chasing all season. On Saturday night, the Hawkeyes will have another chance to beat the Cornhuskers.

The Devaney Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, will be the site of this corn-growers’ clash. This year, Nebraska boasts a 12-2 record at home.

“Playing away in the Big Ten is always going to be one of your biggest adversities,” head coach Vicki Brown said. “It’s really just about taking hold of the adversity of playing away, and then making it your own thing. We’re just really going to stay focused on one point at a time.”

Nebraska is ranked sixth in the nation, according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s top 25 poll. The Cornhuskers sit just one game back of a tie for first in the Big Ten.

The number of opportunities Nebraska has to move into first place in the conference is dwindling. As the season winds down, the Cornhuskers ferocity only increases.

“Nebraska is a high-swinging and hard-hitting team,” senior Emily Bushman said. “We need to hunker down on defense. We’ve done that in a lot of games [this season]. I think defense and blocking presence can be a huge thing. Obviously, we’re going to compete our hardest every match, no matter whose name is on the jersey.”

Freshman Grace Tubbs has the same mindset as her teammate as the Hawkeyes look to play spoiler against Nebraska.

“I think we’ll have to come out with the same sharpness we had against them [last Saturday],” Tubbs said. “It’ll take more at the end of the game. We kind of got flat at the end of [last Saturday’s game]. We need to play through to the end and the very last point.”

Currently, Iowa is 0-31 all-time against Nebraska. However, the Hawkeyes will get a boost on Saturday that may help them buck that trend.

On Wednesday evening in Ann Arbor, team captain Brie Orr returned from injury. In a limited role, Orr put up 16 assists. Orr had not played since suffering a concussion against Purdue on Oct. 25. In the 19 days without Orr, the Hawkeyes went 1-5.

Iowa’s matchup with Michigan marked the beginning of another difficult stretch. The Hawkeyes will play No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Wisconsin, and No. 5 Minnesota on the road before returning home to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Nov. 29 to face Ohio State.

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“It’s just about changing perception,” Brown said. “It’s very easy in this conference to really see the entire season or the whole week, and it can be a little overwhelming. It is just about always having that gritty attitude on defense and then earning each point. When you’re focusing on those two things, then your perception is smaller, and you can truly celebrate that one point.”

In the years to come, coach Brown and her Hawkeyes will look to change the perception of their program in the Big Ten. A couple big wins to conclude their 2019 campaign could give this young Iowa team some steam heading into 2020.

“Moving forward, you really put your emphasis on your training for the spring,” Brown said. “If you have a good spring, things will carry over into the fall.”