LINCOLN – Three Nebraska volleyball players will wear red, white and blue this week in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Merritt Beason, Taylor Landfair and Lexi Rodriguez each earned spots on Team USA for the NORCECA Women’s Final Six Pan American Cup. The tournament begins Wednesday and ends Sunday.
“We are treating NORCECA Final Six as the first tournament of the new Olympic cycle that eventually leads to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles,” U.S. women’s national team coach Karch Kiraly said in a news release. “We are really excited about the future possibilities and potential of the athletes on this roster who will represent our women’s senior national team.”
Beason, a senior, gave the Huskers a steady scoring threat in 2023, her first season in Lincoln after transferring from Florida. Beason had 455 kills (3.76 per set) on .282 hitting to earn AVCA First Team All-American honors.
Landfair joins the Huskers for her senior season after an accomplished career at Minnesota. The 6-foot-5 outside hitter averaged 3.19 kill per set for the Golden Gophers last season and earned First Team all-Big Ten honors.
Rodriguez enters her senior season at Nebraska. She’s the only player on the roster who appeared in both of the Huskers’ recent national championship appearances (2021, 2023). The defensive wizard is NU’s 14th three-time All-American, including two First Team selections. Last season, Rodriguez led the Huskers to a nation-leading opponent hitting percentage for the second year in a row.
The Big Ten is well represented on the NORCECA Final Six roster. In addition to Beason, Landfair and Rodriguez, Wisconsin’s Sarah Franklin and Carter Booth as well as Purdue’s Eva Hudson, Penn State’s Jess Mruzik and USC’s Mia Tuaniga also are on the team.
Former Huskers Jordan Larson, Justine Wong-Orantes and Kelsey Robinson Cook are set to represent the U.S. at the Paris Olympics later this summer.
Nebraska is scheduled to open the season at the AVCA Showcase. The Huskers will play Kentucky at 6 p.m. on Aug. 27 in Louisville.
