The color of NCAA volleyball's center stage in Omaha this weekend could best be described as swimming-pool blue. The out-of-bounds area is a large border of black. And if you set foot inside Qwest Center Omaha tonight or Saturday, you might want to bring a pair of sunglasses to shade your eyes.

To build off the NCAA's theme of “Catch the wave to Tampa,” all four regional sites this week will be using a garish blue-and-black SportCourt. Some people will like it, some are going to hate it — but surely everybody is going to notice it.

“I think I love the color of the floor — it's a different look,” Nebraska coach John Cook said on Thursday. “But it's bright, and it takes a little getting used to.”

So does it make Cook feel like he's already arrived in sunny Florida? Not at all, the coach said with a laugh.

“I don't know what it makes me feel like — but I'm still seeing blue,” Cook said at NU's post-practice interview session. “I'll be curious to see how it looks on TV and for the fans who are at the match. I'm sure there will be some reactions.”

Maybe anything that brings the beach to mind is a good thing on a week when a nasty winter storm socked the Midwest. Iowa State canceled classes on Wednesday because of the storm, which dumped more than a foot of snow on Ames. The Cyclones also had to scrap their Wednesday practice, and it took coach Christy Johnson-Lynch's team more than four hours to bus 160 miles to Omaha on Thursday morning.

“It was insane yesterday in Ames — just to get to my office took 45 minutes,” Johnson-Lynch said of her commute, which typically takes 15 minutes. “It's kind of crazy to think we had to cancel practice the week of the regional. It was tough for me to do, but it literally would've been impossible to get everybody there. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise in that our legs will be a little fresher and our arms a little stronger.”

A&M bucks odds to get to Omaha

Texas, Iowa State and Nebraska all were supposed to make it to Omaha's regional.

Texas A&M was not.

The Aggies pulled off a pair of upsets last weekend to open the tournament. Coach Laurie Corbelli's team toppled No. 19 Arizona in the first round, then upended 18th-ranked LSU in a five-set thriller last weekend in Baton Rouge, La.

A&M beat Arizona despite playing without Sarah Ammerman, its top attacker, who was held out for violating a team rule. Against LSU, the tournament's No. 15 seed, Ammerman returned and had 26 kills on .396 hitting. The Aggies pulled out the win despite a dazzling performance from SEC player of the year Brittnee Cooper, who put away 28 kills for LSU and had no errors on 40 swings.

Not since 2004 had the Aggies notched back-to-back victories over ranked teams. They also registered those wins while battling some bouts of food poisoning on the team. And as if the past week hasn't thrown enough obstacles their way, weather delays forced the Aggies to spend an extra day in hotels and airports as they tried to get to Omaha. They didn't arrive until an hour before their 1 p.m. scheduled practice on Thursday.

“We've just done a great job of being resilient in the face of adversity,” Corbelli said. “It's really seemed like all the odds have been against us, and these players have responded brilliantly.”

Coincidentally, A&M also came to Nebraska in 2003, the last time it made the round of 16. That year, the Aggies lost their third-round match at the Coliseum to eventual NCAA champion Southern California.

UT not counting on warm welcome

Of all the familiar team colors on display in Omaha this weekend, Texas coach Jerritt Elliott is well away that burnt orange won't be the most popular hue.

That would've been the case regardless, Elliott said. Going back to 2008, the Longhorns have won their past three matches against Nebraska. They also won in Lincoln this year for the first time since 1988.

But the coach suspects that Texas' narrow football victory over Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game probably will give Husker fans an even bigger reason to boo.

“I think so,” Elliott said. “They are very knowledgeable volleyball fans, and knowing what they know — and with the big football game having just occurred — it may add a little bit more to their fire. We know that they can be very loud. ... There is going to be a lot of adversity that we have to face, but it is going to make us a lot stronger.”

— Chad Purcell

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