Nebraska All-American middle blocker Kayla Caffey enters the transfer portal
Nebraska middle blocker Kayla Caffey is entering the transfer portal, a news release announced late Thursday night.
The 6-foot seventh-year senior was a 2021 AVCA Second-Team All-American and has started for NU head coach John Cook the last two seasons.
The Huskers submitted a waiver to the NCAA in January for Caffey to return for her seventh year of college. It was first reported that the NCAA granted her waiver in May.
However, Cook and his staff took their time making their final decision to sort out the details.
Caffey said on social media on Friday that she was informed that the coaching staff was unable to offer her a scholarship for the 2022 season.
“I am forever grateful and proud to have been a Husker,” she said on Instagram. “Unfortunately, I was informed a few weeks ago that the coaching staff would be unable to offer me a scholarship for the fall, after training hard all summer long.”
“Kayla’s situation has been unlike any other we’ve ever dealt with before because of her medical redshirt, her transfer and the COVID year,” Cook said in the release. “Obviously, we took our time with this to make sure it was the right decision for everybody.
“Ultimately, Kayla has chosen to move on from Nebraska, and I support her and am proud of her and the accomplishments she’s achieved both on and off the court at Nebraska.
“She has a lot of options on the table whether that be play one more year in college, become a professional volleyball player or begin her career in education, which she has worked very hard at preparing for over the years earning both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Kayla will do big things, and I wish her all the best.”
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Caffey has technically only played four seasons of college volleyball and will play her fifth in 2022. The Chicago native transferred to Nebraska before the 2020 season and spent the first four years of her career at Missouri.
She redshirted as a freshman in 2016, played in 2017, and then took a medical hardship redshirt season in 2018. Caffey then competed in the 2019 season for Missouri before transferring to Nebraska.
Caffey had 255 kills in 2021, averaging 2.41 per set, and hit .363 on the season, the fourth-highest hitting percentage in the Big Ten. Nebraska’s 2021 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner led the team with 118 blocks.
She had a career-high 15 kills in the Huskers’ five-set loss to Wisconsin in the national championship.
Caffey graduated in December with her master’s in teacher learning and teacher education with a focus on elementary education.
The announcement that Caffey is transferring comes just 10 days before Nebraska’s fall practice begins. The middle will have a very limited amount of time to find a new team before volleyball season begins in a month. However, she is guaranteed to have a lot of interest.
“Although unexpected and untimely, I have faith that everything will work out,” Caffey said. “I am so excited to see what is next for me! I hope to have your continued love and support!”
Nebraska’s middle blocker group is officially three-time All-American transfer Kaitlyn Hord from Penn State and freshmen Bekka Allick and Maggie Mendelson. With Hord having one starting position basically locked down, Allick and Mendelson will have an intense battle for the other.
