Allison Weston: The Epitome of Nebraska Volleyball

VolleyballSeptember 02, 2015

Allison Weston: The Epitome of Nebraska Volleyball

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Terry Pettit says Allison Weston “represents everything that’s great about Nebraska Volleyball.” She was “an exceptional student and leader and her athletic ability and character allowed her to be an ideal teammate,” said Pettit, who spent 23 years as Nebraska volleyball’s head coach, molding the Huskers into one of the most successful athletic teams in NCAA history.

“While Allison played most of her college career as a three-time All-America middle blocker, she was an outside hitter on the USA Olympic team that she captained,” Pettit pointed out before delivering the ultimate endorsement, claiming that Allison “is the most humble and most considerate person I had the opportunity to coach.”

What a sweeping statement for Pettit, now the Director of Leadership Academies at the University of Denver and at Colorado State University. He knows a leader when he sees one, and Weston could write a book about superlative performances over a five-year stretch.

Weston Ranks as Nebraska's Greatest Female Athlete Ever in Any Sport

Check out Weston’s bio on Huskers.com. To recognize her honors and awards, it takes 48 consecutive lines of one impressive accomplishment after another. From 1992 to 1995, the Papillion, Neb., native helped the Huskers win their first national volleyball championship in 1995. In the process of that capstone achievement, she became a first-team All-American and the AVCA Co-National Player of the Year.

Weston also earned first-team All-America honors in the previous two seasons. A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and two-time Big Eight Player of the Year, Weston was the team captain for the 2000 American Olympic Volleyball Team. In 1997, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources from UNL with a major in Fisheries and Wildlife.

How did her arsenal of accolades get measured by the experts? Ten years ago, the Omaha World-Herald published a list of the Top 100 Athletes in Nebraska history. Weston was choice No. 15 behind 14 male athletes. The state's largest newspaper huddled up again this past summer and rearranged their Top 100. Weston dropped one place to No. 16 in the overall rankings but is still the only female in the World-Herald's top 30 selections.

Let’s analyze the inherent prestige of that updated historic series. Even in the reshuffling of the deck, reflecting day-long deliberations, Weston finished six notches better than recent Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Mick Tingelhoff, seven spots ahead of the incomparable Tom Novak, 11 slots in front of Dave Rimington and 14 places ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch in The Nebraska 100 rankings of this state’s all-time greatest athletes.

Lincoln Journal Star Photo

The No. 1 Memory Maker was Huskers' First National Championship

Winning Nebraska volleyball's first National Championship in 1995, the same year the Husker football team won back-to-back national titles, was, by far, the highlight of Weston's collegiate career. "To be part of something so important to a group of young women so driven is a magical experience," Weston said. "It compares only to competing in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia) where we played for a bronze medal. Unfortunately, we came up just short. But it still was an awesome experience."

The road wasn't paved with gold, but the Olympics became the competitive capstone to her remarkable career. "I looked up to the UNL players when I was in high school and wanted to be a part of that," Weston said. "The 'path' was created long before I arrived at UNL. I felt it was my duty to work just as hard, if not harder, to continue the path of excellence that those who came before me did. Success in the classroom and on the court isn't just something that Nebraska volleyball strives for… it exists and it's omnipresent."

Weston: Prep Coach Egbert, Pettit Paved the Way to the Hall of Fame

Weston told me how humbled she was when she was selected to be the first volleyball student-athlete in the University of Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame. "There are so many talented and successful student-athletes who have competed for the Big Red over the years," she said. "I feel blessed just to be considered among the elite.

"I share this with my family, who was exceptionally supportive throughout my playing days. And I would be remiss to not give credit to two important coaches who gave me the tools and the training I needed to be successful -- my high school coach, Gwen Egbert, and of course, Terry Pettit, my coach at Nebraska."

Fortunately, Lincoln is only 50 miles from Weston's home, so she said it was "incredibly appealing" moving to and living in Lincoln. "The whole community is so supportive of the University," Weston said. "Fans feel like they're part of the extended family of the UNL student-athletes. They love to see their teams succeed, and they hurt when they don’t."

Looking Back, Coliseum Experience Superceded the Global Perspective

Playing volleyball for a program that has such an impressive tradition and such a loyal fan-base was amazing, according to Weston. "There are few places in the country that have more supportive and/or knowledgeable fans," Weston said. "Playing in front of a home crowd at the Nebraska Coliseum is like no other playing experience I’ve EVER had, even on a global perspective. The crowd is an uncredited teammate that lifts you up when you need it. They're loud when they need to be and quiet at the right times. They share with you the pure joy of a win and also the pain of a loss. Where else can you get a standing ovation from a full house when you take the court for warm-ups?"

That very thought could trigger interesting conversation when Weston joins her fellow Nebraska Athletics Hall-of-Fame inaugural class that will be enshrined Friday and introduced to a Memorial Stadium sellout crowd between the first and the second quarters ot Saturday's NU-BYU season football opener. Weston lives in Missoula, Mont., where she works as an emergency medical technician. "I guess I’m still trying to figure out what to be when I grow up," she said. "For now, I’m enjoying everything that Western Montana and the mountains have to offer."

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