Former Western Nebraska Community College volleyball player Karen Cordero will be making a return trip to Nebraska this week when her Delaware State University Hornets volleyball team will be competing in the NCAA Volleyball National Tournament.

Cordero and Delaware State are making their first trip to the NCAA National Tournament and will be facing the second-seeded University of Nebraska Huskers in Lincoln on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. MST.

Cordero, who played for the Cougars in 2019 and 2020-21 seasons and was an NJCAA All-American, is excited to be returning to Nebraska to play volleyball, especially since it is the national tournament.

“I am so excited to go back to Nebraska,” Cordero said. “Coach Binny (Canales) is going to the game and that makes me more happy. Going back to Nebraska fills me with many great old memories.”

Delaware State, who is 24-6 on the season, earned the automatic bid to the national tournament after winning the MEAC Conference tournament when they beat Coppin State. Cordero said they know it will be a tall order to beat a national power like the Huskers.

“It means a lot because Delaware State hasn’t gone to an NCAA tournament since 1986. It was our goal to win the MEAC Conference and go to the NCAA tournament. We worked really hard for this accomplishment.”

Nebraska is the No. 2 seed and will host Delaware State and also Kansas and Miami. Kansas and Miami will play at 4:30 p.m. with the winner facing the Nebraska/Delaware State winner on Friday.

Nebraska enters with a 24-5 record and lost last weekend to Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Still, Cordero said her team knows they will have to play one of their best matches to top Nebraska.

“We know Nebraska is a big, big team,” she said. “That means we need to start strong, have fun, and don’t make too many silly mistakes.”

Cordero and her Delaware State team have strung together a solid season. The Hornets have won nine straight including defeating Coppin State on Sunday, Nov. 20 for the conference title. That match was special for Cordero as she played against her former Cougar teammate Andrea Tsvetanova, who was the setter for Coppin State.

“Winning conference was one of the best experiences I have ever had,” she said. “Even Andrea T. (my ex-teammate) was playing on that team, I knew she was my enemy at that moment. It was a good time seeing her play.”

Cordero is having a solid season this year at Delaware State. She has 249 kills, 194 digs, 52 aces, and a hitting percentage of .232.

This season, her season highs were against Coppin State when she had 16 kills and two digs on Oct. 16, 16 digs in the conference title match, and six aces on Nov. 6. She also had 18 points against Youngstown State on Aug. 26 and four blocks against West Virginia.

While this is the season she is taking it all in, she does have the option to return for another season because of the COVID year, which she is planning on doing.

“It is a great season this year. It is going as I wanted it to. I couldn’t be happier to win the MEAC conference and going to the NCAA tournament,” she said. “And, I will take my extra year at Delaware State University, hopefully to be able to graduate with a masters.”

In her four years of college volleyball playing, Cordero has nearly 1,500 kills. At WNCC, Cordero finished with 1,017 career kills and 1,010 career digs. Cordero has 393 kills at Delaware State and 292 digs.

Cordero is from Otay Ranch High School in California and surpassed the 1,000 kill and dig record in high school, which are school records. After high school, Cordero has made the trek from the west coast to the east coast in her four years. She said it is all about finding the right fit and coming to WNCC was a perfect start.

“Playing at WNCC was one of the best choices I have made. I will never forget winning the regional tournament (in April 2021) and going to nationals,” she said. “I don’t regret anything (about going from the west to east coast). This is God’s plan and I like having new experiences, but I miss a lot of my family back home.”

She doesn’t have any regrets signing with Delaware State over a bigger Division I school. She added that when high school players and even junior college players are looking for a school, find one that you fit into because size doesn’t matter.

            “Even though Delaware State is in a small conference (MEAC), Delaware State is ranked in a better place than big universities and conferences,” she said. Make sure you can feel like home and pick good friends to be able to have a good experience in college.”

            Come Thursday night, Cordero will be playing back in Nebraska even though it is in eastern Nebraska, but she is excited and can’t wait with hopes of the team advancing.

            “I know Coach Binny will be there and I am so excited and happy to see him,” she said. “Hopefully more people that I know can go.”