

By Christina Fernández-Morrow, Hola America
In front of more than 92,000 spectators – the largest crowd ever at a women’s sporting event – Lexi Rodriguez, while a junior on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s (UNL) women’s volleyball team, helped set a world record in women’s sports attendance before she even went pro. The match joined UNL’s record-breaking streak of over 300 consecutively sold-out volleyball matches (an NCAA women’s record for most sold out collegiate sports events) and filled the school’s Memorial Stadium, usually used for football games. With a streak like that, it’s no wonder that Rodriguez accepted a volleyball scholarship to attend UNL at 14, several years before the young athlete had to choose where to begin her collegiate sports career.
The 2025 Honda Sport Award finalist for top female NCAA athlete from Sterling, Illinois fell in love with volleyball at age 7, while watching her older sister play. “I was always in the gym, at her tournaments, her practices and playing with other younger siblings as much as I could. I just really enjoyed it. I begged my mom to let me join the club,” recalls Rodriguez. The challenge? There were no high-level volleyball clubs in her small town. The family spent several hours a week traveling to Chicago-area suburbs, juggling schedules between Rodriguez and her sister, who is four years older. With help from her grandparents, Rodriguez developed her skills for nearly a decade before college.

Their sacrifices paid off. At Sterling High School Rodriguez helped her team win two Illinois state titles and won Gatorade Player of the Year. Her talent caught the attention of college recruiters during off-season clubs and camps. “I was at a summer camp where I was offered a scholarship [to UNL] and I accepted that day. Thankfully it was a great decision. I don’t regret it at all, but I was very young and didn’t really know how it would all work out,” she points out.
As a Husker, Rodriguez’s collegiate career was decorated with honors: 2021 AVCA National Freshman of the Year, four-time All-American, and the 2024 Big Ten Libero of the Year, just to name a few. In her final collegiate game in December 2024, she recorded 15 digs, breaking the record held by former Husker Justine Wong-Orantes, who went on to win gold for the US in the 2020 Olympics and silver in 2024. Reminiscing about her aspirations after college, Rodriguez says, “I always had big dreams and goals for the future, but I thought that I was going to have to go overseas to make that happen and to continue playing volleyball.”
Instead, Rodriguez went pro just three weeks after graduation, joining League One Volleyball (LOVB) Omaha, the new professional volleyball league in Nebraska. Joining fellow Husker and two-time Olympian Wong-Orantes, the athletes share libero duties on the team, preventing opponent’s spikes from scoring points. “I am very young, and I have a lot of time to learn and grow, but being in a gym full of some of the greats who have ever done it is the most exciting part for me,” she says of her time with her new team that includes of 15 of the sports’ highest ranked national and international players. But Rodriguez isn’t intimidated. “It’s nice to be somewhere comfortable and with people that I’ve played with before,” she says confidently. She’s focused on having fun and learning from her peers and teammates in the league.

Photo y Christina Fernández-Morrow/Hola America
“We want to win the championship, that’s our biggest goal,” she says with excitement. With a sweep over Houston in their inaugural season opener on Jan. 10, Rodriguez and her team are already making strides toward that dream. LOVB Omaha secured their position as the league’s only undefeated team after clinching their second victory of the season against LOVB Madison in Wisconsin. The momentum couldn’t come at a better time as the team prepares for their highly anticipated home opener weekend on January 24-25, where they’ll face off against Madison again on Friday followed by a Saturday night match against Austin. Fans can stay up-to-date with all LOVB Omaha developments through HolaNebraska.org, with news and coverage in both English and Spanish. Adding to the excitement, read our exclusive interview with LOVB Omaha’s middle blocker, Candelaria Herrera next week. The former Iowa State Cyclone and Argentinian Olympian.
As for Rodriguez, the Sterling native who helped draw 92,000 fans to a college match, building the sport’s future feels like a natural next step. It is her chance to make a fresh start with a legion of fans cheering her on. She demonstrates that combining passion and dedication with support and determination, makes small-town dreams become record-breaking realities.