This is a homecoming of sorts for University of Nebraska women's volleyball coach John Cook. Cook graduated from San Diego in 1979, earning a bachelor's degree in history, and on Saturday night the No. 2-ranked Cornhuskers visit USD inside Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
Before the Huskers boarded a flight for San Diego, Cook was asked if this is a pleasure or business trip.
 
"It's a volleyball trip," said Cook, who is in his 20^thseason at Nebraska and has won four NCAA titles. "I will see a lot of people I know and started with in volleyball. There will be a lot of my peeps out there watching the match. But it's a business trip."
 
USD head coach Jennifer Petrie and associate head coach Brent Hilliard both played for Cook, and they were hardly surprised by his matter-of-fact description of the West Coast excursion. Petrie played club volleyball for Cook when she was a student at Mt. Carmel High. Hilliard played on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team that won a bronze medal at the Barcelona Games. Cook was the team's top assistant.
 
"He's a serious dude," said Hilliard.
 
Regarding her days playing under Cook on the San Diego Volleyball Club, Petrie said, "He was very intense, extremely competitive, very organized, meticulous. He got the most out of his players."
 
One of Petrie's club teams finished third in a national tournament.
 
She said she "absolutely" enjoyed playing for Cook, adding, "He made me a better player. He was very strategic in the way he coached. He did everything from psychological training to fitness training to team bonding, practice evaluating.
 
"As a club team, he treated it like it was a college program."
 
Cook is one of the most successful NCAA women's volleyball coaches ever. His 27-year record is 723-149, making him the fifth winningest coach in NCAA history. His Nebraska teams have advanced to the NCAA Final Four nine times, including the past four years in a row.
 
Nebraska's national championships under Cook came in 2000, 2006, 2015 and 2017.
 
"I remember him being really competitive," said Hilliard. "I remember him being very serious about his job, and I remember him being a very good coach."
 
Asked what made Cook such a good coach, Hilliard said, "I think the fact he was a really good player himself allowed him to relate to athletes who are elite athletes, whether it's the national team or players at Nebraska."
 
While Cook did not play volleyball at USD (San Diego has never had a men's volleyball program), he excelled as a beach volleyball player.
 
Cook has extensive ties to the city of San Diego. He was the head assistant coach at UC San Diego and compiled a stunning 162-18 record in six seasons at Francis Parker High. Cook earned a master's at San Diego State and his wife, Wendy, was an All-American setter for the Aztecs.
 
Of those local connections, he said, "Everyone wants tickets."
 
While Nebraska is ranked second in the nation, the Huskers aren't the highest ranked team San Diego has faced. On Sept, 13, 2013, the Toreros knocked off No. 1-ranked USC.
 
Saturday's 7 p.m. match will be another opportunity for the Toreros - and their coaching staff - to make some noise.