League One Volleyball (LOVB) announced today that the team has a new ownership group for its professional volleyball team in Nebraska, featuring a familiar face to Nebraskans. Former Husker legend and LOVB Founding Athlete Jordan Larson will headline the new ownership group that also includes JE Dunn Construction Group’s investment subsidiary.
Larson is not the only volleyball legend from the state who will be involved in the team’s front office. LOVB revealed that former Creighton University women’s volleyball head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth will serve the team as president of business operations. After 22 seasons leading the Bluejays, Booth abruptly stepped down at Creighton in April. At that time, she revealed that she had accepted an administrative position with LOVB. Her role is now defined.
Booth will lead the club through its rebrand from LOVB Omaha to LOVB Nebraska, a move the club also announced today. In a press release, LOVB Nebraska stated that “The team’s new name represents more than a shift in geography—it signals the team’s mission to serve every athlete and fan across the Cornhusker State.”
Along with the new ownership, name and commitment to the state, the club completed its rebrand with a new logo.
With a network of clubs from the youth level all the way to its professional league, LOVB creates a pathway for players from club to pro, with each pro team tied directly to its local LOVB junior volleyball clubs. Players from LOVB youth clubs are afforded resources to help with training, recruitment and even financial aid.
To open the doors to the whole state is to create significant opportunities for the next generation. Premier Nebraska, from Omaha, is the only club in Nebraska currently in the LOVB network. Through its rebrand, LOVB Nebraska is hoping to expand its youth footprint.
“It’s all about accessibility and the ability to play at a young age,” said Jordan Larson in an interview Monday, when asked what the biggest benefit of LOVB’s unique framework is.
“And for them to see this club-to-pro model and be like ‘Hey, now pros are coming into our gym.’ Now you get to visually see what’s happening in front of your eyes, versus watching someone on YouTube.”
The rebrand to LOVB Nebraska is designed to bring this club-to-pro model, and the associated resources, to athletes throughout Nebraska and not just in the metro.
“It’s definitely about trying to get athletes from across the state who usually don’t get to be a part of it… Omaha is great… having the identity of the state and having the state back it has been huge.”
Larson, a native of Hooper, Nebraska, wondered if her story would have been different had she not grown up near the metro. “If I hadn’t lived 45 minutes from Omaha, would I have been able to grow as well as I did?
There are girls in the panhandle of Nebraska who have to drive five hours just to reach a decent volleyball club. If they could regularly see high-level volleyball, what would that look like?”
Larson will likely get her answer in upcoming years while leading LOVB Nebraska.
She is a Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, a three-time All-American, a national champion, and past assistant coach for the Huskers. She spent 15 years on the U.S. National Team, is a four-time Olympic medalist, and helped lead Team USA to gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth turned Creighton Volleyball into a national powerhouse during her 22-season tenure, earning a national seed in the NCAA Tournament in seven out of her final 10 seasons. She was voted Big East Coach of the Year five times. She was an American Volleyball Coaches Association President and served on the AVCA Board of Directors.
These women are among the most respected and accomplished figures in the history of American volleyball. They earned their roles in shaping the future of LOVB Nebraska not only for their career accomplishments, but also because of their deep ties to the sport in the state of Nebraska. Jordan Larson and Kirsten Bernthal Booth have shaped volleyball in Nebraska for the past two decades, and in conjunction with LOVB, they will have a defining role in shaping its future.
For more information on LOVB Nebraska, visit lovbneb.com and follow @lovbneb across social platforms.
