The Nebraska volleyball program announced the addition of Florida transfer Merritt Beason on Friday. Beason, a 6-3 opposite hitter, will join the Huskers in January after playing the last two seasons at Florida, where she was an All-SEC and AVCA All-Southeast Region honoree in 2022, as well as an All-SEC Freshman Team selection in 2021.
“Our roster has been undergoing some adjustments since the season ended, and last week we had an opportunity to recruit Merritt to Nebraska,” Cook said. “I had a chance to watch Merritt play with Bekka Allick and Lexi Rodriguez on the U.S. U21 National Team this summer and called Jaylen Reyes and wondered why we didn’t recruit Merritt out of high school. She will fill a huge need for our team and her personality on and off the court will create an instant connection with Husker Nation. ‘MB3’ is a true six-rotation player and can do it all. On her visit to Lincoln, she even roped the Nebraska volleyball steer on the first try. We knew it was meant to be. Merritt also happens to be an experienced beach player and is a great student with the goal of becoming an elementary school teacher.”
As a sophomore at Florida in 2022, Beason helped the Gators win a share of the SEC Championship by averaging 3.35 kills per set with a .261 hitting percentage. She had double-digit kills in 21 of 28 matches played and had a career-best 21 kills with eight digs, three aces and a pair of blocks in a five-set win at Wisconsin in September. Beason also led the Gators with 38 service aces on the season – ranking third in the SEC – and contributed 1.92 digs per set and 0.88 blocks per set. She led the Gators in kills and aces per set and was second in digs and third in blocks. Beason received All-America honorable mention by VolleyballMag.com following the season after captaining the Gators to an NCAA regional semifinal appearance.
Beason was named the MVP of the 2022 Pan American Cup as the U.S. Women’s U21 National Team won gold last June in La Paz, Mexico. Beason played alongside current Huskers Lexi Rodriguez and Bekka Allick on the team. In the 3-1 championship win over Argentina, Beason had a team-high 14 kills and three blocks, while Allick had 12 kills and two blocks and Rodriguez had 24 digs.
As a freshman for the Gators in 2021, Beason had a season-high 16 kills on .462 hitting with seven digs against Minnesota in just her fifth collegiate match. She finished the season with 2.24 kills per set, 1.78 digs per set, 0.89 blocks per set and 15 service aces. She was second on the team in blocks and third on the team in kills. Beason was twice named SEC Freshman of the Week.
A native of Gardendale, Ala., Beason was a first-team all-state selection in Alabama in 2020 for Gardendale High School. She was a PrepVolleyball.com Top 100 prospect in the 2020 class and was named a 2020 AVCA Under Armour Third-Team All-American. Beason was a two-time AAU Academic All-American in high school and graduated in the top 10 percent of her class with an advanced diploma.