Jenny Kropp can't wait to get back to Nebraska.
Even though she now lives in the warmth of Manhattan Beach, Calif., she is eager to get back to her home state.
It's time to play some more volleyball.
Kropp, a former Grand Island Central Catholic All-State player and an All-American at Nebraska, will be playing in Omaha on Thursday night as part of the American Volleyball Player's Tour event called "Crocs Hot Winter Nights."
Eight players four men and four women, including Kropp will be on hand at the Qwest Center in Omaha for the 7 p.m. show.
It's part of a 19-city tour the AVP Tour is going on this winter, although Kropp will only be involved in the events this weekend. After the competition at the Qwest Center, the players will get on a bus and travel to Rosemont, Ill., for Friday's event.
On Saturday, they will be at Bloomington, Ill., before heading back to California.
Kropp wants her fellow AVP players to see what volleyball is like in Nebraska.
"I really hope there's a good turnout and the girls on the tour get to see what it was like a little piece of what it was like to play at Nebraska," Kropp said. "It was amazing. It was the best time I've ever had in my life playing volleyball.
"I hope they can experience a little bit of that because we have the best fans in the nation. I want them to see what that's like."
Olympian Holly McPeak, Angie Akers and Angela Lewis will play with and against Kropp this weekend. It's a three-night round-robin type event with the players changing partners each night.
The Qwest Center will be turned into an indoor beach for Thursday's action. Kropp will feel quite at home in the sand.
Kropp, a 1998 graduate of Central Catholic, joined the AVP Tour last year and, along with her partner Jen Pavley, was very successful.
Kropp and Pavley posted three top 10 finishes in the on the 2007 AVP Crocs Tour, including a third-place finish in Chicago, where the duo upset four top 10 teams to reach the semifinals.
"I think for our first year together as a team on the tour, we had a very successful year," Kropp said.
Kropp was quite surprised when she was named the AVP's Crocs Rookie of the Year after the season was completed.
"I know every year they pick a rookie of the year and a player of the year," Kropp said. "I didn't expect to be chosen for it."
Kropp was a starter on the 34-0 national championship team her junior year at Nebraska. She was a second-team All-American her senior season and still ranks in the top 10 on Nebraska's career list for both blocks (seventh with 544) and block assists (fifth with 484).
Kropp said she has been working out getting ready for the 2008 summer tour, but as of now she doesn't have a partner.
"It's the off season so I thought it's a good time to play with other players and to see what it's like to train with other people," she said. "I just wanted to explore the horizons. It is different. In college, you choose a team and the team chooses you. On tour, you choose your partner."
Kropp may be looking for a partner for volleyball, but she's already found a different kind of partner. On March 21, she will be married to former Rutgers basketball player Adam Goess.
"I get him out on the beach every now and then for fun so I can laugh at him," Kropp said. "Usually he goes surfing while I play volleyball."
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