Volleyball Star Lexi Rodriguez Saddened by NCAA’s Recent Eligibility Update: “Need to Calm Down”

Lexi Rodriguez is stepping boldly into her new chapter, leaving behind the collegiate volleyball life for the pros with LOVB Omaha. It’s wild to think how someone can go from playing in packed arenas as a Husker to navigating a whole new world on their own just a month later! After Nebraska’s season ended with a tough loss, Lexi said goodbye to her collegiate journey and hello to a fresh start in Omaha. While she’s diving headfirst into independence, the reality of no longer being a Husker tugs at her heartstrings. But for now, she’s all about enjoying her new city, and developing her on-court and off-court skills as the independent woman she is.

The 4x AVCA All-American posted a story on Instagram on January 7 where she introduced her fans to her cooking era. Taking a picture of groceries placed in the kitchen, noodles, lettuce, oil, sauce, and chicken, Lexi wrote, “Let’s see how this goes,” with an air of relatable nervousness. From figuring out recipes to keeping her nutrition game strong, she’s taking this next step like a champ. But just when she was trying to find ways to keep herself busy and avoid post-college feels, some NCAA news dropped and hit her right in the Husker feels and made her wish she was back in college.

Lexi Rodriguez hopped on TikTok on January 9 to drop some relatable content, and let’s just say it was a whole mood. Filming herself while cruising in what looked like a bus, Lexi perfectly matched her vibes to an audio clip that started with a dramatic baby-like voice saying, “Are you kidding, that’s unfair. She made those…” before switching to a calmer, grown-up tone, “I need to calm down, everything’s fine. I’m an adult.” And honestly, the audio choice was the cherry on top.

But here’s the tea—her caption spilled the beans on why Lexi Rodriguez was serving all the dramatics. It read: “When I hear the NCAA might start giving athletes 5 years of eligibility.” And then, she threw in her own cheeky line, “Couldn’t of happened just a little bit earlier.” Like, seriously, NCAA, why now?! Lexi’s mix of humor and sass captured every athlete’s feelings who just missed the cutoff.

So here’s the scoop from The Mack Report: The NCAA is seriously considering new rules that could give athletes an extra year of eligibility—making it a total of five years. At the moment, student-athletes are allowed four years of participation in a five-year period, but it is not rare for them to redshirt their first year and then play four more years following that. In fact, some athletes utilize redshirt seasons in a later year of college if they have some injuries or other things.

The big question is whether this new rule would interfere with the whole redshirt system—if the extra year happens, would they permit redshirts? No one really knows yet, and there’s no timeline for a decision either. But coming back to Lexi Rodriguez, she has been pretty sad about her college ending and let’s just say that she has not been able to hide that well.

Lexi Rodriguez gets sad over her collegiate career coming to an end!

January 10 will be a special day for Lexi Rodriguez as she is set to play her first professional game, wearing that LOVB Omaha instead of Nebraska. But let’s go back to December 21, when Lexi decided to be more vulnerable and posted a TikTok video that showed how difficult it was for her to let go of her college volleyball. The caption? “for everyone wondering… she is not coping well ” Yeah, she was definitely feeling the weight of it all. In the video, you can see her rocking the Huskers jersey, sitting on her bed, looking all sorts of sad. The text on the clip says it all: “POV its 3 am and you just played ur last college volleyball game.” Heartbreaking, right?

And let’s not forget her performance in that final game, where Lexi picked up 15 digs—just enough to pass Justine Wong-Orantes, one of the best liberos the Huskers have seen. But honestly, it wasn’t the stats that made Lexi cry—it was the realization that her college experience is over. In her post-game presser, she could barely hold it together: “Every single person, a part of this program. Oh, so sorry. It’s just truly amazing people, and they really changed my life, and they just believed in me, every single person, every single day from the moment that I stepped on campus.” It looks like Lexi Rodriguez left a part of herself there, right?

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