A delayed season. Matches in empty gyms. The endless COVID tests. An NCAA Tournament in a bubble. These strange events that converged to make up the 2021 spring season wrapped up five years ago this month.  For many who went through the season, it seems like it was part of another era. While the whole world adjusted to a new reality during the COVID pandemic, Nebraska went 16-3 and reached the regional finals in April before losing to Texas, which was the only match the Huskers played with more than friends and family in the stands. “It honestly feels like it was forever ago,” said Nicklin (Hames) Hickman, who was a junior setter for the Huskers. “For a lot of us, it was just like such a blur of a season, because it was so weird. I can’t even believe sometimes when I think back on it that we had one of our collegiate seasons like that.” Although the season ended more than five years ago, it was never certain that volleyball would be played during the 2020-21 academic year.…