#1 Nebraska Sweeps #8 Washington In First of Three B1G-Pac12 Matches

Match Stats

• #1 Nebraska defeats #8 Washington 3-0 (25-16, 25-10, 25-21)
• Nebraska moves on to the NCAA semifinals where they’ll face the winner of Texas vs Creighton
• Devaney Center – Lincoln, Nebraska
• Attendance: 8,355

After surviving a scare against Penn State on Friday, the #1-ranked Nebraska Huskers returned to form and took care of business against the Pac-12 champion Washington Huskies. Nebraska won 3-0 in a dominant home sweep.

Things weren’t particularly close from the get-go, with Nebraska going up early and making a run from 11-8 to 16-8 midway through the first set. Washington would start holding its own later in the set, but the lead was too much to overcome as Nebraska won 25-16. The Huskers hit a wild .467 in that set with 18 huge kills to set the tone.

The second set was even more lopsided, with the Huskers going up 9-0 before they lost a single point. Washington could not convert scoring chances, hitting -.090 as Nebraska hit at a .565 clip. A 25-10 win there left the Huskies a set away from elimination, and though they kept the third set extremely close for awhile, Nebraska still got going when it needed to. Down 19-24, Washington scraped through a pair of match points before Nebraska finally ended it.

Andie Malloy had 15 kills for the top-ranked Huskers, and Justine Wong-Orantes had 13 digs. It was Nebraska’s blocking that really made the difference between this result and the narrow win over Penn State a day earlier. Nebraska had 14 total team blocks.

Washington’s Crissy Jones managed 9 kills. It’s becoming deja vu for the Huskies, who have now been eliminated by Nebraska in three straight NCAA Tournaments. In fact, Washington’s NCAA runs have been ended by a Big Ten program every year for the past 6 years. They lost to Nebraska in 2016, 2015 and 2014, Penn State in 2013, Nebraska again in 2012 and Minnesota in 2011.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 each fielded 3 teams in the NCAA’s Elite Eight, and three of today’s four matches are Big Ten vs Pac-12. Nebraska puts the Big Ten up 1-0, with Wisconsin-Stanford up next and Minnesota-UCLA taking the latest slot tonight.

Press Releases

Nebraska:

LINCOLN, Neb. – The top-seeded Nebraska volleyball team became the first team to advance to the NCAA Semifinals, as the Huskers were dominant in a three-set sweep of Pac-12 Champion Washington, the No. 7 national seed, on Saturday in front of 8,355 fans inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Nebraska limited Washington to just 26 points in the first two set, taking the opener 25-16 before winning the first nine rallies of set two en route to a 25-10 victory. The third set was tighter, but Andie Malloy‘s 15th kill on the Huskers’ third match point wrapped up the 25-21 victory. The Huskers limited Washington to just 47 total points, the second-fewest points allowed in an NCAA Regional Final in the rally-scoring era, which dates back to 2001.

With the win, the Huskers tied a school record with their 10th consecutive postseason victory and kept their hopes alive for back-to-back national titles. Nebraska (31-2) will face either Texas or Creighton on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio, with a berth in the national championship match on the line. Washington, which lost to Nebraska in the regional final for the second straight year, saw its season end with a 29-5 record.

The Huskers hit an impressive .437 in the match, led by Malloy’s 15 kills and 10 kills on 19 swings from senior Kadie Rolfzen, the NCAA Lincoln Regional Most Outstanding Player. Sophomore Mikaela Foecke added nine kills and was strong at the service line, recording two aces while serving several long runs. Senior Amber Rolfzen put down five kills on six error-free swings while recording a match-high four blocks. Leading the dominant offensive performance was junior setter Kelly Hunter, who totaled 36 kills and added three kills and six digs. Senior Justine Wong-Orantes tallied 13 digs for the Huskers.

Crissy Jones paced Washington with nine kills, but the Huskies were held to a season-low 26 kills and a season-low .088 attack percentage. Courtney Schwan added seven kills, while Kara Bajema and Tia Scambray chipped in five kills apiece.

Set 1: Nebraska bolted out to a 4-1 lead with a Holman kill and a Foecke ace. Malloy pounded a trio of kills as the Huskers went up 8-5. A Kadie Rolfzen shot down the line after a string of great defensive plays by both teams made it 13-8, and a pair of Washington errors and a Kadie Rolfzen kill had the Huskers up 16-8 and in control. The Huskers remained up by eight, 22-14, after a rip by Albrecht, and they finished off the 25-16 win on a kill by Malloy, her sixth of the set. Nebraska hit a blistering .467 and held Washington to .097. The Huskers had a distinct edge in defense with a 17-7 digs advantage.

Set 2: The Huskers were dominant, taking a 9-0 lead on Foecke’s serve. Holman and Malloy each had a pair of kills during the run, while Washington made a few miscues with the Huskers pounding away at them. A Kadie Rolfzen kill and Wong-Orantes ace put the Huskers up 11-1. Hunter even joined in the action by taking a swing from the right side and tooling the block for a kill and a 14-3 lead. After Washington got within 16-9, Foecke got a kill, Holman and Kadie Rolfzen combined for consecutive blocks and then recorded back-to-back kills for a 21-9 lead. The Huskers resumed their dominance with a kill and ace by Foecke, a block by Holman and Kadie Rolfzen and a Malloy kill to end the set at 25-10. The Huskers hit .565 and held UW to -.080 hitting. The Huskers again outdug Washington, 12-5, and had four blocks to Washington’s one.

Set 3: Nebraska took its first lead of the set, 6-5, after a Washington hit long, and Albrecht served an ace for a 7-5 lead. The Huskers’ tough serve continued to give Washington problems, as Sydney Townsend served the fifth ace for the Big Red for a 9-8 lead. Washington went back ahead 10-9 wth an ace of its own, but Foecke terminated to even the set. Malloy and Amber Rolfzen added kills before a Washington error made it 16-14 Huskers. Malloy and Hunter followed with swings for kills and an 18-14 lead, forcing a Washington timeout. Hunter and Amber Rolfzen teamed up for a block after the timeout to continue the 5-0 run and build the lead to 19-14. Another block by that pair, and an Amber Rolfzen kill made it 22-16. A tip kill by Holman gave the Huskers a 23-18 edge, and Foecke swung the Huskers match point at 24-19.

Up Next: Nebraska will make its 13th appearance in the NCAA Semifinal next Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. The Huskers will face the winner of Texas-Creighton at a to-be-announced time.

NCAA Lincoln All-Region Team
Penina Snuka, Arizona
Kelly Hunter, Nebraska
Andie Malloy, Nebraska
Kadie Rolfzen, Nebraska
Simone Lee, Penn State
Ali Frantti, Penn State
Crissy Jones, Washington
Most Outstanding Player: Kadie Rolfzen, Nebraska

Nebraska Post-Match Notes

• Nebraska (31-2) advanced to the NCAA Semifinals for the second straight season and for the 13th time in school history. The Huskers’ 13 NCAA Semifinals appearances rank second in NCAA history.
• John Cook is taking Nebraska to the NCAA Semifinals for the seventh time in his 17 seasons.
• The Huskers held Washington to 47 total points in the match, the second-fewest points allowed in an NCAA Regional Final in the rally-scoring era, which dates back to 2001. The fewest points ever allowed in a regional final were 46 by Stanford in a sweep of Hawaii in 2008.
• Nebraska won its 10th straight NCAA Tournament match, tying for the longest postseason win streak in program history (also 10 straight wins in 2000-01).
• NU improved to 13-13 all-time in NCAA Regional Finals.
• Cook improved to 60-13 in NCAA Tournament play as Nebraska’s head coach. In 17 seasons at Nebraska, Cook has led the Huskers to more postseason victories than all but eight other teams in NCAA history.
• Including his time at Wisconsin, Cook notched his 69th career NCAA Tournament win, a total that ranks fifth in NCAA history and fourth among active coaches.
• The Huskers won their 13th straight home match and finished the year with an 18-1 home record. The 18 wins are Nebraska’s most since moving into the Bob Devaney Sports Center and are the most home wins overall for NU since the 2007 season.
• Nebraska improved to 70-6 all-time at home in the NCAA Tournament, including a 16-2 record at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
• The match attendance was 8,355, giving the Huskers a total attendance of 155,986 this season, the highest mark in program history.
• NU also had the highest average home attendance in school history in 2016 with an average of 8,210 fans per match.
• The Huskers have won 48 of their last 51 home NCAA Tournament matches, including eight straight.
• Nebraska improved to 15-2 against ranked opponents this season, including 5-1 vs. top-10 foes.
• The Huskers improved to 6-2 all-time against Washington with their fourth straight win vs. the Huskies. All four wins during the streak have come in the postseason, as Nebraska is 5-2 against Washington in the NCAA Tournament, including a 3-0 record in NCAA Regional Finals.
• NU never trailed by more than two points in the match, and the Huskers have yet to trail by more than two points in any of their four NCAA Tournament matches.
• Nebraska hit .437 in the match, its third-highest total of the season and its first time hitting .400 or above since Oct. 16.
• Six of the seven Huskers who took a swing against Washington hit above .350.
• NU held Washington to an .088 attack percentage, the Huskies lowest mark of the year. It marked the only time this season Washington has been held below a .131 attack percentage.
• The Huskers also held the Huskies to a season-low 26 kills.
• Nebraska handed Washington its first set loss of the NCAA Tournament by winning the opening set, 25-16.
• The Huskers won the first nine points of the second set.
• Senior Andie Malloy produced her 12th match this season with double-figure kills, and her second straight. Malloy totaled 15 kills, including 10 kills on 16 error-free swings in the first two sets. In two matches at the NCAA Lincoln Regional, Malloy finished with 28 kills.
• Malloy’s 15 kills were one shy of her season high.
• Senior Kadie Rolfzen was named the Lincoln Region Most Outstanding Player, while Malloy and junior Kelly Hunter were also named to the all-region team.

Washington Post-Match Notes

• Washington saw its 10-match winning streak snapped, as the Huskies ended their season with a 29-5 record. Washington fell one win short of its fourth straight 30-win season and the program’s fifth NCAA Semifinals appearance.
• Washington fell to 4-6 all-time in NCAA Regional Final matches.
• The Huskies dropped to 0-3 vs. Nebraska in NCAA Regional Finals. Overall, Washington is 1-5 against Nebraska in NCAA Regional play and 2-5 vs. the Huskers in the postseason. Washington lost to Nebraska for the fourth straight meeting.
• Washington fell to 47-20 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Huskies lost the first set, marking their first set loss of the NCAA Tournament. Through the tournament’s first 56 matches entering Saturday, Washington was the only team that had not lost a set in the NCAA Tournament.
• Setter Bailey Tanner recorded 23 assists in the match. She increased her season total to 1,288 to finish the season in 10th place on Washington’s single-season assists list.
• Crissy Jones led Washington with nine kills in the match and had 20 kills in the Lincoln Regional to earn a spot on the NCAA all-region team.

Washington:

LINCOLN, Neb. – Washington volleyball put together yet another memorable season, but the finish had a frustratingly familiar feel to it, as top-seeded Nebraska knocked out the Huskies in the Elite Eight for the second straight season. In front of 8,355 red-clan fans at their home Devaney Center, the defending champion Huskers (31-2) blocked UW’s efforts to reach the Final Four with an excellent all-around performance that Washington (29-5) was unable to match.

Despite a 10-match win streak and three straight sweeps to reach the Elite Eight, the Dawgs fell behind early in sets one and two and went into the break down two sets to none with nothing much going right. But despite the early struggles, the Huskies showed the resiliency that helped them win the Pac-12 title for the third time in the past four years, and battled hard for set three. But UW couldn’t turn the tide all the way, as Nebraska closed out the win, 25-16, 25-10, 25-21. It was a third straight season-ending loss to the Huskers, who won in the Elite Eight last year and in the Sweet 16 in 2014.

Washington falls to 4-6 all-time in Elite Eight matches. The Dawgs made it to the Regional rounds for the fifth year in a row, one of only five teams with an active streak of that length. The Huskies will also have a bright future ahead, graduating just one senior in Kameron McLain, and returning All-Pac-12 selections Bailey Tanner, Crissy Jones, and Pac-12 Player of the Year Courtney Schwan, along with junior standout Tia Scambray and All-Freshman Team pick Kara Bajema.

“Tough match obviously for us,” said second-year Head Coach Keegan Cook. “I thought Nebraska executed extremely well right out of the gate on both sides of the ball and hit assignment after assignment. We were a little slow out of the gate and it continued into the second set. They played well and there’s not much you can do about that except for weather the storm. I’m very proud of our performance in the third set, being able to come back and play a competitive set.”

Jones led the Huskies with nine kills and was named to the Lincoln Regional All-Tournament Team after the match. Five of her nine kills came in the third set as the Dawgs tried to rally. Schwan had seven kills today and a pair of solo blocks, while Bajema hit .625 with five kills and no errors on eight attempts.

After nearly being eliminated on Friday, saving two match points before beating Penn State, the Huskers seemed to play with a weight off their shoulders, as they hit a scorching .437, the highest by any UW opponent since Penn State in the 2013 Final Four. The Huskies hit just .088, their lowest mark of the season.

Schwan picked up the first point of the match on a swing that Nebraska dug but couldn’t set. Nebraska then scored the next four points as the Huskies showed some signs of nerves and UW quickly called its first timeout. The Huskers served long out of the timeout and then hit a quick out of bounds for 3-4. Scambray had UW’s first official kill on a set by Schwan for 4-5. A Schwan roll kill out of the back went down for 5-7. Schwan picked up two more kills from the left pin as the teams traded sideouts to 7-9. But the Huskies then hit out of bounds twice and Nebraska won a lengthy rally with an out of system kill as part of a 5-1 run to make it 8-14 and UW used its final timeout. The Huskers picked up two more points before Jones put away her first kill to snap the run and make it 9-16. Bajema had her first kill and a tough Jones serve led to a Nebraska error for 11-17. Schwan had a big solo rejection for 13-19 Huskers. Nebraska won two more long rallies to get the crowd on its feet at 14-21. Jones dropped a tip down for 16-23. But the Huskies couldn’t mount a rally, and Nebraska closed out the set, 25-16, hitting .467 compared to just .097 for the Huskies. It was just the third first set loss of the season for the Huskies.

The Huskies made more uncharacteristic errors to start the second set and quickly fell behind 0-5 and had to take another early timeout. Washington could not get on the board, as Nebraska had three more transition kills for 0-8 and UW used its last timeout. Jones finally got the Huskies on the board with a right side kill. Bajema tapped down a 50-50 ball and then Jones served up an ace for 3-11. A slide kill from Bajema and some tough Scambray serving helped the Huskies inch back within eight points at 7-15 after being down as many as 11. Schwan’s second solo block shrunk the lead to seven at 9-16 and Nebraska called its first timeout. The Huskers got a kill in serve-receive and then UW had a poor pass that resulted in a NU block as the Huskers quickly pulled away again with a 5-0 run. Nebraska emphatically closed things out again with the final four points to win the set, 25-10.

Jones started set three with a big swing for a kill on the first point, and Scambray followed that with a transition kill for 2-0. Bajema put a slide through the block for a 4-3 lead. Schwan had two roll shots fall but Nebraska pulled ahead, 6-7. The Huskies pushed back with a block from Jones to retake the lead, 8-7, but Nebraska had a kill and then their fifth ace of the match for 8-9. Destiny Julye came back with an ace of the Huskers for a 10-9 Washington lead. The lead swung back to Nebraska again, with Jones finishing from the right for 11-11, and then UW went on top again as Bajema finished a slide kill after Nebraska overpassed the Jones serve. Again Nebraska won two straight to go up, but Jones tied it at 13 with a back row kill off the block. The Huskers got to 15 first at 14-15 for the media timeout. The media break seemed to disrupt the Dawgs as the Huskers came out with three straight to open up a 14-18 lead and UW had to take a timeout of its own. Nebraska got one more point with a block out of the break, but then Tanner had a huge block for the Dawgs to snap the run for 15-19. The Huskers continued to inch towards the finish but Jones tried to delay it with a pair of right side kills keeping UW within five points. The Huskies pulled within four points, but Nebraska had a kill off the block to get to match point at 19-24. Scambray saved the first with a kill off the block touch. The Huskers then hit long after a tough float serve from Scambray made it 21-24 and Nebraska called timeout. Out of the break, Nebraska got a solid pass and put its first swing away from the left pin to end it, 21-25. Washington had its best hitting at .200 but still couldn’t stymie the Nebraska attack as it hit .324. Jones got rolling in the third, finishing six kills on a .556 percentage.