MATCH STATS
- No. 12 Nebraska def. UMBC 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-20)
- Nebraska moves to 1-2; UMBC drops to 1-3
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- Attendance: 7907
- Box Score
LINCOLN, Neb. – Senior setter Kelly Hunter made her 2017 debut after missing the Huskers’ opening weekend matches due to injury and guided the team to a .273 hitting effort and a sweep of UMBC with help from freshman setter Hunter Atherton, who added 12 assists to Hunter’s 20.
Nebraska got 10 kills from senior middle blocker Briana Holman and nine from junior outside hitter Mikaela Foecke en route to the victory. Holman hit at a stellar .769 clip, going without an error in 13 swings, and added a team-best six blocks. Foecke hit at a .412 clip and accounted for two of the team’s six aces. Atherton led the team with three perfect serves. Junior libero Kenzie Maloney paced the defensive effort with 14 digs.
Senior outside Abbie Mirabella led the Retrievers with seven kills. Senior outside Ashley Ramos followed with five putaways. Junior defensive specialist Kristin Watson led the backcourt with 12 digs, while sophomore middle Lauren Mortimer put up a team-leading two blocks.
Nebraska outhit UMBC .273 to .058, outblocked them 11-4, and served up six aces, while allowing none.
After splitting the first 14 points of the match, Nebraska built a six point advantage at 15-9 with help from three UMBC errors, two blocks and putaways by Holman and Annika Albrecht. A pair of Retriever hitting errors pushed the edge to eight at 21-13. UMBC pulled within four at 23-19 after a trio of Husker miscues, but Holman pounded back-to-back kills to wrap up the 25-19 win.
Nebraska ran out to a 14-6 lead in Set 2, including three aces, two by Foecke, and a trio of blocks. A pair of Foecke putaways pushed the margin to 10 at 19-9. UMBC scored three straight to get within seven, but the Huskers closed out the set on a 6-1 run. A Lauren Stivrins kill capped the 25-13 victory.
The Retreivers struck first in Set 3, jumping ahead 5-3 with help from four Husker miscues. Nebraska tied it up at 8-all and took a brief 10-9 lead on a Foecke kill. A Franchesca Reed kill gave UMBC a two-point lead again at 13-11. Down 16-14, Nebraska broke off a 6-1 run to grab a 20-17 edge. Two kills and a block by Holman aided the rally. UMBC made it a one-point game at 21-20 on a Marissa Duncan kill, but could not stop the Huskers, which closed out the match on a 4-0 run. Stivrins managed two kills down the stretch, including the final nail.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Nebraska Athletics
The 12th-ranked Nebraska volleyball team recorded its first victory of the season with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-20) sweep of UMBC on Friday afternoon at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers improved to 1-2 by breezing past the Retrievers (1-3). The win was Nebraska head coach John Cook’s 500th at Nebraska.
Briana Holman shined for the Huskers with 10 kills on just 13 swings with no errors for a .769 hitting percentage. She also had a match-best six blocks. Mikaela Foecke had nine kills and hit .412, as the Huskers as a team hit a season-best .273 and held UMBC to .058. NU outblocked UMBC 11-4 with Holman (six), Annika Albrecht (five) and Jazz Sweet (four) leading the way.
Kelly Hunter made her season debut and had 20 assists and seven digs, while Hunter Atherton also played and had 12 assists, six digs and three aces. Nebraska had a 6-0 advantage in aces. Libero Kenzie Maloney led all players with 14 digs.
Set 1: The Huskers broke a 7-7 tie with a kill and solo stuff by Albrecht, and then a block by Anezka Szabo and Holman to go up 10-7. NU built the lead to 15-9 with another kill by Albrecht and one from Holman. The Huskers pounded 10 kills before committing an attacking error in the set. An ace serve by Atherton put the Big Red up 18-11, and Nebraska took the set, 25-19, after Holman finished the set with two straight kills.
Set 2: Nebraska came out stronger in the second set and took an 11-4 lead courtesy of four aces, two by Foecke. Holman took over the set with two kills and three blocks in a span of six rallies to boost the Huskers to a 17-7 lead. Foecke scored the Huskers’ next three points to put them ahead 20-12, and Foecke served the Huskers to set point with Albrecht pounding two more kills. NU won 25-13 after closing the set on a 6-1 run. The Big Red limited UMBC to -.097 hitting in the set.
Set 3: UMBC held the upper hand early in the third set, taking a 13-11 lead on the Huskers with a 4-1 run. Nebraska trailed 16-14 before Holman tallied a kill and combined with Sweet for a block to even the score at 16-16. A solo stuff by Albrecht gave the Huskers a 17-16 edge, and Holman and Sweet each added another kill on Albrecht’s serve to push the lead to three at 20-17. After UMBC pulled within 21-20, Stivrins and Foecke answered with kills to make it 23-20. After a UMBC timeout, Atherton served her third ace and NU won 25-20 on a kill by Lauren Stivrins. The Huskers hit .360 in the final frame.
Up Next: Nebraska hosts Oral Roberts at 7:30 p.m. Friday night in its second match of the day
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