Match Stats
The AVCA No. 1 Nebraska rolls through the RPI No. 1 Wisconsin in straight sets. The Huskers hit for .330, while holding the Badgers to a .179 hitting percentage.
The Huskers are 6-0 in their last six matches versus top-five teams, dating back to last season, which is the longest stretch in school history against top-five teams. Nebraska has also swept its last three top-five opponents, something never done in Husker history.
Amber Rolfzen put down a career-best 16 kills and a .609 hitting percentage, while Briana Holman added seven kills and six blocks, hitting for .400. Justine Wong-Orantes picked up 15 digs for the Huskers.
For the Badgers, Tionna Williams had 11 kills on a .269 hitting percentage, while Romana Kriskova hit eight and one block. Kelli Bates picked up 15 digs.
Press Release
Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics
LINCOLN, Neb. – The top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team put together one of its most dominant performances of the season in a 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 sweep of No. 4 Wisconsin before a season-high crowd of 8,476 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Friday night.
Nebraska (17-1, 8-1 Big Ten) never trailed in the sweep and hit .330 against the Badgers (15-3, 7-2 Big Ten), who had been holding opponents to a .163 average this season. The Huskers limited Wisconsin to .179 hitting.
The Huskers are 6-0 in their last six matches against top-five opponents dating back to last season, the longest stretch in school history of consecutive wins against top-five teams. Nebraska also has swept its last three top-five opponents, which has never been done in NU history.
Amber Rolfzen’s career-high 16 kills came on .609 hitting, and her fellow middle blocker Briana Holman had seven kills and six blocks on .400 hitting. The Husker middles combined for 23 kills on .526 hitting.
Kadie Rolfzen chipped in nine kills and eight digs, and Mikaela Foecke pounded seven kills. Andie Malloy struck for six kills and three blocks, and Kelly Hunter had 41 assists to lead the Husker attack.
Justine Wong-Orantes had 15 digs and Annika Albrecht had eight to lead the Huskers to a 48-38 edge against the Big Ten’s top digging team entering the match. NU outblocked Wisconsin 10 to 5.5
Tionna Williams had 11 kills for the Badgers.
Set 1: Nebraska built a 7-4 lead by forcing four Badger attacking errors early in the set. Wisconsin drew even at 10-10 before kills by Kadie Rolfzen and Holman restored a two-point lead, 12-10. After Wisconsin again tied the set at 12-12, the Huskers got two more kills from Kadie Rolfzen and one from Malloy for a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. An Amber Rolfzen tip kill after a timeout immediately forced a Badger timeout with the Huskers ahead 16-12. The Huskers turned to Amber Rolfzen throughout the set, and her fifth kill on her fifth swing, followed by a Kelly Hunter kill made it 21-16 Big Red. An ace by Hunter increased the lead to 23-17, but the Badgers scored the next four points to cut it to 23-21. After a timeout, Nebraska got a clutch dig from Albrecht to keep a rally alive, which Kadie Rolfzen terminated for set point. The Badgers hit wide to give NU the 25-21 win.
Set 2: Amber Rolfzen’s eighth kill on her eighth swing gave the Huskers a 7-5 lead in the second frame. A kill and subsequent ace by Foecke made it 10-7 Huskers, and a pair of stuffs by Hunter and Amber Rolfzen helped build a 16-11 NU lead. Amber Rolfzen posted her 10th kill to put the Huskers up 21-15. The Badgers pulled within 22-19 with a 4-1 run, but a stuff block by Hunter and Amber Rolfzen out of a timeout gave the Huskers a 23-19 edge. Amber Rolfzen gave NU set point, 24-20, and the Huskers earned the 25-22 victory after Wisconsin hit long. The Huskers had five blocks in the set.
Set 3: A Holman kill and Badger hitting error, followed by a Holman and Foecke block gave the Huskers a 3-0 start. Nebraska piled on to the tune of a 9-1 lead with Holman adding two more kills and three more blocks. The Huskers never let the Badgers get closer than five points the rest of the way and hit .464 in the final frame.
Up Next: The Huskers host No. 3 Minnesota on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Big Ten Network. The Golden Gophers survived in five sets at Iowa Friday night.
Press Release
Courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics
LINCOLN, Neb.– The No. 4 Wisconsin volleyball team looked to secure its second-ever victory in Lincoln, but fell in three sets to top-ranked Nebraska, 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 at Devaney Sports Center.
The Badgers (15-3 overall, 7-2 Big Ten) hit .179 percent through the match (39 kills – 19 errors – 112 attempts), while the Huskers held a .330 attack percentage (46-11-106). Nebraska (17-1, 8-1 Big Ten), the reigning NCAA champion, outblocked UW 10-5.5, and out dug the Badgers, 48-38.
“I think a big part of that,” UW head coach Kelly Sheffield explained, “is that we’ve had a week and a half with this lineup. When you’re playing great competition and the game gets going that fast, there were quite a bit of hesitation points. I think frustration set in, but I thought early on that was a big thing.
“We had an opportunity of winning both the first and the second, and those hesitation points were critical moments. Those will obviously be thing’s we’ll work out over time, but it is what it is right now.”
Sophomore Tionna Williams led the Wisconsin offense, hitting 11 kills and a .269 attack percentage with only four errors on 26 attempts. Redshirt senior Romana Kriskova hit eight kills, adding one block, while junior Lauryn Gillis added seven kills and freshman Molly Haggerty contributed six.
Junior Kelli Bates led the Badgers in digs, recording 15, while senior Haleigh Nelson added three blocks. Senior Lauren Carlini tallied 30 assists, adding six digs.
Nelson, Haggerty and sophomore Amber MacDonald each served up an ace for the Badgers.
The Badgers kept even with Nebraska through the start of the first set, playing to four tie points until 12-12. The Huskers went on a 9-4 run, forcing UW to use both of its timeouts by 21-16. The Badgers took a 4-0 run late in the set and cut the Husker lead to 23-21, but eventually fell 25-21 on a hitting error.
The Badgers were held to a .159 (13-6-44) hitting percentage in set one while Nebraska managed a .297 percentage (16-5-37).
“[Nebraska] played well and kept their errors down, their hitting errors were pretty low,” Sheffield said. “We had a tough time, our points were really, really hard. Part of it was their defense, I thought their defense was really good. There wasn’t a whole lot of pass-set-hit. The first part of the first set I thought there was, and then we didn’t control the ball very well.”
Set two started much like the first as Wisconsin closely trailed Nebraska midway through the set, 11-10. The Badgers battled through the next 20 points, claiming nine and forcing a Husker timeout after Carlini won a joust to bring the Badgers within three points, 22-19. UW held off two Nebraska set points after the Huskers ran out of substitutions, but dropped the set 25-22.
Wisconsin hit .194 (11-5-31) in set three, its highest attack percentage of the match, but had trouble holding off Nebraska’s hitters. Nebraska surged to a 6-1 lead in the final set, forcing an early Wisconsin timeout. The Huskers tallied eight kills and forced several UW hitting errors over the following points, leading 19-11 as the Badgers used their second timeout. Williams, Gillis and Nelson each tallied kills following the break, but Nebraska’s lead proved to be too great as they finished the set 25-15 to take the match.
“We’re irritated, probably should be,” Sheffield said. “It’s always about getting better, where we’re at right now isn’t what we’re going to be, whether we won or lost this match. We’re not where we want to be, but I don’t think anyone is going to be scared to put the work in.
“We’re just not where we want to be right now, so let’s get to work.”
The Badgers continue their road stint on Saturday, facing Iowa in Iowa City. First serve at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is set for 7 p.m.
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