MATCH STATS
- Nebraska defeats Michigan, 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-13)
- Nebraska improves to 18-1; Michigan drops to 15-9
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Attendance: 1653
- Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Huskers move to 11-1 in Big Ten play after defeating Michigan on Sunday. They remain tied with Penn State for first place in conference play.
Nebraska hit .290 on the match, with a .353 hitting percentage in the second set, as they held the Wolverines to a .046 clip. The Huskers out blocked Michigan 14-8.
Nebraska setter Kelly Hunter totaled a 31 assists, 7 digs, and four kills. On the other side of the net, Mackenzi Welsh tabbed 23 assists and nine digs just missing a double-double.
One Husker posted double-figure kills with Mikaela Foecke leading the pack at 13 kills and nine digs on a .200 clip. Briana Holman had 6 kills with zero errors on a .545 hitting percentage.
Michigan’s offense was led by Carly Skjodt, who had 11 kills with five digs on a .043 hitting percentage. Claire Kieffer-Wright posted six kills on a .214 clip.
Both teams will continue with Big 10 play as Nebraska takes on Purdue and Michigan hosts Rutgers.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Behind a season-high 14 blocks, the No. 7 Nebraska volleyball team wrapped up its four-day road trip to Michigan with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-13) win over the Wolverines in front of 1,653 in attendance at Cliff Keen Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Nebraska improved to 18-4 overall and 11-1 in the Big Ten to remain tied with Penn State atop the Big Ten standings with eight matches remaining in the regular season. Having played five of their last seven matches on the road, the Huskers will now play four matches in a row at home, beginning with No. 17 Purdue on Friday at 7 p.m.
Mikaela Foecke led the way with 13 kills, nine digs and a career-high five blocks while hitting .379. Briana Holman had six kills on .545 hitting and posted a season-high 10 blocks, which tied her most in a Husker uniform. Annika Albrecht had seven kills and a match-high 14 digs. Jazz Sweet pounded five kills.
Kelly Hunter had 31 assists, seven digs, four kills and three blocks. She also served two aces, both of which came during a 13-0 Husker run to end the match in the third set. Lauren Stivrins chipped in three blocks. Nebraska’s 14 blocks marked its most in a three-set match since Dec. 5, 2014 when Nebraska blocked Hofstra 19.5 times in a sweep.
The Huskers won the hitting battle, .290 to .046. NU had 10 more digs (48-38) than Michigan as Kenzie Maloney put up nine and Sydney Townsend had eight. The Huskers had six aces.
Carly Skjodt led Michigan with 11 kills but hit just .043 against the Huskers.
Set 1: The Huskers came back from a 3-0 deficit to begin the set and led 14-10 after Stivrins chipped in on a pair of blocks and Hunter dumped back-to-back kills, part of a 6-1 run. Foecke and Holman stuffed a Michigan shot to put the Huskers up 19-14 and force Michigan’s second timeout. Michigan responded with a 7-2 run, including three ace serves, to tie the set at 21-21. At 22-22, the Wolverines hit into the net, and Holman tipped a kill for set point before posting another block with Foecke for the 25-22 win. The Huskers had six blocks in the set, and Foecke and Holman each had four. Nebraska hit .333 and held Michigan to .051.
Set 2: The Huskers jumped out to a 6-1 lead as Albrecht pounded a kill and served back-to-back aces to open the set. Foecke and Stivrins followed with kills, while Maloney served an ace. Trailing 12-5, Michigan strung together four straight points to close the gap to 12-9, as Skjodt was in on three of the four points. After a kill by Foecke, the Wolverines scored the next three to get within 13-12. Foecke terminated again to keep the Huskers in the lead, and Holman followed with a kill and a solo block before Foecke hammered another ball to the floor to increase the lead to 17-13. After Michigan trimmed the Huskers’ lead to 17-15, Holman smashed back-to-back shots from the middle for a 19-15 lead. Sweet terminated and Stivrins and Hunter tallied NU’s eighth block of the match for a 22-17 advantage. NU finished off the 25-18 win on a Stivrins kill.
Set 3: Nebraska went up 6-3 with a pair of blocks and strong defensive play in the back row. The Wolverines rallied to take a 12-11 lead with a 5-1 run. Michigan led 13-12 before Nebraska reeled off a 13-0 run to end the match. A kill by Foecke and a block by Sweet and Holman put the Huskers up 15-13 heading into the media timeout, and Foecke came out of it with another kill before Holman tallied her ninth block for a 17-13 advantage. The Huskers then won a review that Michigan hit long, and Holman and Sweet added yet another block before the Huskers won their third challenge of the day. Hunter then served two more aces around another kill by Foecke. Sweet tacked on a kill, and Head Coach John Cook subbed senior middle blocker and Michigan native Allie Havers into the match for the first time this season. The Huskers won 25-13 after their 13-0 run.
Up Next: The Huskers begin a four-game home stretch with a pair of matches at the Devaney Center next weekend. Nebraska will host Purdue on Friday at 7 p.m. and Indiana on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Courtesy of Michigan Athletics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan volleyball team had a two-match win streak halted on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 29) as the Wolverines fell to No. 7-ranked Nebraska in straight sets (22-25, 18-25, 13-25) inside Cliff Keen Arena.
The loss is Michigan’s second when playing at home this season and brings the Wolverines’ home record to 9-2. Michigan’s only other home loss came to then-No. 6 Minnesota earlier this month (Oct. 7).
Michigan (15-9, 5-7 B1G) was held to a .046 hitting percentage, the team’s lowest mark of the season. Junior outside hitter Carly Skjodt was the only Wolverine to finish with double-figure kills, totaling 11. Sophomore setter MacKenzi Welsh ended with three kills on three swings for a perfect 1.000 average.
Defensively, the Wolverines tallied eight blocks. Redshirt sophomore Cori Crocker totaled five, including three in the second set. From the back row, junior libero Jenna Lerg recorded 12 digs, while Welsh finished just short of an assist-dig double-double with nine.
Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set on a kill by senior Adeja Lambert along with a kill and a service ace by Skjodt, but a 4-0 run by Nebraska allowed the Huskers to gain the lead. The teams traded points from there before Nebraska pulled ahead to a 14-10 lead, forcing Michigan to call a timeout. The Cornhuskers extended their lead to five at 19-14, but Michigan used a kill from Skjodt and two aces by senior Claire Kieffer-Wright to cut the deficit to one at 20-19. A Skjodt kill and an ace by Welsh then tied the score at 21, but the Huskers used a 3-0 run to close out the first set with a 25-22 victory.
Nebraska got off to a quick start in the second set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before a kill by Skjodt put Michigan on the board. The Huskers extended their lead to 11-4, but the Wolverines went on a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to three at 12-9, and a long rally ended with a double-block from Crocker and freshman Kiara Shannon to force a Nebraska timeout. Following the stoppage in play, a Husker attack error cut Nebraska’s lead to one at 13-12, but the Huskers were able to pull away for a 19-15 lead and coerce a Michigan timeout. Despite four blocks by the Wolverines and four kills from Skodt, Nebraska used the momentum to take set two, 25-18.
The Wolverines fell behind early in the third set when Nebraska took a 10-7 lead. Despite trailing early, Michigan closed the gap at 10-9 on a big kill from Kieffer-Wright and pushed the Maize and Blue to a 13-12 lead on a cross-court kill from Skjodt. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Huskers used a 13-0 run to close out the third set by a score of 25-13.
Michigan will get back in action on Wednesday (Nov. 7) when the Wolverines host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a midweek Big Ten contest. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside Cliff Keen Arena.
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