HUSKER VOLLEYBALL: No. 11 Nebraska Defeats Indiana In Four Sets

Nebraska volleyball setter Nicklin Hames (Courtesy of Scott Bruhn/NU Communications)

LINCOLN–(KFOR Nov. 14)–The No. 11 Nebraska volleyball team rallied to put away Indiana Sunday afternoon, topping the Hoosiers 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-16) at Wilkinson Hall. The Huskers are now 19-6 (13-3 Big Ten) on the season, while IU drops to 9-19 (3-13).

Four Huskers had double-figure kill performances, and five had at least nine kills on the day. Lexi Sun moved into the top 20 all-time at Nebraska for career kills as a Husker, finishing with 11 on a .310 afternoon, adding a block and two service aces. Ally Batenhorst totaled 11 kills on .333 hitting with five digs and a block. Lindsay Krause joined them with another 11 kills with six digs and three stops at the net. Lauren Stivrins chipped in 10 kills at a .391 efficiency and had three blocks.

Madi Kubik had nine more kills with nine digs, just missing a double-double. Nicklin Hames notched her team-leading 17th double-double of the year with 47 assists and 10 digs. Lexi Rodriguez was one of four NU players with double-figure digs, leading all players with 22 scoops for the second straight match. She added a season-high three aces and six assists. Kenzie Knuckles also had 12 digs, and Keonilei Akana added 10 more.

As a team, Nebraska hit .210 to Indiana’s .163. The Huskers had the advantage in kills (62-38), digs (79-66) and aces (6-2). IU outblocked NU 11-5.

Indiana was led by 11 kills from Kaley Rammelsburg and nine kills from Savannah Kjolhede.

Set 1

The Huskers had four errors early, and the game sat tied at 7-7 before Indiana built its lead. The Hoosiers led by as many as seven after a 6-2 run put them ahead 18-11. NU managed to get within four on a Krause kill and a Hoosier setting error. The Huskers later cut it to 23-20 on back-to-back Kubik kills out of a timeout.

Facing set point at 24-20, Knuckles delivered two straight kills to force an IU timeout at 24-22. Kubik then terminated to extend the run to 5-1 and pull NU within one, but Kari Zumach and Rammelsburg blocked Knuckles on her final swing to stop the Husker run and take the set, 25-23.

IU hit .289 with just two attack errors in the set, while NU finished at .200. Kubik was credited with five kills.

Set 2

Nebraska built to a 5-1 start with the boost of three Krause kills and a Rodriguez ace. The Hoosiers trimmed it to 5-4 before Krause, Stivrins and Sun each chipped in a kill and Akana tallied another ace to make it 9-5. With IU within three, Sun and Batenhorst terminated consecutively, and a Sun solo stop got it to 13-7.

The Huskers pushed back out to a six-point advantage at 22-16 on a Callie Schwarzenbach kill. A Batenhorst kill got it to set point, and Krause’s sixth kill of the set put it away, 25-18.

NU hit .289 to IU’s .167. Krause had six kills on .400 hitting, and Batenhorst provided a lift with four kills on five errorless swings.

Set 3

Indiana led 12-8 by Nebraska’s first timeout of set three, as the Huskers committed six attack errors and two serving miscues early on. The deficit increased to 18-12, but NU turned up the heat, and three consecutive kills from Sun during a 5-0 run brought the Huskers within one at 18-17. Sun later served back-to-back aces during a 3-0 spurt to give NU the lead, 21-20.

After a Hoosier block pulled IU within one at 23-22, a Kubik kill got it to set point. A final IU attacking error finished it at 25-22.

Down by as many as six in the third set, the Husker rally saw them outscore Indiana 13-4 to close it out.

Set 4

Nebraska scored nine straight with the help of two Rodriguez aces and six Hoosier errors, with a Krause/Stivrins block punctuating the run at 10-2. The Huskers later got back-to-back kills from Stivrins, and she teamed up with Batenhorst for a block to make it 14-4 and force an IU timeout.

NU extended it to 19-8 with back-to-back tallies from Sun and Batenhorst, and another 3-0 surge made it 22-9. A Stivrins kill spurred the Huskers to match point, and after the Hoosiers fended it off five times, NU took a timeout leading 24-15. Sun had the final swing, sealing it at 25-16.

Sun and Stivrins had four kills apiece in the set, and Stivrins put up a pair of blocks.