*Note: Because of the early start, I didn’t get to Devaney until halfway through the second set thus not the usual point-by-point recap.
The unanimous #1 Husker Volleyball team opened up the home part of their title defense against the Iowa State Cyclones Friday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center taking down the Iowa State Cyclones 3-0 (25-20. 25-17, 25-12) to kick off the Nebraska Invite.
The Huskers kept the sets tight early, letting Iowa State open up a 3-0 lead in each of the first two sets, but taking a small lead early in the third. The Huskers crushed the Cyclones in the third, a set punctuated by an unblocked Kadie Rolfzen attack to seal the match.
The third set also saw Waverly’s Olivia Boender see action with the Huskers leading comfortably 20-9. Boender’s first swing was a kill and she hit .667 with two kills on three swings.
Briana Holman is the real deal. In her first home match at Devaney she had one solo and three assisted blocks while leading the team with nine kills on fifteen attempts to hit .467. Mikaela Foecke and Kadie Rolfzen also had nine kills apiece.
The Huskers had 12.5 blocks for the night led by Kelly Hunter with seven assists and Amber Rolfzen with six assists. Andie Malloy also had a solo block.
The 35 digs recorded by the Huskers were more of a statement of Husker blocking than Iowa State offense or Husker defense. Balls simply didn’t get through. Justine Wong-Orantes had 12 digs to lead the Big Red. Iowa State had 34 digs.
The Huskers led every statistical category by a wide margin. Hitting .389-.044 with two Cyclones hitting in the negatives, blocking with 12.5 to Iowa State’s 2, and service aces with five to one. However, the Huskers also committed 13 service errors the Cyclones’ five.
The Huskers continue the Nebraska Invite at 2:30 Saturday against Oregon State.
GBR