Husker Volleyball Update

A quick note: I wish I could make every game, but I am the proud head coach of the Dorchester Longhorns, and practice and matches are my priority. I’m sorry I won’t have recaps for every game.

For the Ameritas Players Challenge, the Huskers have welcomed the St. Mary’s Gaels, Dayton Flyers, and Iowa State Cyclones to Devaney this weekend. The Huskers will take on Iowa State in the penultimate match of the weekend Saturday night. This is a rivalry dating back to the old days (think Big Eight) and Iowa State is always tough. That should be a great match.

On Thursday night, the Huskers beat St. Mary’s 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18).

St. Mary’s outhit the Huskers .219 to .088 to take the first set. After that, it was all Nebraska.

The Huskers hit .243 for the match, with Alicia Ostrander leading the way with a hitting percentage of 1.000. That’s remarkable. That means that every time she took a swing at a ball, she got a kill. No errors and she was never dug. The Gaels hit .182.

The Huskers’ serving woes returned, as they committed nine errors to two aces.

With Meghan Haggerty hitting -.125 on Thursday, Ostrander got the start against Dayton. She was effective running the quick three set (a quick set halfway between the middle and the outside), but hit .000 for the night. However, she was responsible for one solo block and two assisted blocks.

Amber Rolfzen showed up in a big way. She hit .320 with 10 kills on 25 attempts. Kelsey Robinson added 12 kills on 35 attempts. Overall, the Huskers hit .208 on the night.

Nebraska committed six service errors on the night, and had just three aces. While the Huskers had five blocks, there were many instances where blocking was ineffective, leaving big holes that led to spectacular Flyers kills.

Coach Cook has played with line ups giving lots of players the chance to step up. Alicia Ostrander was a pleasant surprise against Dayton, being effective as both a blocker and attacker. The Rolfzen twins continue to live up to the hype.

As the season progresses, the team looks much more consistent.  As line ups solidify and more game experience is earned, Coach Cook will be able to clean up the weak points in blocking and serving.  Iowa State goes a long way toward measuring how far this new team has come.