Volleyball: #7 Huskers Sweep Michigan Road Trip

A weekend trip to the state of Michigan netted two victories for the University of Nebraska Women’s Volleyball Team over the weekend. Friday night, October 27th, the Huskers beat the #10 Michigan State Spartans 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 25-17, 25-14). In a Sunday matinee, the Huskers disposed of the Michigan Wolverines 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-13).

Friday night shaped up as a big test for the Big Red, as Michigan State had already played spoiler this season to two of the B1G’s best teams in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Nebraska handled the test well, dispatching the Spartans with relative ease, and staying on track to capture at least a share of the conference championship.

The Nebraska offense hit .262 for the match, led by 14 kills from junior Mikaela Foecke who hit .394 for the night. Freshman Jazz Sweet added 11 kills to the Husker total while notching a .200 hitting percentage for the night.

The Husker defense limited the Spartan offense to a .144 hitting percentage on the night thanks to ten blocks at the net by the Big Red. Briana Holman led the way with five total blocks (2 solo, 3 assist) and Lauren Stivrins had four block assists. Junior libero Kenzie Maloney had 16 of Nebraska’s 61 digs.

Husker serving played a pivotal role in this match as well. It’s relatively rare in high-level college volleyball to see a team with more aces than errors, but the Huskers had eight aces and only seven errors.

In the Sunday afternoon match against the Michigan Wolverines, the Huskers hit .290 led again by Foecke’s 13 kills. No other Husker was in double digits, but senior middle blocker Briana Holman had six kills on eleven swings to hit .545.

Again Nebraska’s defense was huge. The Huskers held the Wolverines to .046 attacking for the afternoon. Nebraska had 14 blocks through the three sets, led by eight block assists and two solo blocks by Holman. Senior Annika Albrecht led the Huskers with 14 of the team’s 48 digs.

Foecke’s play over the weekend earned her conference co-player of the week honors.

The next four Husker matches are at home with #22 Purdue visiting the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Friday night at 7:00 and Indiana coming to town on Saturday night for a 7:30 match. Both matches will be available on BTNPlus ($$) or Husker Sports Network radio affiliates.

GBR