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Nebraska 3 vs Creighton 0 - 25-14, 25-22, 25-16
Nebraska volleyball put on a defensive demonstration tonight against Creighton. The backrow defense played by Lexi Rodriguez, Nicklin Hames, Kenzie Knuckles and Keonilei Akana was jaw dropping. These four not only got balls up in the air but placed them well enough to run a complex offense.
They played disciplined by getting to the spot on defense and waiting until the ball was hit to react. Once the ball was hit their reaction and reading ability to see where the hit was going was magical at times. This was beautiful defense. We don’t often think of great team’s greatest strength being defense, but it sure looks like this Nebraska team will go as far as that back row takes them. As a team Nebraska had 69 digs compare to Creighton’s 59.
The Nebraska coaching staff gets a big pat on the back, too. The Huskers were prepared and threw off the Bluejays defense early in set one by tipping. The game plan was well crafted by the coaches and well executed by the players.
The offense was as evenly spread as we have seen for a while at Nebraska. Hames distributed the ball to her hitters in a manner that made it hard to know who it would go to next. You can see the distribution in the numbers of sets or attempts to each hitter:
Lexi Sun - 28
Madi Kubik - 25
Whitney Lauenstein - 21
Kayla Caffey - 13
Ally Batenhorst - 13
Callie Schwarzenbach - 10
Creighton is a very good team, this match does not change that. Nebraska just played at a higher level tonight. The defense was stifling and the offense was solid. We saw the most consistent play from this team as we have seen all season. This is growth in a very positive direction.
Next up for Nebraska is #20 Utah on Saturday September 11th at 7:30 pm in the Devaney Center. You can watch on BTN+ or listen on the Husker Radio Network.