Nebraska Volleyball Tested but Victorious Against Pepperdine

Nebraska 3 vs Pepperdine 0 - 26-24, 25-19, 25-22

Starting line up:
Kenndi Orr- Setter
Madi Kubik- Left side
Lindsay Krause/Kenzie Knuckles- Left side (front/back)
Kaitlyn Hord- Middle blocker
Bekka Allick- Middle blocker
Lexi Rodriguez- Libero
Whitney Lauenstein/Nicklin Hames- Right side (front/back)

Nebraska survived and, in a way, thrived through errors and awkward plays. Sometimes the set was a little off, other times the ball was between two players and they hesitated to go for the it. These were moments where the Huskers out sync, and the final score is the evidence. These moments gave Pepperdine a way to win, and they sure tried.

The statistics are not pretty, and we can’t glow about the dominance of Nebraska. What the Huskers can say is they faced adversity tonight against a good team and they won. They won because after being blocked Lindsay Krause was confident enough to swing away on the very next play and earn a kill.

They won because even though Nicklin Hames was not able to pass serve well consistently, she persisted and played a ton of defense. She finished with the most digs on the court tonight, with 12.

They won because Kennedi Orr was a solid blocker and continues to improve even though she is making inexperienced errors. She needs more time on the court and with her teammates to reduce those errors, and it looks as though the coaching staff is going to give her that.

Coach Cook was confident in saying “we are a good defensive team, now we need to become a good side out offensive team”. He saw good blocking and floor defense hold the three opponents this weekend to very low hitting percentages. A good side out team gets the first kill possible. An offensive team doesn’t have many long rallies because they terminate the ball. Coach Cook sees room for improvement there.

Nebraska’s next match to show that improvement is Thursday September 1st at 6 pm against Loyola Marymount in the Devaney Center.

Of Note: #3 Wisconsin lost to #16 Baylor is five sets.
#2 Texas beat #7 Ohio State last night in three sets.
#2 Texas beat #7 Ohio State in four sets tonight.