Nebraska Cornhusker Volleyball Update by Brent Craig
By Brent Craig
Nebraska volleyball continued its perplexing season at home in Lincoln this last week taking on unranked Northwestern and, then 15th ranked Illinois. On Wednesday, October 15, the Huskers swept Northwestern, winning 25-12, 25-22, and 25-13. The Huskers dominated the first and third sets and at the end of the night, Alicia Ostrander once again led the team with 12 kills, and hit a career best .440. As a team, the Huskers hit .290 while the leading hitter for the Wildcats only had 7 kills.
Once again with the rollercoaster ride, Sunday’s game was an entirely different story. Even though Alicia Ostrander led the team with a career high 19 kills, and two other Huskers had double digit kills (Kadie Rolfzen with 12 & Amber Rolfzen with 11) it wasn’t enough to stop the Illinois attack with three of the Fighting Illini girls hitting double digits as well (21 kills, 19 kills, and 12 kills). The scores and games were close, but ultimately, the Huskers lost 1 set to 3 (23-25, 25-21, 25-27, and 21-25). The Lady Cornhuskers hit .224 as a team while Illinois hit .228.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the Nebraska Cornhusker Volleyball team and their sellout crowd, but they still carry the record for the nation’s longest consecutive sellout streak for any women’s sport team at 212.
Now lets look at the B1G Ten for a moment. If we have learned anything about B1G Ten Volleyball, then we have learned that Big Ten it’s pretty darn good. Currently seven Big Ten teams are ranked in the AVCA Volleyball poll, three of which are in the top 10 (Wisconsin #5, Penn State #7, and Illinois #10). Finishing out the top 25 are Purdue #13, Nebraska #14, Ohio State #20, and Minnesota #25.
By the numbers, let’s see how Nebraska did against the teams they have already played. Nebraska faced, then 3rd ranked Penn State at home on October 3, and won 3 sets to 1; Nebraska faced, unranked at the time Ohio State at home on October 4, and list 2 sets to 3; and then over the weekend, Nebraska faced at home then 15th ranked, Illinois and lost 1 set to 3. Nebraska next plays at Minnesota on Wednesday, October 22, and then at Wisconsin on Sunday, October 26.
Right now NU sits at 1 and 2 against top 25 B1G Ten Teams. This upcoming week’s road tests will certainly tell us if Nebraska Cornhuskers deserve to be in the B1G Ten title hunt.
The next 4 games for the Huskers are all on the road. The Huskers are currently ranked 14th with a record of 11-6 (5-3 in the B1G). The Wednesday contest against Minnesota (10-22-14) is at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on the B1G Ten Network. Huskers v Badgers, 10-26-14, is at 4:00 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2. GO BIG RED!