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Nebraska Volleyball: Third time hopefully a charm vs Wisconsin

By Leigh Oleszczak

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 13: The Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrate a point against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the Division I Women's Volleyball Semifinals held at the Target Center on December 13, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 13: The Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrate a point against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the Division I Women's Volleyball Semifinals held at the Target Center on December 13, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
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Nebraska volleyball swept Hawaii on Friday to move to the Elite Eight. Their opponent? The Wisconsin Badgers, who have handled the Huskers in their two regular season meetings.

Not only did Wisconsin take care of business against Nebraska during the regular season schedule, they swept the Huskers in both outings. It wasn’t pretty for Nebraska, but fortunately for the Huskers, the slate is wiped clean when the two square off once again on Saturday.

Before we dive more into that, let’s look back at how the Huskers got to this point. I’ve discussed their victories over Ball State and Missouri, both of which took place last weekend, but in their most recent match, Nebraska battled 12th ranked Hawaii in the Madison Regional.

While the Huskers swept this one, it didn’t feel like a sweep at all. The Rainbow Warriors led for 90% of the first set, but Nebraska was able to make a comeback and ultimately, won it in extra points, 29-27.

https://twitter.com/Huskervball/status/1205629496893857792?s=20

The second and third set were a little more Husker dominated, but Hawaii didn’t make it easy. The Huskers could have ended things so much earlier had they stopped with the stupid mistakes like falling into the net, service errors, and overall baffling decisions (like letting two free balls sent over by Hawaii fall to the floor).

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Regardless, Nebraska won the match and now faces Wisconsin on Saturday. The Badgers have had Nebraska’s number not just this season, but in years past as well. Wisconsin handled the Huskers pretty easily last year and have always played this team tough. Plus, you know any time two Big Ten teams square off, it’s going to be a battle for the ages.

Wisconsin is the four seed in the tournament, meaning they got to host their side of the bracket in Madison. That means it’ll be a Badger heavy crowd on Saturday and that’s something Nebraska will need to block out.

It’s incredibly difficult to beat the same team three times in one season, but Wisconsin is a talented team and clearly knows how to beat Nebraska at their own game. It won’t be easy for the Huskers to face off against the fourth ranked Badgers in Madison and come away with a W, but if they can finally knock off their kryptonite, it’ll be five straight Final Fours for the Cornhuskers.

Here’s to hoping Nebraska can get it done on Saturday evening against a fiery Wisconsin squad.

Go Big Red!

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