Grand Island, Neb.
- The Nebraska
volleyball team opened the competitive part of its spring slate on Saturday
night with a 3-2 win over Wichita State in front of a packed crowd of 5,522
fans at the Heartland Events Center. Gina Mancuso, Jordan Wilberger and Morgan
Broekhuis each put away 12 kills and Lauren Cook notched 43 assists to lead the
Husker attack, while Paige Hubl produced a match-high three aces. NU's defense
out-blocked the Shockers, 16-6, as Wilberger, Broekhuis, Mancuso and Hayley
Thramer all had five blocks to hold WSU to .139 hitting. Mancuso capped her
stellar night with a match-high 17 digs.
The
Huskers started the match with a kill from Mancuso and they never looked back
with a 25-19 win in set one. Mancuso paced NU's attack as the junior from Omaha
put away six of the Huskers' 15 kills, while Broekhuis and Hannah Werth each
added four kills. Nebraska's defense only notched three blocks in the set, but
held the Shockers to .179 hitting, led by Elizabeth Fields' four kills.
Freshman Lara Dykstra held her own in her first game action with two separate 3-0
serving runs.
Wichita
State bounced back in set two with a 25-21 win behind four kills from Sam
Sanders. The Huskers held the Shockers to .156 hitting with five total blocks, including
three stuffs from Thramer, but the NU offense sputtered and hit just .091 with
10 kills and seven errors on 33 swings. NU put up a 4-0 late when they were
down 24-17 behind the serve of Hubl, but Sanders ended the set with a kill from
Chelsey Feekin.
The
break between sets two and three woke up the Huskers as they responded with a
25-17 win in set three to take back the lead in the match, 2-1. The Huskers
defense picked up the pressure as they held the Shockers to -.029 hitting with
just two blocks. Five Huskers had at least two kills, including three from
Broekhuis, as the Huskers hit .321 in the set behind 10 assists from Cook. NU
also notched two aces with one each from Werth and Hubl.
Just
like in set two, Nebraska struggled with its attack in set four and hit .062,
compared to WSU's .263 hitting percentage. NU won the serving battle with two
aces from Dykstra and no team errors, while Wichita State had five serving errors,
but the Shockers forced a fifth set with a 25-23 win.
The
Huskers caught fire in the final set and wouldn't be denied as they hit .600
behind six assists from Cook and three kills from Wilberger. Hubl added another
ace and NU put up five blocks to hold the Shockers to .071 hitting with six
kills and five errors on 14 swings.
The
Huskers will now return to the NU Coliseum for a pair of home matches the next
two Saturdays. NU will take on Iowa State at 7 p.m. on April 16 and then
Tianjin Bridgestone, one of the top professional teams in China, on April 23 at
7 p.m.
Tickets
for both matches are currently on sale at Huskers.com, by calling the NU Ticket
Office at 800-8BIGRED or by visiting the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office in
person weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Reserved tickets are $10 with GA
tickets set at $8. All currently enrolled UNL students are eligible to receive
one free ticket to each match, but must secure a ticket in advance either
online at Huskers.com, by phone at 472-3111 or in person at the Athletic Ticket
Office located just west of Memorial Stadium, while supplies last.
