Huskers Sweep ORU

Lincoln ? The second-ranked Nebraska volleyball team wrapped up a successful three-match weekend, using a balanced offense to dispose of Oral Roberts (25-19, 25-14, 25-17) Monday afternoon at the NU Coliseum.

The Huskers, who climbed from seventh to second in the CBS College Sports/AVCA Poll released earlier Monday, enjoyed the fruits of their labor in the holiday matinee, hitting .390 as a team, including over .400 in each of the first two sets.

Sydney Anderson piloted the offense, dishing out 32 assists while Jordan Larson, Tara Mueller and Lindsey Licht all totaled at least eight kills in the sweep. Licht hit .467 on 15 swings and added three blocks to help the Huskers enjoy a 10-4 advantage in that category, as NU cooped up the Golden Eagles with a .160 hitting percentage.
Cook was impressed by Anderson’s decision making to guide Nebraska to its third win over four days.

“I thought Sydney had her best setting match of the year today,” Cook said. “She only made two setting mistakes in the whole match and was really, really good today.”

Even before the Huskers took the court, they were well aware of not falling into a lull after two emotional victories over Stanford and USC, and to not take an Oral Roberts team that was picked to win their league lightly.

“When they walked into their locker room today, there were five mouse traps around the room with Oral Roberts’ logo on them,” Cook said. “When we talked to them today, we told them that the game of volleyball has a short memory and today’s game has nothing to do with this weekend, and they had to go out and play every point. I thought they did a really good job today.”

The Huskers used their bench on Monday, as a season-high 11 players saw action. Redshirt Jordan Wilberger and Brooke Delano both saw the court for the first time as Huskers, with Wilberger drilling her first career kill, while Delano added two kills and two stuffs. True freshman Brigette Root saw time in the finale, keying a four-point spurt that broke the third set open, highlighted by her first career ace.

The Huskers hit .448 on 29 swings as a team in the opener, but kept the Golden Eagles in the match with a spade of service errors. NU misfired five times from the service line, as Oral Roberts stayed within striking distance for most of the set. Larson had four kills in seven swings, while Licht, Kori Cooper and Amanda Gates had three kills apiece in the set.  Leading 21-19, the Huskers seized momentum, using kills from Larson and Cooper to spark a game-ending 4-0 spurt for the Big Red.

The Huskers took all the suspense out of second set early on, jumping to an early 7-2 lead in posting a 25-14 victory. Nebraska hit .406 as Sydney Anderson guided a balanced offense with four players having three kills apiece.  ORU pulled to within 12-5, but Delano sparked the Huskers on a 7-1 spurt, as the Huskers took a commanding 19-6 lead after a Larson kill.

Root, a walk-on from Grand Island, played a major role in NU’s 25-17 win in the finale. The Huskers led 10-8 before Root’s ace and a block by Tara Mueller gave NU a 12-8 cushion and forced ORU to take a timeout. The Huskers eventually pushed the lead to 15-9 after a stuff block by Licht and Gates and were never threatened again. The duo combined on another block on match point, capping the Huskers’ 73rd consecutive home win.

Jackie Oliveira led ORU (3-1) with 11 kills and seven digs, but was held to .129 hitting on 31 swings.

The Huskers return to action this weekend, as they head to California for a two-day tournament at Cal Poly beginning Friday afternoon.