Huskers Sweep Northeastern

San Luis Obispo, Calif. ? Second-ranked Nebraska held Northeastern to .011 hitting, as the Huskers posted a 3-0 victory Friday afternoon (25-17, 25-20, 25-20) <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

The Huskers (3-0) allowed just 22 kills in the three games, limiting Northeastern to -.060 hitting in the finale, setting up a 9:30 p.m. (central) matchup with No. 14 Cal Poly, a 3-0 winner over Tulane in today’s first match. Fans can watch all of the action on the Husker Sports Network and on Huskers.com. In addition, fans can also watch live for free on Bigwest.org/tv.

Jordan Larson’s 12 kills led a balanced attack that had four Huskers finish with at least six kills. Lindsey Licht had eight kills, while Kori Cooper totaled seven kills on .429 hitting. Brooke Delano turned in a strong performance off the bench, coming up with six kills and a block.

The Huskers started slowly in the opener, but pulled away down the stretch to win by a count of 25-17. Nebraska hit .310 on 29 swings, while holding the Huskies to .033 hitting. Kori Cooper, Lindsey Licht and Tara Mueller had three kills apiece, as Sydney Anderson dished out 12 assists.  The Huskers trailed early 7-6, but regrouped by winning five of the next six points to take an 11-8 lead after a block by Amanda Gates and Tara Mueller.  Nebraska continued to expand the advantage, pushing the margin to 14-10 on a Cooper kill and eventually took a 16-11 lead on a Rachel Schwartz ace.  The Huskers eventually got the margin to 20-13 after Gates slammed home kill and never were threatened the rest of the set.

The Huskers survived a scare in the second set, as Northeastern hung around for most of the set before Nebraska prevailed 25-20. Nebraska out-hit the Huskies, .195-.069, as Larson had four kills in the set.  Early on, the Huskers used strong serving by Schwartz to forge an early lead. Trailing 6-5, the senior defensive specialist helped Nebraska run off five straight points, including an ace, before a Cooper kill closed the spurt and put the Big Red ahead 10-6. The Huskers clung to an 18-15 lead before kills from Lauren DeTurk and Sarah Stein and a Husker miscue tied the score at 18. Nebraska quickly regained the lead, running off three straight points to lead 21-18 after a Mueller kill. Northeastern made one last run, pulling to within 21-20, but Gates and the Husker defense took over. Cooper and Mueller combined on a stuff to push the lead to 22-20 before a Gates kill and a block from Gates and Anderson put Nebraska within set point.

In the third set, the Huskers used the solid serving by Gates to key an early 6-0 spurt and never trailed again in posting a 25-20 win. Nebraska seized control as Gates ran off five straight points from the service line, helping turn a 4-3 deficit into a 9-4 cushion.  The Huskers were up 18-11 after a Licht kills and held a 21-15 lead after Delano slammed an overpass, but three straight hitting errors pulled Northeastern within three points. The Huskies were within 23-20, but kills from Delano and redshirt freshman Jordan Wilberger closed out the sweep for Nebraska.

Jessica Tkachuk led the Huskies (2-2) with five kills, as no Northeastern player had more than four kills.