Huskers Fall to Shockers in Exhibition

Scottsbluff, Neb. -- The Nebraska volleyball team finished the spring portion of their schedule with a five-set loss to Wichita State (20-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-11) Saturday afternoon in front of a sold out crowd  of 2,400 at Western Nebraska Community College.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

The Huskers won the first two sets and led 20-18, only to see the Shockers come back, winning the final seven points of the set to turn the momentum. Saturday’s match allowed the Huskers to adjust their lineup, as Jessica Yanz started the final three sets for All-American Sydney Anderson, while Kaitlynn James took over for Hannah Werth at outside hitter after the Huskers took a 2-0 lead.

"We wanted to get those guys some experience, and this was a great opportunity to do that,” Nebraska Coach John Cook said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t end positively for us. With the first group, we were a little up-and-down, but we did what we needed to do to finish games strongly. After that, they (Wichita State) were better at finishing games.”

Saturday’s match also marked a homecoming for middle blocker Jordan Wilberger, as the Scottsbluff native had many of the her family and friends in attendance for the Huskers’ trip to the western part of the state

Nebraska wraps up the spring portion of the schedule next Saturday, as the Huskers travel to Riverside, Calif., for the Collegiate Beach Championship. NU will have four teams of two players apiece competing, led by the team to Sydney Anderson and Tara Mueller. Other teams competing for NU next weekend include Jordan Wilberger and Kaitlynn James, Brooke Delano and Kayla Banwarth and Hannah Werth and Megan Pendergast.