No. 5 Huskers Top Sooners

 

Lincoln ?Behind a career high 19 kills from Hannah Werth, No. 5 Nebraska got back on its winning track, topping Oklahoma, 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 25-15) Saturday night at the NU Coliseum.

Werth collected a match-high 19 kills on .342 hitting, breaking her previous best of 17 set twice this season, including in the first matchup with Oklahoma last month. She also added 12 digs for her ninth double-double of the season, as Nebraska improved to 15-5 overall and 8-3 in the Big 12. Her total equaled the most by any Husker freshman since the 2004 campaign.

Werth was one of two Huskers to enjoy season bests against the Sooners, as Lindsey Licht matched her season high with 16 kills on .345 hitting and added six blocks on the night. Kori Cooper was the third Husker to finish in double figures, recording 12 kills on .409 hitting and five blocks, as she reached double figures in kills for the third time in the last four matches.

Sydney Anderson dished out 51 assists and added 10 digs for her 12th double-double, while helping NU hit .225 against a Sooner defense that was second in the Big 12 in opponent hitting percentage at .149. Nebraska also churned out seven aces, including a career-high four from Tara Mueller and two from Kayla Banwarth.

Nebraska, which has won the last 25 meetings with Oklahoma dating back to 1997, was solid defensively, holding the Sooners to just .145 hitting, including the last two sets under .100. Brooke Delano led NU’s defensive with a match-high seven blocks, while Banwarth scooped up a match-high 20 digs. It marked Banwarth’s fifth straight match and 10th of the year with at least 20 digs. She also moved into 10th place on NU’s career list with 979 digs.

Nebraska used a strong spurt midway through the opening set, running off seven straight points that proved crucial in a 25-22 victory. Licht and Werth came up big with five kills apiece, as Nebraska hit .282 as a team.  Nebraska trailed 9-8 before running off seven straight points on strong serving from Anderson to build a 15-9 lead. Cooper keyed the run with a pair of kills and combined with Licht on a block, while Werth had back-to-back kills in the spurt. The Sooners chipped away and were within 16-12, but a Licht kill and a Banwarth ace helped the Huskers roll off three straight points to build a seven-point advantage. OU came right back, winning five of the next six rallies to pull within 20-17 after a Suzy Boulavsky kill, but Mueller stemmed the run with a big swing and then came up with the Huskers’ third ace of the set to give Nebraska some breathing room at 22-17. The Sooners got to within two points twice, the last at 24-22 before Licht’s fifth kill of the set gave Nebraska the win.

In the second set, the Huskers withstood a strong effort from Boulavsky to pull away late and to earn a 25-22 win. NU hit .342 as a team, as Cooper came up with five kills, while Hannah Werth had four kills in six swings. Boulavsky totaled 10 kills on .643 hitting to keep the Sooners within two points for most of the set, but NU’s defense stiffened late as Delano came up with four blocks in second set to send the Huskers to the locker room up 2-0. Oklahoma built a pair of two-point leads, leading 14-12 after a Boulavsky kill, but the Huskers quickly erased the deficit with a block by Delano and Mueller before Mueller’s third ace tied the score at 14. The teams would trade points before the Huskers ran off two straight points to take an 18-16 lead on a Sooner error. With the score tied at 21, Nebraska finally took control with three straight points, as Mueller’s kill gave NU the lead for good before two straight blocks from Delano gave NU a three-point cushion at 24-21.

The third set went back and forth before Oklahoma rallied late for a 25-22 victory. After two good offensive sets, Nebraska struggled offensively, committing 12 errors and hitting negative on the set. The Huskers trailed 13-12, but used a strong run off points of Werth’s serve. NU won six straight points as part of an 8-1 spurt in building a 20-15 lead. The cushion would be short-lived, as the Sooners took advantage of a spade of errors to run off seven straight points to regain the lead at 22-20. NU got to within one point twice, the last at 23-22 on a Werth kill, but a Sarah Freudenrich kill and a block from Chrissy Disarro and Francie Ekwerekwu gave the Sooners the set.

The fourth set looked to be a battle early on, but the Huskers took control midway though and completed the win with a 25-15 victory. Licht closed out a strong performance with five kill on six swings and a pair of blocks, while Mueller totaled four kills and six digs, as the Huskers out-hit OU, .333-.065. With the score tied at eight, Werth led the Huskers on a 7-3 run, collecting three of her six kills in the set to help NU build a 15-10 lead. OU got to within 15-11, but NU would continue to take momentum, winning five of the next six rallies to build a 20-12 lead after two straight Mueller kills. The Sooners pulled to within 22-15, but two kills by Werth and a kill by Licht ended the match for the Big Red.
Suzy Boulavasky led Oklahoma (13-7, 6-5 Big 12) with a 19 kills, while no other Sooner had more than six. The loss also snapped Oklahoma’s two-match win streak.

The Huskers will hit the road for a pair of matches next week, as Nebraska faces Texas Tech on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 6:30 p.m. Listen to the match on the Husker Sports Network and on Huskers.com. Wednesday’s match with the Red Raiders will not be on HuskersNside.

Coach John Cook
Opening Statement
“The first thing I was real worried tonight about our crowd and our team’s mental state based on two things. Based on our serve and pass today, and I still thought we were hung over from Iowa State and then the football game today. It’s amazing the impact that has on our team and all of us. I really liked, even though we didn’t play our best volleyball tonight, was that we didn’t mentally take ourselves out of it so I think that’s a really big step for this team. I think Tara (Mueller) would be the best example tonight. She was really struggling, except she gets four aces and she got a couple of big kills in game four. Brooke (Delano) started off struggling. Her offensive stats weren’t that good, but then you look and she had seven blocks. Even though we weren’t clicking on all cylinders tonight, they mentally stayed with it tonight. I think that’s a really big step.”

On going into game four
“I love how they responded in game four.  I loved how Tara didn’t get down and she had sparkle in her eyes and was ready to compete. Same with Lindsey Licht, they didn’t let errors or plays affect them. It was a huge step for these guys. “

On Oklahoma
“Oklahoma is twice as good as when we played them down there. They’re like a different team than what we saw down there. They’re serving better, they’re passing better, so I think it was a very important win for us and just look at what Oklahoma has done the last four matches. This is a team that is a scary team to play.”

Lindsey Licht
On tonight’s match
“It means that we do know how to play Nebraska volleyball. We can come back from a tough loss. We can just come out here and do what we do best and that’s just to play volleyball.”

On preparing for tonight’s match
“We had a team meeting Thursday about what can we do better and it just came down to little things. We had a great practice Thursday, a great practice Friday, and I think that really set us up for success. Even though we lost the third set, we were able to come out that fourth set and just take over.”

On NU’s mentality between the third and fourth sets
“There’s not much you can say, not much you can do, in that short of amount of time. Clear your minds and come out strong that next game.”

Hannah Werth
On coming into her own as a player
“I feel very strongly that the game knows no age. Not just personally, but for anybody, any sport. I love playing volleyball. I feel like the luckiest kid alive to get to come into the gym every day and get to do this. Just go hit the ball, that’s it, that’s all I say to myself. That’s it.”

On the difference between the third and fourth game
“We let up definitely in that third game. I could feel it. Everybody just kind of stepped out of their zone. But we learned from it and I think that’s something great that this team does. We try not to make the same mistake twice. So we came out in the fourth game and did a great job.”