Huskers and Bluejays Set to Renew Series

For the first time since 2011, the No. 9 Nebraska volleyball team will face Creighton in the regular season when the Bluejays visit the Bob Devaney Sports Center for a 7 p.m. match on Wednesday. 

Although the teams met in the spring season, Wednesday’s match will be the first official match between the squads since Sept. 8, 2011 - a 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 25-16) win for the Huskers in Lincoln. All four Creighton seniors - Kelli Browning, Leah McNary, Katie Neisler and Michelle Sicner - played as freshmen in that match. No current Husker has played against Creighton in the regular season.

The Huskers (5-2) enter the matchup riding a five-match win streak in which they’ve dropped just one set. Meanwhile, Creighton (6-3) has gotten hot of late as well, topping Pepperdine (3-1), Bowling Green (3-0) and Wichita State (3-1) last weekend to win the Bluejay Invitational.

Media Information
The Huskers will be on NET for the first of five times this season when they host Creighton Wednesday night. The match will also stream online on BTN Plus, which fans can purchase for $9.95 for one month’s access. Fans can also listen to the action with John Baylor and Diane Mendenhall on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and The Wolf 93.3 FM in Omaha. Fans inside and outside the state of Nebraska will also be able to catch the live audio feed on Huskers.com for free.

Series History
Nebraska is 14-0 all-time against Creighton and has won five straight matches in sweeps dating back to Aug. 31, 2007. Overall, the Huskers have won 18 straight sets against the Bluejays. The last time Creighton took a set from Nebraska was Sept. 24, 2006 with a 30-27 win in the first set of a 3-1 Husker victory.

Last Time Out
Nebraska is coming off a pair of sweeps at the Ameritas Players Challenge over the weekend. NU hosted Denver and Colgate and its closest challenge was a 25-21 win in set three against Denver. Kadie Rolfzen was named the tournament MVP, while Justine Wong-Orantes, Amber Rolfzen and Kelsey Fien also made the all-tournament team. Nebraska put together two complete performances, racking up 11 aces in the win against Denver - matching the most since 2005 - and season bests for hitting percentage (.450) and opponent hitting percentage (.035) against Colgate. Wong-Orantes set the tone defensively for the Huskers, registering 31 digs on the weekend. Kadie Rolfzen totaled a team-high 23 kills, while Amber Rolfzen added 17. Senior setter Mary Pollmiller posted 36 assists on 37 set attempts against Colgate for a season-high .973 percentage. She also connected on 28 of 30 (.933) attempts against Denver.

Up Next
The Huskers finish non-conference play when No. 2 Texas visits the Devaney Center on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. That match will also air on NET and BTN Plus. The Huskers will be looking to avenge last year’s season-ending loss to the Longhorns. Texas swept Nebraska in Lincoln to advance to the NCAA Semifinals.

Noting the Huskers
• Kadie Rolfzen earned MVP honors at the Ameritas Players Challenge after averaging a team-high 3.83 kills per set and hitting .413 on the weekend. She also contributed 2.33 digs per set and 0.83 blocks per set. Rolfzen produced a career-high five blocks against Colgate and added 10 digs against Denver.
• Junior outside hitter Kelsey Fien has played in six matches this season and has led NU in kills in four of them. For the season, Fien is averaging a team-high 3.53 kills per set to rank 10th in the Big Ten.
• Melanie Keil’s eight blocks against Denver last Friday was not only a career high for the sophomore, it was also the top mark by any Big Ten player in a three-set match this season.
• Annika Albrecht leads all Big Ten freshmen in aces with 11 (0.48 per game) and ranks fourth in the conference among all players.
• Nebraska ranks third in the Big Ten with 2.74 blocks per set, and the Huskers’ 24 solo blocks are the most by any Big Ten team. Kadie Rolfzen’s seven lead the way, while Melanie Keil and Meghan Haggerty have also been forces at the net with six and five, respectively.
• While the Huskers have shown great improvement in blocking, they have been better than every Big Ten team except Penn State at not getting blocked. Nebraska ranks second in blocks allowed at 1.48 per set. The Huskers have only had one solo block against them all season, while the rest of the Big Ten teams have an average of 12.9 solo blocks against them this season.
• The Huskers rank third in the Big Ten in digs per set (14.91). Justine Wong-Orantes (3.74 per set) and Kadie Rolfzen (3.09) lead the Big Red. Wong-Orantes is coming off a season-high 19 against Colgate.
• The Huskers’ 11 aces in three sets against Denver matched the most since 2005 for any number of sets. The school record for aces in a match is 16, set against Missouri in 1990 and matched at Texas in 2003.
• The Huskers’ .450 hitting percentage against Colgate was the second-best mark posted by a Big Ten team this season, giving way only to Penn State’s .576 against William & Mary on Aug. 30. Nebraska tallied 44 kills and just eight errors on 80 attacks in the sweep of the Raiders.
• The Huskers have held three opponents to single-digit sets so far this season, matching last year’s season total. The Huskers have beaten Eastern Kentucky 25-7, Bakersfield 25-8 and Colgate 25-9. Nebraska held two opponents to single digits in 2012 and one in 2011.
• With its No. 9 ranking, Nebraska has appeared in every one of the AVCA’s 466 all-time weekly polls. NU and Stanford are the only two programs to appear in every AVCA poll, dating back to its inception in 1982.
• Nebraska has spent a nation-leading 419 weeks in the top 10 after making its return to the top 10 this week at No. 9.
• The Huskers are 227-0 under Cook when hitting .300 or better.
• NU is 369-15 (.961) when winning the first set under John Cook.
• Nebraska is 138-39 against ranked teams under Cook (.780).
• Just over one-third of Cook’s total victories at Nebraska (418) have come against ranked teams.
• Nebraska volleyball leads the nation with 205 consecutive sellouts, the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s athletics. NU owns a 190-15 record during the streak.

Scouting the Creighton Bluejays
Creighton is 6-3 after three straight wins to capture the Bluejay Invitational title last weekend. The Bluejays won 3-1 matches against Pepperdine and Wichita State and swept Bowling Green. All three of Creighton’s losses this season are at the hands of top 25 teams (USC, Kentucky and Kansas).

The Bluejays have six starters and 12-of-13 letterwinners back from last season’s team that went 23-9 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Creighton finished second in its first year in the BIG EAST. Creighton is led by its senior class of four, including two-time honorable mention all-American Kelli Browning at middle blocker. Browning tied for the national lead in blocks as a sophomore and ranked eighth nationally in blocks per set last season. She has 40 blocks already this season and leads the team with 3.29 kills per set. Outside hitter Leah McNary has led the team in kills each of the past two seasons and is averaging 3.03 kills per set. She was a first-team all-BIG EAST selection last season.

Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in her 12th season as the head coach of the Bluejays. She enters Wednesday with a career record of 216-131, making her the winningest coach in Creighton history. Bernthal Booth was the 2012 CaptainU National Coach of the Year and 2010 Collegiate Volleyball Update National Coach of the Year.