Huskers Rally for 3-1 Win Against Creighton

Lincoln - The No. 9 Nebraska volleyball team rallied from a slow start to defeat the Creighton Bluejays 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-20) in the first meeting between the teams since 2011 before 8,060 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Wednesday night. 

The Huskers improved to 6-2 with their sixth straight win. Creighton fell to 6-4. Kadie Rolfzen led the Huskers with a season-high 16 kills and added 10 digs and five blocks. Alicia Ostrander provided a big spark off the bench, coming on in the middle of the third set and finishing with seven kills and two blocks. She hit a career-best .353 and gave the Huskers a boost when they had just let Creighton back into set three. 

Amber Rolfzen had seven kills and seven digs, and Kelsey Fien had six kills. Meghan Haggerty had five kills and six of Nebraska's season-high-tying14 blocks. Mary Pollmiller had 39 assists and eight digs, and Justine Wong-Orantes had 18 digs. 

The Huskers hit .134, the lowest they've hit in a match that they've won in the John Cook era (dating back to 2000). They were able to secure the win by holding the Bluejays to a .126 hitting percentage. Both teams had 31 attacking errors, but the Bluejays had 12 service errors to just four for the Huskers. Nebraska outdug Creighton 59-54, and blocks were nearly identical with Creighton holding a 14.5-14.0 advantage. Creighton's Kelli Browning had 17 kills and hit .400 on the night.  

The Huskers fell behind 6-3 in the first set but came back to tie it at 8-8 on Melanie Keil's kill down the right side. Creighton went up 11-9, 13-11 and 14-12 before the Huskers rallied to tie the set each time. The Jays continued to fend off the Husker rallies, but with CU leading 19-17, the Bluejays served long and then tipped wide after a long rally to even the set again at 19-19. But out of a timeout, Lauren Smith killed the Husker momentum for a 20-19 lead, and Nebraska hit long to fall down 21-19. Kadie Rolfzen's kill brought NU within 21-20, but Smith terminated at the middle of the net and the Bluejays blocked an NU attack to go up 23-20, and the Jays closed out the 25-21 win from there. NU hit .000 in the first set with nine attacking errors, while Creighton hit .135 with eight errors.  

The Huskers trailed 3-2 in the second set but went on a 9-0 run to take an 11-3 lead. The run began with a CU service error, kills by Amber Rolfzen, Kadie Rolfzen and two CU attacking errors, forcing a Bluejay timeout. The timeout didn't stop NU this time though, as Haggerty thwarted a Creighton attack and Wong-Orantes served an ace for a 9-3 Husker lead. Creighton then hit wide again and trailed 10-3, and Kadie Rolfzen swung down from the outside to finish the 9-0 run. Creighton gradually crept back into the set and cut it to 18-17 on a back row kill from Melanie Jereb to force an NU timeout. Kadie Rolfzen hammered down a kill to put the Huskers up 19-17, and Pollmiller caught Creighton by surprise with a dump to the back row for a 20-17 lead. Haggerty's fourth block of the match made it 21-17. The Jays got back within 23-22 to make it interesting, but Fien banged down her sixth kill of the match, and Pollmiller served up a clutch ace to end the set at 25-22. NU hit .200 in the second set with 14 kills and seven errors. Creighton actually hit better in the second set (.189) than it did the first, but the Jays committed three service errors and two receiving errors. 

Cecilia Hall got NU off and running in set three with two blocks and a kill to help the Huskers build a 7-1 lead and force a Bluejay timeout. But Creighton rallied to tie the set at 11-11 and force an NU timeout. After a lengthy rally, CU hit long to give NU a 12-11 lead, and Ostrander provided a solo block immediately off the bench for a 13-11 lead. Ostrander, Kadie Rolfzen and Hall recorded consecutive kills to put NU up 16-12. Haggerty and Kadie Rolfzen teamed up for a block to make it 18-13, then Kadie Rolfzen caught Creighton off guard with a sneaky soft touch just over the net to make it 19-13. Ostrander continued to provide a spark off the bench in the third set with a kill to make it 22-16 and another for a 23-17 lead. Amber Rolfzen finished off the set with a kill to give the Huskers a 25-20 win and the 2-1 lead in the match.

The teams battled in the fourth set with neither grabbing more than a two-point lead until the Huskers went up 13-9 after consecutive kills by Ostrander. NU gained separation at 16-10 on a combined block from Hall and Kadie Rolfzen. Creighton got within three points on two occasions, but Nebraska held off the Jays for the 25-20 match-clinching win in set four.

Nebraska finishes non-conference play by hosting No. 2 Texas on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports center. The match will be broadcast on NET.