No. 8 Huskers Welcome No. 3 Penn State, Ohio State

The eighth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team (8-3, 2-0 Big Ten) will look to continue its unbeaten start to Big Ten play this weekend when No. 3 Penn State and Ohio State visit Lincoln. The Huskers are no strangers to big home matches, having already hosted Stanford, Texas and Florida State - who are a combined 34-0 and all ranked in the top five. Yet another top-five challenge lies ahead when the third-ranked Nittany Lions take on Nebraska Friday at 7 p.m. on BTN. Nebraska will have little time to regroup from that battle as an experienced Ohio State squad comes to town for a 5 p.m. match on Saturday on NET.

Media Information
Both matches this weekend will be carried live on television. Friday’s match against Penn State will air on BTN, while Saturday’s match against Ohio State will air on NET and be streamed online with a BTN Plus subscription. 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. Live stats will be available at Huskers.com as well.

Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Penn State 13-9, but the Nittany Lions are 3-2 against the Huskers since Nebraska joined the Big Ten. Both Husker wins in the Big Ten era have been in five sets, while all three losses to Penn State have been in four sets. Last year, Penn State won the only matchup on Nov. 30 in Lincoln, 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 26-24, 26-24). The teams split the regular-season series in 2012. Since 2012, eight of the 13 sets between the squads have been decided by two points.

The Huskers are 11-4 all-time against Ohio State. Nebraska has won nine of the last 10 matches dating back to 1992. The teams met once last year in Columbus with Nebraska posting a 3-1 victory (22-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-19). Kadie Rolfzen had 16 kills and nine digs, while Cecilia Hall had one of the best matches of her freshman season with seven kills on 15 attacks. Kylie Randall had nine kills as a freshman against Nebraska.

Up Next
Nebraska heads to Michigan next weekend for a Friday match at Michigan State at 7 p.m. and a Sunday match at Michigan at Noon. The Michigan State match will air on BTN.

Noting the Huskers
• Kadie Rolfzen leads the Huskers with 3.51 kills per set and ranks fifth in the Big Ten. The 2013 AVCA All-American has three of Nebraska’s four double-doubles this season (Mary Pollmiller has the other). Rolfzen is second on the team in digs with 2.84. She has double-digit kills in eight of her last 10 matches. Over her last 10 matches, Rolfzen is averaging 4.0 kills per set and hitting .321.
• Nebraska ranks second in the Big Ten with 2.84 blocks per set. Meghan Haggerty is fifth in the Big Ten with 1.30 blocks per set. The Huskers have just four solo blocks against them all season. The next closest Big Ten team is Penn State at seven.
• Amber Rolfzen began Big Ten play on a strong note, posting 21 kills with just one error last week on 35 attacks, giving her a .571 hitting percentage in the two matches against Iowa.
• Justine Wong-Orantes leads the Big Red in digs with 4.03 per set and ranks ninth in the conference. She had a career-high 29 digs against No. 2 Texas on Sept. 20, the most by a Husker since Kayla Banwarth’s 32 against Baylor on Nov. 18, 2009.
• Mary Pollmiller, the Huskers’ lone senior, has 394 set assists for 10.37 per set. She also adds a defensive presence at the net with 28 blocks to rank tied for second on the team.
• Alicia Ostrander has found the form that put her in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season, posting double-digit kills in each of the last three matches with 14, 10 and 11, respectively. In her last four outings, Ostrander is averaging 3.23 kills per set.
• Melanie Keil posted a career-high 13 attacks in both matches against Iowa last week. Over her last three matches she is hitting .421 with 19 kills and 10 blocks.
• Nebraska is 8-0 this season when recording as many or more service aces than its opponent.
• The Huskers are 229-0 when hitting .300 or better under John Cook. Nebraska is also 371-15 when winning the first set under Cook.
• John Cook is 138-40 (.775) against ranked opponents at Nebraska. Just over one-third of Cook’s total victories at Nebraska (421) have come against ranked teams.
• Nebraska volleyball leads the nation with 208 consecutive sellouts, the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s athletics. NU owns a 192-16 record during the streak. The Huskers will be seeking sellouts No. 209 and 210 this weekend.

Scouting the Penn State Nittany Lions
No. 3 Penn State’s (14-1, 2-0 Big Ten) only loss this season came in five sets at Stanford. In its 14 victories, Penn State has dropped just two of 44 sets. The Nittany Lions started Big Ten play on the road last week with a sweep at No. 5 Wisconsin and a 3-1 comeback at No. 17 Minnesota. Freshman Ali Frantti leads the team with 150 kills (3.26 kills per set). Senior setter Micha Hancock is a two-time AVCA First-Team All-American and has 11.49 assists per set and a nation-leading 54 service aces. Hancock is coming off an AVCA National Player of the Week honor earlier this week. The Nittany Lions lead the conference in hitting percentage (.372) and opponent hitting percentage (.124). They are the only Big Ten team hitting over .300.

Scouting the Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State is 9-5 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten entering a match at Iowa on Friday. The Buckeyes took No. 17 Minnesota to the wire last week before getting swept at No. 5 Wisconsin. Erin Sekinger has a team-high 161 kills for an average of 3.16 per set. Middle blocker Taylor Sandbothe has 126 kills and and a team-high 61 blocks despite missing four matches. Ohio State is fourth in the Big Ten in digs (14.44 per set).