Huskers Host Maryland on Sunday on NET

The No. 11 Nebraska volleyball team finishes a stretch of four straight home matches against Maryland on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers have won three straight home matches, dropping just one of 10 sets along the way.

The Huskers are 17-7 overall and 11-4 in the Big Ten and have won five straight matches overall after topping Michigan State on Wednesday, 3-1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-23). Nebraska is 9-5 at home this season, but all five losses are to ranked teams. Over their five-match win streak, the Huskers are hitting .292 while holding their opponents to .118 hitting. John Cook is in his 15th season as head coach at Nebraska and is 430-55 leading the Huskers. The two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year is 591-128 in his 22nd overall season as a head coach.

Maryland is 9-17 overall and 2-13 in the Big Ten. The Terrapins have lost their last five matches and 16 of their last 18 after starting 7-1. Steve Aird is in his first season as head coach.

Media Information
Sunday’s match will be televised on NET and 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 94.9 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 is 4-0 all-time against Maryland. The Huskers swept the Terrapins in College Park, Md., on Nov. 1, 25-23, 25-22, 25-16. Kadie Rolfzen had 11 kills to lead the Big Red. Kelsey Fien had nine, and the Huskers hit .329 while limiting Maryland to .100.

Scouting Maryland
Maryland is led by Ashleigh Crutcher’s 3.65 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten. Hailey Murray hits a team-best .250 and averages 1.77 kills per set along with 1.03 blocks per set. Setter Carlotta Oggioni is averaging 6.48 assists per set, while Whitney Craigo adds 2.94 assists per set. Amy Dion leads the team with 3.43 digs per set. The Terrapins rank 13th in the league in hitting percentage (.145) and kills (10.67 per set). Maryland’s best player, senior Adreené Elliott, had season-ending knee surgery after posting 3.93 kills per set through the first seven matches. She was third in the Big Ten in kills at the time.

Up Next
The Huskers travel to Indiana Wednesday for a 6 p.m. (CT) match. Nebraska then returns home for Senior Day on Saturday against Michigan at 7 p.m. at the Devaney Center.

Noting the Huskers
• The Huskers have held five straight Big Ten opponents under .200 hitting. The last time the Huskers held five conference opponents in a row under .200 hitting was 2011, when the Huskers held seven straight B1G foes under .200.
• In conference play only, the Huskers rank third in hitting percentage (.249) and fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.176).
• Kadie Rolfzen leads the Huskers with 3.57 kills per set and ranks seventh in the Big Ten. The 2013 third-team AVCA All-American has 15 or more kills 10 times this season. Rolfzen is also second on the team in digs with 2.64 per set.
• Kelsey Fien is second on the team in kills per set with 3.14. Over her last seven matches, Fien is averaging 3.78 kills per set and hitting .361. Fien’s .333 hitting percentage in league play puts her seventh among Big Ten players.
• Amber Rolfzen adds 2.14 kills per set with 1.79 digs per set and is second on the team in blocks with 66.
• Justine Wong-Orantes leads the Huskers in digs with 3.85 per set and posted 18 on Wednesday against Michigan State, out-digging two-time B1G Defensive Player of the Year Kori Moster.
• Mary Pollmiller, the Huskers’ lone senior, has 876 set assists for 10.31 per set to rank fourth in the conference. She also adds a defensive presence at the net with 61 blocks to rank third on the team.
• Nebraska ranks second in the Big Ten and 17th nationally with 2.85 blocks per set. Meghan Haggerty is third in the Big Ten with 1.32 blocks per set and tied her career high with 11 against Purdue on Nov. 5.
• The Huskers are 11-1 in matches played on Monday through Friday this season, while they are 6-6 in matches played on Saturday and Sunday.
• The Huskers are 231-0 when hitting .300 or better under John Cook.
• Nebraska is 377-16 when winning the first set under Cook.
• Cook is 141-42 (.770) against ranked opponents at Nebraska. Just under one-third of Cook’s total victories at Nebraska (430) have come against ranked teams.
• Nebraska volleyball leads the nation with 215 consecutive sellouts, the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s athletics. NU owns a 197-18 record during the streak.