Huskers Face Challenging Thanksgiving Week

The No. 10 Nebraska volleyball team will spend the final week of the regular season on the road taking on two of the best teams in the Big Ten. The Huskers first battle No. 11 Illinois on Wednesday in Champaign at 7 p.m. NU will then stay on the road and travel to State College, Pa., where the Big Red will take on No. 4 Penn State on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on BTN.

The Huskers are 20-7 overall and 14-4 in the Big Ten after sweeping Michigan last Saturday for their eighth straight win. Nebraska is 7-2 in true road matches this season. John Cook is in his 15th season as head coach at Nebraska and is 433-55 leading the Huskers. The two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year is 594-128 in his 22nd overall season as a head coach.

Illinois is 22-7 overall and 14-4 in the Big Ten, tied for third in the standings with the Huskers. The Fighting Illini dropped a 3-1 match at Wisconsin last week before sweeping Indiana. Illinois is 10-1 at home this season. Kevin Hambly is 136-58 in his sixth year as head coach.

Penn State enters a Wednesday match at Northwestern with a 28-3 overall record and 16-2 mark in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions have won 12 straight matches - and 11 in a row by sweep - since falling at home to Illinois, 3-1, on Oct. 11. Penn State is 15-1 at home. Russ Rose is 1,153-180 in his 36th season as head coach at Penn State.

Media Information
Wednesday’s match will be streamed online by Illinois for a fee through a link at Huskers.com. Saturday’s match will air on BTN and be streamed online at BTN2GO.com. Fans can also listen to the action with John Baylor and Peter Netisingha 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
The Huskers are 19-6-1 all-time against Illinois after the Illini beat the Huskers on Oct. 18 in Lincoln, 3-1. Morganne Criswell had 21 kills for the Illini in that match. Alicia Ostrander led NU with 19. That Illinois win snapped the Huskers’ eight-match win streak in the series.
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Penn State 14-9 and won the first match this season on Oct. 3 in Lincoln, 3-1. Kadie Rolfzen led NU with 13 kills. Penn State got 19 kills from Ali Frantti. Since 2012, nine of the 17 sets between the squads have been decided by two points.

Up Next
The Huskers will learn their NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. when the Division I Women’s Volleyball Selection Announcement airs on ESPNU.

Noting the Huskers
• The Huskers have held eight straight opponents under .200 hitting for the first time since 2008, when NU went 13 straight matches holding opponents under .200. Over their eight-match win streak, the Huskers are hitting .288 while holding their opponents to .134 hitting.
• Nebraska ranks first in the Big Ten and 13th nationally with 2.94 blocks per set. Meghan Haggerty is third in the Big Ten with 1.29 blocks per set, while Cecilia Hall is fourth with 1.26 blocks per set after a career-high 13 on Saturday against Michigan, the most by a Big Ten player this season. The performance earned her Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, the second such honor for NU this season. Haggerty earned the distinction on Nov. 10 after a career-high 11 blocks against Purdue.
• In conference play only, the Huskers rank third in hitting percentage (.254) and fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.174).
• Kadie Rolfzen leads the Huskers with 3.59 kills per set and ranks sixth in the Big Ten. The 2013 third-team AVCA All-American has 15 or more kills 11 times this season. Rolfzen is also second on the team in digs with 2.67 per set.
• Kelsey Fien is second on the team in kills per set with 3.29 to climb to eighth in the conference. Fien had a career-high 18 kills against Maryland on Nov. 16. Over her last six matches, Fien is averaging 4.20 kills per set and hitting .362. Fien’s .336 hitting percentage in league play puts her sixth among all B1G players and second among outside hitters.
• Reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Amber Rolfzen adds 2.17 kills per set and is second on the team in blocks with 85 after a career-high 12 against Michigan.
• Mary Pollmiller, the Huskers’ lone senior, has 984 set assists for 10.36 per set to rank fourth in the conference. Pollmiller reached the 5,000-career assist plateau on her Senior Night on Saturday with 33 assists. The Littleton, Colo. native put up 2,740 in two years at Tennessee and has 2,263 at NU. She ranks fourth among active Division I setters.
• Justine Wong-Orantes leads the Huskers in digs with 3.83 per set and ranks ninth in the league.
• The Huskers are 12-1 in matches played on Monday through Friday this season, while they are 8-6 in matches played on Saturday and Sunday.
• The Huskers are 232-0 when hitting .300 or better under John Cook.
• Nebraska is 380-16 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 (433) have come against ranked teams.
• Nebraska volleyball leads the nation with 217 consecutive sellouts, the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s athletics. NU owns a 199-18 record during the streak.

Scouting The Opponents
Illinois (22-7, 14-4 Big Ten) is led by Jocelynn Birks’ 3.91 kills per set. She is averaging 3.99 kills per set in Big Ten play to rank first in the conference. Liz McMahon adds 3.12 kills per set and 0.93 blocks per set. Katie Stadick leads the team in blocks (1.35 per set) and ranks second in the conference. Brandi Donnelly is third in the league in digs at 4.64 per set. Illinois ranks second in the conference in digs (14.81 per set) and third in blocks (2.75 per set).

Penn State (28-3, 16-2 Big Ten) ranks first in the conference in hitting percentage (.358), opponent hitting percentage (.141), kills (14.67 per set) and aces (1.94) per set. The Nittany Lions are led by freshman Ali Frantti, who has 3.28 kills per set to rank ninth in the league. Aiyana Whitney chips in 2.99 kills per set. In all, five Nittany Lions average at least 2.75 kills per set. Senior setter Micha Hancock is a two-time AVCA First-Team All-American and has 11.47 assists per set and a nation-leading 100 service aces.

Huskers Racking Up Big Ten Weekly Honors
After being shut out from weekly Big Ten awards until November, the Huskers have picked up five individual honors during the Huskers’ eight-match win streak. Mary Pollmiller led the way by earning Big Ten Co-Setter of the Week on Nov. 3 after averaging 11.67 assists per set in sweeps at Rutgers and Maryland. The following week, Kelsey Fien earned her first career Big Ten Player of the Week award, and Meghan Haggerty was named Defensive Player of the Week. Fien averaged 4.3 kills per set and had 15 kills against Purdue, while Haggerty tied her career high with 11 blocks against Purdue. On Nov. 24, Nebraska received two more honors with Amber Rolfzen earning Player of the Week and Cecilia Hall winning Defensive Player of the Week. Rolfzen won her first career award with 3.00 kills per set and 2.33 blocks set, including a career-high 12 blocks against Michigan. Hall posted 13 blocks - a Big Ten season high - to earn her second career defensive honor.