Huskers Wrap Up Regular Season at Penn State

After facing No. 11 Illinois Wednesday night in Champaign, the No. 10 Nebraska volleyball team travels to State College, Pa., where the Huskers will take on No. 4 Penn State on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on BTN. The match against the Nittany Lions concludes the regular season.

The Huskers are 20-8 overall and 14-5 in the Big Ten after a 3-2 loss at Illinois on Wednesday snapped the Huskers’ eight-match win streak. Nebraska is 7-3 in true road matches this season and 9-3 in all matches played away from the Devaney Center. John Cook is in his 15th season as head coach at Nebraska and is 433-56 leading the Huskers. The two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year is 594-129 in his 22nd overall season as a head coach.

Penn State swept Northwestern on Wednesday and is now 29-3 overall and 17-2 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions have won 13 straight matches - and 12 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 1,154-180 in his 36th season as head coach at Penn State.

Media Information
Saturday’s match will be televised on Big Ten Network 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
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.

Last Time Out
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Despite a spirited comeback to force a fifth set, the No. 10 Nebraska volleyball team fell at No. 11 Illinois, 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-10), on Wednesday night at Huff Hall. The loss snapped the Huskers’ eight-match win streak and perfect month of November.
Kadie Rolfzen had a team-high 19 kills with 11 digs. Kelsey Fien added 13 kills, and Amber Rolfzen had eight kills and 10 digs with five blocks. The Huskers outblocked Illinois 16-10, led by 10 blocks from Cecilia Hall. But Nebraska committed 11 service errors and hit just .146 for the match, while Illinois hit .232 and outdug NU 78-69. Mary Pollmiller had 39 assists, and Justine Wong-Orantes had a team-high 20 digs.

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
• Nebraska ranks first in the Big Ten and 13th nationally entering the week with 2.95 blocks per set. Cecilia Hall is second in the Big Ten with 1.32 blocks per set after a career-high 13 last Saturday against Michigan, the most by a Big Ten player this season. She added 10 more blocks at Illinois on Wednesday and is coming off a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award on Monday, the second such honor for NU this season. Meghan Haggerty earned the distinction on Nov. 10 after a career-high 11 blocks against Purdue. Haggerty is fourth in the Big Ten at 1.27 blocks per set.
• In conference play only, the Huskers rank third in hitting percentage (.246) and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.178).
• Kadie Rolfzen leads the Huskers with 3.60 kills per set and ranks seventh in the Big Ten. The 2013 third-team AVCA All-American has 15 or more kills 12 times this season. Rolfzen is also second on the team in digs with 2.64 per set and has eight double-doubles this season.
• Kelsey Fien is second on the team in kills per set with 3.24 to rank ninth in the conference. Fien had a career-high 18 kills against Maryland on Nov. 16. Over her last seven matches, Fien is averaging 3.88 kills per set and hitting .324. Fien’s .315 hitting percentage in league play puts her ninth among all B1G players but third among outside hitters.
• Reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Amber Rolfzen adds 2.14 kills per set and is second on the team in blocks with 90. She had a career-high 12 against Michigan last Saturday.
• Mary Pollmiller, the Huskers’ lone senior, has 1,023 set assists for 10.23 per set to rank fourth in the conference. Pollmiller reached the 5,000-career assist plateau on her Senior Night last Saturday. The Littleton, Colo. native put up 2,740 in two years at Tennesee and has 2,302 at NU. She ranks fourth among active Division I setters.
• Justine Wong-Orantes leads the Huskers in digs with 3.84 per set.
• The Huskers are 12-2 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 141-43 (.766) 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 Penn State
Penn State (29-3, 17-2 Big Ten) ranks first in the conference in hitting percentage (.354), opponent hitting percentage (.142), kills (14.66 per set) and aces (1.92) per set. The Nittany Lions are led by freshman Ali Frantti, who has 3.26 kills per set to rank eighth in the league. Aiyana Whitney chips in 2.93 kills per set. The Nittany Lions possess three of the top four hitting percentages in the Big Ten: Haleigh Washington (.496, first), Nia Grant (.462, second) and Whitney (.378, fourth). Senior setter Micha Hancock is a two-time AVCA First-Team All-American and has 11.50 assists per set to lead the Big Ten. She also has a nation-leading 105 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.