Huskers Face Red-Hot Utah in Second Round

The 11th-ranked Nebraska volleyball team will play No. 20 Utah in the NCAA Tournament second round Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. 

The Huskers (21-9), swept Hofstra Friday night to advance to the second round for the 31st straight year. Utah (20-12) has won eight of its last nine after blitzing Kansas State in the first round. The Huskers, meanwhile, have won nine of their last 11, setting up a match-up between two of the nation's hottest teams.

Media Information
NET will broadcast Friday’s Nebraska match and also the second round match on Saturday. Streams will also be available at Huskers.com and BTN2GO.com. Fans can listen to the action with John Baylor and Lindsay Peterson on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and 93.3 FM in Omaha. Fans inside and outside the state will also be able to catch the live audio feed on Huskers.com for free.

Series History
The Huskers are 2-0-1 all-time against Utah. The last meeting was in 1998 with the Huskers winning 3-1. 

Up Next
The winner will advance to the Seattle Regional next weekend.

Noting the Huskers
• Sophomore All-Big Ten selection Kadie Rolfzen leads the Huskers with 366 kills (3.59 per set). 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 2.69 per set and has nine double-doubles this season, establishing her as one of the Big Ten’s best all-around players for the second straight season.
• Junior outside hitter Kelsey Fien is second on the team in kills with 246 (3.19 per set) and earned All-Big Ten honors for the first time in her career this season. Fien’s breakout year included a .303 hitting percentage in Big Ten play, ranking third among all B1G outside hitters. Fien had double-digit kills in each of the final eight regular-season matches and put down 4.28 kills per set in that span.
• Nebraska ranked second in the Big Ten and 14th nationally with 2.92 blocks per set in the regular season, the most since 2010. The Huskers posted a season-high 19.5 blocks against Hofstra on Friday, missing the postseason school record for blocks in a three-set match by half a block (20 vs. Ohio State in 2000). Cecilia Hall leads the Huskers with 1.35 blocks per set, while Meghan Haggerty had the top total of 128 blocks (1.28 per set). Both Hall and Haggerty earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards this season. Hall’s 13 blocks vs. Michigan on Nov. 22 were the most by any Big Ten player this season.
• Sophomore outside hitter Amber Rolfzen adds 2.09 kills per set and 0.97 blocks per set. Rolfzen’s 10 blocks vs. Hofstra tied for the most by a Husker in a three-set postseason match. She earned Nebraska’s second Big Ten Player of the Week honor this season on Nov. 24. Fien won the award on Nov. 10.
• Mary Pollmiller, the Huskers’ lone senior, has 1,076 set assists for 10.15 per set to rank fourth in the Big Ten. Pollmiller reached the 5,000-career assist plateau on her Senior Night on Nov. 22. The Littleton, Colo. native put up 2,740 in two years at Tennessee and has 5,095 for her career to rank fourth among active Division I setters.
• Justine Wong-Orantes leads the Huskers in digs with 3.84 per set. With her team-high 407 digs this season, Wong-Orantes is set to become the first Husker in school history to lead the Big Red in digs as both a freshman and sophomore.
• The Huskers are 13-2 in matches played on Monday through Friday this season, while they are 8-7 in matches played on Saturday and Sunday.
• The Huskers are 232-0 when hitting .300 or better under John Cook.
• Nebraska is 381-16 when winning the first set under Cook.
• Cook is 141-44 (.762) against ranked opponents at Nebraska. Just under one-third of Cook’s total victories at Nebraska (434) have come against ranked teams.

Scouting Utah
Utah was a dominant home team, going 12-2 with wins over ranked foes Arizona State, USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon and Colorado. The Utes were 4-10 in road matches, though, including 1-9 in Pac-12 road matches. Utah played its way into the NCAA Tournament with a 7-1 record down the stretch after losing five straight. Utah finished near the middle of the Pac-12 in almost every major category, including hitting percentage (seventh, .234) and opponent hitting percentage (seventh, .208). Chelsey Schofield leads the team in kills with 356 (3.02 per set). Shelby Dalton adds 326 (2.81 per set). Bailey Bateman (1.17 blocks per set) and Carly Trueman (1.06 blocks per set) rank among the top 10 in the Pac-12 in blocks. Beth Launiere is in her 25th season as head coach.