Huskers Top Pitt 3-1, Give Cook 600th Win

Lincoln - The Nebraska volleyball team finished off an unbeaten weekend at the Nebraska Invitational with a 3-1 (25-9, 25-20, 27-29, 25-19) win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The win marked the 600th career win for Nebraska head coach John Cook, making him the 15th active Division I head coach to reach 600 career wins. 

The fifth-ranked Huskers improved to 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2012. Tournament MVP Kelly Hunter led NU with a career-high 50 assists, 11 digs and eight kills. Annika Albrecht had a career-high 18 kill and 10 digs, while Kadie Rolfzen - also an All-Tournament team member - had 17 kills and six digs. Justine Wong-Orantes, NU's third All-Tournament team honoree, had 19 digs. Mikaela Foecke and Amber Rolfzen each added seven kills and four blocks, while Cecilia Hall had six kills and four blocks, as NU set a season high with 10 blocks.

Pittsburgh (2-1) was led by Kadi Kullerkann's 12 kills. Casey Durham added 10. 

NU outhit Pitt .278 to .103, as the Huskers held their three opponents over the weekend to a combined .107 hitting percentage.

The Huskers put together a 17-2 run to close out an emphatic 25-9 first-set victory. The Huskers led 8-7 but reeled off nine straight points with two kills by Albrecht and Foecke and one each from Kadie and Amber Rolfzen. Nebraska hit .333 and held Pitt to a -.054 clip. Six different Huskers had kills in the set, with five registering at least two kills.  

Nebraska led for good in the second set after taking a 2-1 lead and stretching it to 18-12 on a Hunter kill. After Pitt pulled it back to 19-17, the Huskers got two kill by Kadie Rolfzen and two straight attack errors by Pitt to go up 23-17. Foecke capped off the set with a kill for a 25-20 win and 2-0 Husker lead. 

The Huskers encountered their toughest challenge so far this season in set three, as Pittsburgh built a 14-8 lead courtesy of four straight points off blocks, three by Kullerkann and Amanda Orchard. Trailing 16-11, the Huskers used their block to put together a 6-0 run to take the lead, with Hall contributing two and Foecke one in the comeback. Pitt regained an 18-17 lead with a Husker service error and then a service ace off the net by Mariah Bell. The Panthers extended the lead to 21-18, but Albrecht swung Nebraska back into the game with two straight kills to get within 21-20. Albrecht and Amber Rolfzen teamed up for a block to tie the set at 21-21. The teams traded points back and forth to 27-27, when Maria Genitsaridi and Durham got back-to-back kills to give Pitt the 29-27 win. 

Nebraska took a 6-4 lead in the fourth, but a 4-0 run by Pitt gave the Panthers an 8-6 edge. The Huskers responded to take a 13-12 lead on a tip kill by Meghan Haggerty after a long rally, then Brooke Smith served up an ace for a 14-12 lead and the Huskers tacked on another block by Haggerty and Hunter. The Huskers went up 18-13 on another block, this time by Haggerty and Foecke. The Huskers didn't let Pitt within five the rest of the way in claiming a 25-19 win. 

Nebraska hits the road for the first time this season with a pair of top-15 matchups at the VERT Challenge in Austin, Texas next weekend. Nebraska will play No. 3 Texas on Friday at 6 p.m., and No. 13 Oregon on Saturday at 5 p.m. 

Nebraska Invitational All-Tournament Team
Kelly Hunter, Nebraska (MVP)
Justine Wong-Orantes, Nebraska (Best Libero)
Kadie Rolfzen, Nebraska
Kadi Kullerkann, Pittsburgh
Angela Seman, Pittsburgh
Brooke Berryhill, Tulsa
Natalie Tardy, Grand Canyon