Huskers Top No. 24 Michigan, 3-1, on Pink Night

Lincoln - The fourth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team won its 16th straight home match with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 25-17) win over No. 24 Michigan on Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, with 8,314 people on hand for the annual "Pink Night".

The Huskers moved to 14-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten with their third win over a ranked opponent this season, while Michigan fell to 13-4 and 3-3 in the Big Ten. 

NU reached double-digit blocks for the fifth straight match with 13. Amber Rolfzen tied her season high of eight while adding a season-best 12 kills. Freshman Mikaela Foecke had a match-high 18 kills. Kadie Rolfzen had 12 kills and 12 digs, and Kelsey Fien had nine kills. Cecilia Hall added six kills and five blocks. 

Kelly Hunter had 49 assists and eight digs with four blocks. Justine Wong-Orantes led the team in digs with 20. Kenzie Maloney and Annika Albrecht each chipped in nine.  

NU hit .263 and held Michigan to .156 hitting. Claire Kieffer-Wright had 10 kills to lead the Wolverines.

The Huskers displayed great passing and hitting in the first set and gained momentum after Cecilia Hall smashed back-to-back kills. Foecke added three more kills, as well as a block with Amber Rolfzen, and the Big Red led 15-9. The Huskers led 19-12 before a Michigan spurt brought the Wolverines within 19-15. But Fien and Kadie Rolfzen put down kills and the Huskers went ahead 21-15. A stuff block by Kadie and Amber Rolfzen gave the Huskers set point, 24-18, and an Amber Rolfzen kill finished it off. NU hit .410 in the set, while Michigan hit .263.

Nebraska fell behind 5-1 and 10-5 in the second set but put together a comeback. Roll shots by Foecke and Kadie Rolfzen, followed by a Michigan service error tied it 13-13. Michigan regained a 15-13 lead after a timeout, but the Huskers went on an 8-0 run to gain a 21-15 lead. Kadie Rolfzen had two kills in the run, and Amber Rolfzen had a kill and two blocks, while Michigan committed three errors. The Huskers capped the comeback with a Sydney Townsend ace to win 25-19. The Huskers had five blocks in the set with six different players posting at least one.  

Michigan held the early advantage in the third set, but the Huskers used a 3-0 run to tie it 9-9, with a kill by Fien and block by Hunter and Hall. But Michigan put together a 3-0 run of its own to separate from a 13-13 tie and had the Huskers playing from behind again. From that point it became a sideout game until Michigan's Kieffer-Wright got a kill on the longest rally of the night to make it 23-19. The Wolverines held on for the 25-20 win.

The Huskers powered their way to an 8-3 lead in set four with a 6-0 run and never let Michigan closer than four points the rest of the way. The Huskers went on to win 25-17 to remain a perfect 9-0 at home this season. The Huskers held Michigan to .027 hitting in the fourth set and had five of their 13 blocks. 

Nebraska is on the road at Northwestern next Friday and at No. 13 Illinois next Saturday.