Huskers Meet Spartans on BTN

The fourth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team returns home from a challenging road trip with a pair of Big Ten matches at the Bob Devaney Sports Center this week. The Huskers host the Michigan State Spartans on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to begin the week. The match will be televised on the Big Ten Network and will be streamed online at BTN2GO.com. Kevin Kugler and Kathi Weiskamp will call the action. John Baylor and Diane Mendenhall will have the radio call on Husker Sports Network (107.3 FM in Lincoln and 105.9 FM in Omaha). A free live audio stream and live stats are available at Huskers.com.

Nebraska (12-2, 3-1 Big Ten) faced a difficult task last week, traveling across the country to play two top-13 teams within a 24-hour span. The Huskers fought back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat No. 1 Penn State, 3-2, in University Park on Friday night. The Huskers also trailed game five, 5-1, but rallied for their first-ever true road win over a No. 1 team in school history, and the victory also snapped Penn State’s 33-match win streak. Nebraska won for just the second time in five tries at Penn State, with the other win coming in 1993. The Huskers concluded the weekend with a 3-2 loss at Ohio State on Saturday night, bringing an end to NU’s nine-match win streak, its longest since 2011. NU fell behind 2-1 but rallied again with a fourth-set win to force game five. But the Buckeyes led from start to finish in the decisive set.

Michigan State (10-5, 2-2 Big Ten) split a pair of matches against No. 23 Michigan last week. The Spartans swept the Wolverines in East Lansing last Wednesday and held a 2-0 lead on the road on Saturday before the Wolverines rallied to win the last three sets to get the split. Michigan State’s other Big Ten loss came at home against Purdue (3-1). The Spartans own a sweep over Indiana and have won seven of their last nine matches.

Nebraska leads the all-time series, 14-2-2. The Huskers won a pair of 3-1 matches against the Spartans last year and have won three in a row in the series. Michigan State has never beaten the Huskers in Lincoln. Head Coach John Cook is 19-6 all-time facing Michigan State and 9-2 while at Nebraska.

About the Huskers
• Nebraska leads the Big Ten with 15.81 digs per set and ranks 64th in the nation.
• The Huskers are hitting .272 on the season to rank third in the Big Ten and 17th nationally.
• Nebraska averages 14.27 kills per set, which ranks third in the conference and 16th in the nation.
• Libero Justine Wong-Orantes averages a team-best 4.08 digs per set and has played every set in 59 consecutive matches dating back to her freshman season in 2013. Wong-Orantes had a career-high 30 digs to lead the Husker comeback effort at No. 1 Penn State last Friday. She was named the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week.
• Two-time All-American Kadie Rolfzen is putting up a team-best 3.06 kills per set along with 2.62 digs per set. The junior has 30 career double-doubles and was the B1G Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 21.
• Middle blocker Amber Rolfzen leads the team with 55 blocks. Her 1.45 blocks per set is second in the Big Ten and 17th nationally. Her block average is the best by a Husker since Melissa Elmer’s school-record 2.17 in 2005.
• True freshman outside hitter Mikaela Foecke averages 2.82 kills per set and led the Huskers against Penn State with a career-high 22 kills on a team-high 57 swings. Foecke has won two Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week honors.
• Setter Kelly Hunter guides the Husker attack with 11.21 assists per set. The sophomore had a career-high 57 assists and nine kills in the comeback win against Oregon on Sept. 5. Hunter was named the B1G Setter of the Week on Aug. 31 and Nebraska Invitational MVP on opening weekend. Hunter has notched 50 or more assists four times this season.
• Outside hitter Kelsey Fien, an All-Big performer in 2014, is averaging 2.45 kills per set. Fien had a career-high 19 kills against Oregon on Sept. 5.
• Senior middle blocker Cecilia Hall is putting up 2.00 kills per set on the season with a .310 hitting percentage. In her first three years, Hall averaged 1.31 kills per set and was a career .290 hitter. Hall was strong on last week’s road trip with 18 kills and 14 blocks in the two matches. She had a season-high 12 kills at Ohio State on Saturday and a season-high eight blocks at Penn State on Friday.

Scouting Michigan State
Michigan State is led by Brooke Kranda. The 6-6 middle blocker/opposite hitter is averaging 3.43 kills per set and 0.72 blocks per set. The Spartans lead the Big Ten in kills per set (14.50). Chloe Reinig, an All-Big Ten selection last year, adds 3.13 kills per set. The outside hitter returned to the Spartan lineup last week after missing seven straight matches. MSU runs a two-setter system with Rachel Minarick and Halle Peterson. The Spartans lead the Big Ten in assists per set (13.44). Alyssa Garvelink has a team-high 58 blocks on the season for a 1.07 per set average.

Wong-Orantes Moving Up Career Digs Chart
Junior Justine Wong-Orantes ranks 10th in school history with 1,065 career digs entering the week. Wong-Orantes surpassed 1,000 career digs at Iowa State on Sept. 19, becoming the fastest Husker to reach 1,000 digs, doing so in just 75 matches.

Rolfzen Closing in on 1,000 Kills
Junior Kadie Rolfzen enters the week with 929 career kills. She is aiming to become the 21st player in Husker history to reach 1,000 career kills and just the ninth to do so before her senior season. The last Husker to reach the 1,000-kill plateau before her senior season was Jordan Larson as a junior in 2007.