Huskers Trounce Penn State on Senior Night, 3-0

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 5 Nebraska volleyball team was dominant in a 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-22) sweep of No. 7 Penn State on Senior Night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday in front of 8,439 fans.

The Huskers finished the regular season 26-4 overall and 17-3 in the Big Ten. Their 26 regular-season wins are the most since 2010, and their 17-3 Big Ten record matches their best since joining the conference in 2011. NU claimed sole possession of second place in the Big Ten standings and is riding a 10-match win streak, its longest since 2011.

Penn State (26-5, 15-5 Big Ten) was swept in a season series for just the second time since 2002, as the Huskers won 3-2 at Penn State on Oct. 2. Saturday's sweep was the Huskers' first against Penn State since 2007. 

Nebraska outhit Penn State .241 to .126, the lowest hitting percentage for the Nittany Lions this season. The Huskers also had a 12-6 block advantage, the most blocks allowed by the Nittany Lions in a three-set match this season. 

As she did in the match at Penn State, freshman Mikaela Foecke led the way for the Huskers with 11 kills on .360 hitting. Kelsey Fien had nine kills, while Amber Rolfzen had five kills and a match-high eight blocks in a dominant performance in the middle. Kelly Hunter provided 32 assists, nine digs and had five kills on six attacks. Kadie Rolfzen had five kills with a team-high 10 digs, while Justine Wong-Orantes had nine digs.

Aiyana Whitney led Penn State with 13 kills and three blocks. Penn State never led after 1-0 in the first set and 2-1 in the second set, and the Nittany Lions did not lead at all in the third set. 

The Huskers honored their four seniors - Fien, Cecilia Hall, Meghan Haggerty and Alicia Ostrander - after the match. 

Set 1: Nebraska rolled out of the gate to a 7-2 lead with big blocks by Foecke and Hall and then the Rolfzen twins. Amber Rolfzen's solo block made it 9-4, and a Foecke kill made it 10-4. A pair of Fien kills moved the Huskers up 16-7, forcing Penn State to use its second timeout. But Hunter served an ace to make it 17-7 right out of the break. Kadie Rolfzen, Amber Rolfzen and Foecke followed with kills as the Huskers built the lead to 22-11 on a block by Amber Rolfzen and Hunter. Despite Penn State stringing together a few points down the stretch, the Huskers finished off the 25-18 win. NU outhit the Nittany Lions .200 to .081. 

Set 2: NU broke a 6-6 tie with a 6-0 run. It started with kills by Amber Rolfzen and Hunter and a block by Amber Rolfzen and Foecke. After a PSU error, Hunter and Foecke recorded kills again to make it 12-6. Later, Amber and Kadie Rolfzen combined for another block to make it 18-12. Kadie Rolfzen served NU's fourth ace of the night to make it 21-14. Nebraska led 23-15 and finished out another 25-18 win.   

Set 3: The teams were neck and neck early on, but Foecke recorded a pair of kills and Hunter and Amber Rolfzen combined for a block to give the Huskers an 11-9 edge. Nebraska went up 15-11 at the media timeout when Hall placed a ball in the back row for her fourth kill, sending the crowd into a frenzy. The Huskers took a 20-15 lead after winning a challenge that Albrecht served an ace, and Penn State hit long to make it 21-15 for a 3-0 run. Penn State put together a rally to pull within 23-22. After a timeout, the Huskers got a kill from Foecke for match point. Penn State took a timeout after that, but NU sealed the sweep with a stuff by Hunter and Amber Rolfzen.

Up Next: The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship bracket will be announced Sunday, Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. on ESPNU. Should the Huskers be selected to host the first and second rounds, tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, Nov. 30. Fans will be able to purchase tickets on Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8-BIGRED.