Huskers Face Longhorns for National Championship

• The Nebraska volleyball team will play for the 2015 National Championship on Saturday night in a 6:30 p.m. match against the Texas Longhorns at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb.  • Nebraska defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 3-1, on Thursday night to advance to its seventh national final all-time and first since 2006. An NCAA-record crowd of 17,551 filled the CenturyLink Center. • Texas beat Big Ten champion Minnesota, 3-1, on Thursday in the first semifinal match and is headed back to the NCAA Championship match for the first time since 2012, when the Longhorns were crowned national champions. • Saturday’s final will be televised on ESPN2 and streamed online at WatchESPN.com or on the WatchESPN app.  • Beth Mowins will have the play-by-play on the ESPN2 broadcast, while Karch Kiraly will provide color analysis. Holly Rowe will be the sideline reporter.  • The championship match can be heard on Husker Sports Network affiliates, including but not limited to 107.3 FM and  AM 590. A free live audio stream and live stats will also be available through links at Huskers.com.  • John Baylor will have the play-by-play call for Husker Sports Network, and Diane Mendenhall will add color commentary. • All-session tickets for the event sold out early in the week. • The Huskers are no stranger to Omaha. The final four has been at the CenturyLink Center (previously Qwest Center) in 2006, 2008 and 2015, and the Huskers qualified all three times. NU beat Stanford in 2006 to win its third national title. NU lost to unbeaten Penn State in the 2008 semis. • Nebraska has won three national championships (1995, 2000 and 2006), tied for fourth-most all-time. Penn State (seven), Stanford (six) and UCLA (four) are the top three. • Head Coach John Cook has now taken Nebraska to six NCAA Semifinals and four NCAA Finals matches in his 16 years as head coach at Nebraska. Cook is 2-1 in NCAA Championship matches, winning in 2000 and 2006. • The Huskers have won at least 30 matches in nine of Cook’s 16 seasons. • The Huskers have won 15 straight matches, their longest win streak since 16 straight in 2011. • The Huskers have beaten two teams ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Poll this season (Penn State and Washington) for the third time since the poll was formed in 1982. Nebraska last beat two No. 1 teams (UCLA and Penn State) in 2012.

HUSKERS AT A GLANCE • The Huskers rank 10th nationally in kills per set (14.48) and are 14th in hitting percentage (.273).  • Nebraska is 22nd nationally in blocks per set (2.77) and is 32nd in opponent hitting percentage (.171).  • In the NCAA Tournament, Nebraska is hitting .283 and holding opponents to .185 hitting. The Huskers have outblocked their five opponents 53.0 to 37.0 and have more than double the amount of aces (19 to 8).  • Nebraska led all Big Ten teams with a 14.33 kills per set and 15.70 digs per set average during the regular season. • Nebraska turned up its defensive play in Big Ten action, averaging 2.94 blocks per set to rank second in the conference. 

SERIES HISTORY • Nebraska is 30-22 all-time against Texas and 1-2 in NCAA Tournament matches against the Longhorns. Twenty years ago, in 1995, Nebraska defeated Texas 3-1 for the Huskers’ first national championship. Nebraska dropped the first set in that match, 10-15, before rallying for 15-2, 15-7 wins in games two and three. The Huskers held on to win a back-and-forth game four, 16-14. Billie Winsett and Kate Crnich had 25 kills each in the win. The Huskers finished 32-1 under head coach Terry Pettit.  • Texas has won regular-season meetings against Nebraska each of the last three years. • Head Coach John Cook is 17-11 overall against Texas and 16-11 as head coach at Nebraska.

LAST MEETING • The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team engaged in another hard-fought battle with No. 3 Texas, but in the end fell 3-2 (17-25, 25-21, 15-25, 25-23, 11-15) to the Longhorns at Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas on Sept, 4, 2015. The match was part of the VERT Challenge, which also featured Oregon and Florida. • Kadie Rolfzen led NU with 15 kills and also had 13 digs. Cecilia Hall and Meghan Haggerty each had 10 kills and three blocks. Kelly Hunter had 47 assists and 13 digs. Justine Wong-Orantes led NU with 23 digs.  • Texas’ All-American transfer Ebony Nwanebu, playing in her one and only match of the season, had a match-high 22 kills and 17 digs. Nwanebu has been out since then with an injury. • Nebraska hit .144 and had 31 attacking errors, but 13 of them came in the first set. Texas hit .242 and committed 19 errors. The Longhorns had a 15-6 advantage in blocks. • The Huskers were without middle blocker Amber Rolfzen in that match, who was out with an injury. 

ABOUT THE HUSKERS • All-American Kadie Rolfzen is putting up a team-best 3.34 kills per set along with 2.80 digs per set. Rolfzen has recorded 16 double-doubles this season. The junior outside hitter earned her third career All-Big Ten honor as a unanimous selection, and was named a first-team AVCA All-American for the first time after two straight third-team honors. • Junior libero Justine Wong-Orantes averages 4.52 digs per set and was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and  AVCA third-team All-America. Wong-Orantes averaged 4.57 digs per set in conference matches to rank second in the Big Ten. • All-Big Ten and AVCA All-Region middle blocker Amber Rolfzen leads the team with 178 blocks. Her 1.59 blocks per set ranks first in the Big Ten and fourth nationally, and her block total and average is the best by a Husker since Melissa Elmer’s school-record 250 and 2.17 in 2005. • True freshman outside hitter Mikaela Foecke averages 3.01 kills per set and was a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection, as well as an AVCA All-Region pick and honorable-mention All-America. • Setter Kelly Hunter guides the Husker attack with 11.58 assists per set and was a two-time Big Ten Setter of the Week, AVCA All-Region selection and All-America honorable mention. • Outside hitter Kelsey Fien, an All-Big Ten performer in 2014, is averaging 2.62 kills per set. • Senior middle blocker Cecilia Hall is putting up 1.72 kills per set and 1.07 blocks per set on the season. • Sophomore Annika Albrecht has a team-leading 40 service aces. She served six aces in a three-set win over Rutgers on Oct. 30, one shy of the school record for aces in a match.

SCOUTING TEXAS • Texas (30-2) is led by first-team All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year Amy Neal’s 4.29 kills per set. Neal is also 15th in the nation with 0.45 aces per set. • Chiaka Ogbogu adds 2.80 kills and 1.20 blocks per set for the Longhorns.  • Freshman Yaazie Bedart-Ghani averages 1.44 kills per set but had a massive performance in the NCAA Semifinal win over Minnesota with 15 kills on .583 hitting. Neal had 25 kills to lead the Longhorns.  • Setter Chloe Collins averages 11.52 assists per set. • Libero Cat McCoy leads the team with 4.14 digs per set.  

ROLFZEN ECLIPSES 1,000 CAREER KILLS Junior outside hitter Kadie Rolfzen became the 21st Husker to reach 1,000 career kills when she did so against Wisconsin on Oct. 24. Rolfzen is just the ninth Husker to do so before her senior season and the first since Jordan Larson as a junior in 2007.

• Rolfzen was named the Lexington Regional Most Valuable Player after averaging 4.57 kills per set, 3.86 digs per set and hitting .397 in the two matches. She had 20 kills and 15 digs against No. 1 Washington, her ninth straight postseason double-double. • Rolfzen proved herself to once again be a top six-rotation player in the Big Ten with 3.26 kills per set and 2.72 digs per set in conference play, earning All-Big Ten and AVCA All-Region honors for the third straight season, as well as first-team All-America honors. • Rolfzen earned the first Big Ten Player of the Week award of her career on Nov. 2 after 3.7 kills and 2.5 digs per set vs. Rutgers and Maryland, including a career-best .692 hitting percentage vs. Maryland. • Rolfzen has a team-high 41 career double-doubles (16 this season) and was the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 21.  • In addition to three All-Big Ten honors, Rolfzen is an academic All-Big Ten honoree.

WONG-ORANTES GAINING RECOGNITION Junior libero Justine Wong-Orantes ranks fourth in school history in career digs. Wong-Orantes is in the midst of one of the best defensive seasons by a Husker all-time and was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for her efforts, as well as a second-team AVCA All-American.

• Wong-Orantes has 538 digs on the season for an average of 4.52 per set, which would be the fifth-best single-season mark in school history. Assistant coach Dani Busboom Kelly holds the school record at 5.04 digs per set in 2006.  • Wong-Orantes joined Busboom Kelly and Kayla Banwarth as the only Huskers to reach 500 digs in a season. • 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. • Wong-Orantes was named the espnW National Player of the Week after a career-high 30 digs in a comeback win at No. 1 Penn State on Oct. 2.  • Wong-Orantes earned two Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards in the month of October, the most recent following 27 digs at Illinois on Oct. 17, a career high for a three-set match.

POSITION SWITCH PAYS OFF FOR AMBER ROLFZEN Junior Amber Rolfzen made a position switch from outside hitter to middle blocker in the offseason, and the return has been significant. 

• Rolfzen leads the Big Ten in blocking with 1.59 blocks per set, ranking fourth in the nation. She capped the regular season with the first All-Big Ten selection of her career and also added AVCA All-Region and second-team All-America honors. • Rolfzen’s block average is the best by a Husker since Melissa Elmer’s school-record 2.17 in 2005. • Rolfzen posted at least five blocks in eight straight matches from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23. The last Husker to do that was three-time All-American Melissa Elmer in 2005. • Rolfzen was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 12 following a pair of eight-block matches along with a season-best 12 kills against Michigan. • Rolfzen again earned the weekly defensive honor on Nov. 2 after matching her season high of eight blocks against Maryland, averaging 2.0 blocks per set in sweeps of the Terrapins and Rutgers. • Rolfzen added a third Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor on Nov. 30 after 17 kills and 15 blocks combined against Illinois and Penn State, including a .567 hitting percentage. 

HUSKERS TURN TO SOPHOMORE SETTER HUNTER Redshirt sophomore Kelly Hunter coordinates the Husker attack with 11.58 assists per set and earned AVCA All-America honorable mention accolades in her first season as the Huskers’ starting setter. The Papillion, Neb., native - who was high school teammates with Husker twins Kadie and Amber Rolfzen - has helped the Huskers play at a faster tempo this season and has the Huskers hitting .273 on the season after hitting .236 in 2014. Although she played sparingly in 16 matches as a freshman in 2013, Hunter is seeing the first regular match action of her career after redshirting last year behind senior Mary Pollmiller. Hunter’s impact was felt immediately as the season began:

• Hunter earned Big Ten Co-Setter of the Week on Nov. 23 after posting 12.71 assists per set and leading the Huskers to a combined .340 hitting percentage in two wins. • Hunter was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week on Aug. 31 and the Nebraska Invitational MVP on opening weekend after a 50-assist, 11-dig, eight-kill performance against Pittsburgh. • Hunter had a career-high 57 assists and nine kills in a 3-2 comeback win against Oregon on Sept. 5.  • Hunter has notched 50 or more assists eight times this season. • Hunter has 10 double-doubles this season.

FRESHMAN FOECKE MAKES INSTANT IMPACT True freshman Mikaela Foecke, PrepVolleyball.com’s No. 2 recruit, has been an impact player for the Huskers since the beginning of the season. Foecke is second on the team in kills per set (3.01) and service aces (26). 

• Foecke was one of four Big Ten freshmen to earn a unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. She was also one of two freshmen on the AVCA All-North Region team and earned AVCA All-America honorable mention. • Foecke was a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, earning the honor in back-to-back weeks on Sept. 14 and Sept. 21. Her first honor came after hitting .632 vs. Georgia Tech with 12 kills and no errors. Her second honor came following 13 kills and four digs in back-to-back matches at Creighton and Iowa State. • Foecke had a career-high 22 kills in a 3-2 comeback win at Penn State on Oct. 2. • After switching from the right side to her more natural left side, Foecke recorded six consecutive matches of double-digit kills from Sept. 5 to Sept. 19. • Foecke had 12 kills in each of her first two NCAA Tournament matches. She also added a career-high nine digs in the first-round win over Harvard. • Foecke served five aces in back-to-back sweeps at Northwestern and Illinois on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17.