Huskers Sweep Shockers, Advance to Sweet 16

Lincoln – Strong serving and an outstanding night from Mikaela Foecke powered the fourth-seeded Nebraska volleyball team into the Sweet 16, as the Huskers swept the Wichita State Shockers in a second-round NCAA Tournament match Saturday night in a front of sellout crowd of 8,132 at the Devaney Center.

The Huskers trailed for a total of only five rallies in the match, cruising to a 25-19, 25-19, 25-14 win for their 12th consecutive victory. With the win, Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional for the 21st time in the past 22 seasons. Nebraska will face either No. 13 BYU or Western Kentucky next Friday in Lexington, Ky. Game time for that match will be either 4 or 6:30 p.m. (Central) and the match will be carried on ESPN3.

Foecke had a match-high 12 kills without an error to post a .600 attack percentage. Foecke connected on 11 of her first 14 swings and added one of Nebraska’s six aces. All three of the Huskers’ primary outside hitters tallied double-digit kills, as Kelsey Fien registered 10 kills and Kadie Rolfzen had 11 kills and only one error on 26 swings. Rolfzen also added a team-high 13 digs to post her seventh straight double-double in postseason play. Setter Kelly Hunter dished out 38 assists and added four kills of her own while directing a Husker offense that hit .347 on the night.

Wichita State was led by its middles, as Abbie Lehman and Katie Reilly combined for 22 kills on 33 swings with only one error. Lehman produced 10 kills on 15 error-free swings, while Reilly had 11 kills and hit .556. Their efforts were not enough, however, as Wichita State ended its season with a 27-9 record.

Set One: The teams traded leads three times early in set one before Nebraska scored five straight points to take a 10-6 advantage. The Huskers continued to lead by at least two and tried to pull away by winning four consecutive points to take a 21-14 lead. But the Shockers fought back, scoring four straight points to pull within 23-18 and force Nebraska to use its first timeout. Three rallies later, the Huskers closed out a six-point win on Kadie Rolfzen’s third kill. Nebraska hit .417 in the opening set, fueled by freshman Mikaela Foecke, who had six kills on eight error-free swings. Wichita State also attacked well, hitting at a .364 clip.

Set Two: Nebraska never trailed in set two and was tied for only one rally after Wichita State scored four straight points to pull even at 8-8. The Huskers answered the Shockers’ run by winning seven of the next nine rallies to take a 15-10 lead into the media timeout. Nebraska stretched its lead to as many as seven before Kelly Hunter scored on a setter dump to cap the Huskers’ second straight 25-19 win. Foecke continued to dominate, tallying five kills on 10 swings in the second set, giving her 11 kills on 18 error-free swings through the first two sets. Kelsey Fien added four kills for Nebraska, while Abbie Lehman had four kills on seven swings for the Shockers.

Set Three: The Huskers scored four straight points to jump out to a 5-2 lead in set three. Nebraska maintained its three-point advantage at 11-8 before the Huskers won 14 of the final 20 rallies. Senior Meghan Haggerty ended the match with her final swing at the Devaney Center, putting down her second kill of the set on the Huskers’ first match point. Nebraska hit .389 in the final set, fueled by five kills from Kadie Rolfzen on seven swings. The Huskers also totaled two blocks in the third set to hold Wichita State to a .118 attack percentage.

Nebraska Notes

• Nebraska improved to 28-4 with the win and will face either No. 13 BYU or Western Kentucky on Friday in an NCAA Regional Semifinal in Lexington, Ky.
• The Huskers posted their 12th consecutive victory, their longest win streak since 2011.
• Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional for the nation-leading 21st time in the last 22 seasons.
• The Huskers improved to 21-1 all-time in second-round NCAA Tournament matches.
• The Huskers improved to 94-30 all-time in their 34 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Nebraska improved to 70-8 all-time in home NCAA Tournament matches, including a 12-2 record at the Devaney Center.
• John Cook improved to 60-17 in his NCAA Tournament coaching career, including 53-13 at Nebraska. Cook is 35-2 in NCAA Tournament home matches with the Huskers.
• NU trailed for only five rallies in the match.
• The Huskers have held their opponent to fewer than 20 points in each of their last six sets. In four NCAA Tournament matches last season, Nebraska held its opponent to fewer than 20 points only once.
• Junior outside hitter Kadie Rolfzen had 11 kills and 13 digs to post her 14th double-double of the season and the 39th of her career.
• Rolfzen has posted a double-double in seven consecutive NCAA Tournament matches dating back to 2013.
• Freshman outside hitter Mikaela Foecke had 11 kills on her first 14 swings and finished with a match-high 12 kills on 20 error-free swings (.600 attack percentage).
• Libero Justine Wong-Orantes had 10 digs in the match, increasing her total to 141 career digs in the NCAA Tournament. She moved into 10th place on Nebraska’s postseason career digs list.

Wichita State Notes

• Wichita State ended its season with a 27-9 record. The 27 wins tied for the fourth-most in school history. The Shockers fell one win shy of making the second NCAA Regional in program history.
• Wichita State fell to 7-9 all-time in the postseason. The Shockers advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in six of their nine appearances.
• Middle blockers Abbie Lehman and Katie Reilly combined for 14 kills on 21 error-free swings (.667) in the first two sets. The duo finished the match with 21 kills on 33 swings with a combined .606 attack percentage.
• Lehman had three blocks in the match, increasing her season total to 150 which is tied for the sixth-highest total in Shocker history.
• Dani Mostrom had 10 digs in the match, increasing her season total to 580, the fourth-highest total in school history. Mostrom ended her junior season with 1,554 career digs, which ranks fourth all-time at Wichita State.