Huskers Host No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 3 Minnesota

The top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team returns home this week for the “Weekend of Champions” celebration, as the Huskers host No. 4 Wisconsin on Friday at 8 p.m., and No. 3 Minnesota on Sunday at 1 p.m., both on Big Ten Network. The Huskers will honor former players from their 1986 (NCAA finalists), 1996 (NCAA semifinalists) and 2006 (NCAA champions) squads Friday night.

In addition to the BTN television coverage, Husker Sports Network will carry all the action this weekend on HSN affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln. Friday’s match will be carried on 105.9 FM in Omaha, and Sunday’s match will air on AM 590 in Omaha.

The Huskers, who returned to the No. 1 spot in the AVCA Coaches Poll on Monday, will immediately have their ranking tested against top-five opponents who both won in Lincoln last year. Last October, Minnesota and Wisconsin defeated the Huskers 3-1 in the same weekend, and after that NU won 16 matches in a row to win the NCAA title.

Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin held the top three spots in four straight AVCA polls up until this week. Each team has been ranked No. 1 at some point this season.

Series History
• Nebraska is 17-3-1 against Wisconsin and is 6-2 in the Big Ten era, though the Badgers have won the last two matches. Wisconsin won 22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-22 on Oct. 24, 2015 in Lincoln. This will be the only meeting between the teams this season.
• Nebraska is 32-6 all-time against Minnesota and 6-2 in the Big Ten era. The Gophers won the only meeting last October 23 in Lincoln, 25-23, 25-22, 24-26, 27-25. The teams will play again in Minneapolis on November 23.

Coaches
• Nebraska head coach John Cook is in his 17th season at Nebraska and 24th overall season as a head coach. Cook is 484-63 at NU and 645-136 overall.
• Kelly Sheffield is in his fourth season as head coach at Wisconsin and is 100-22 overall. As a head coach for 16 years, Sheffield has a career record of 373-134.
• Entering Friday’s match at Iowa, Hugh McCutcheon is 119-35 in his fifth season at Minnesota and in his career.

About the Huskers
• Nebraska enters the weekend with a 16-1 overall record and 7-1 mark in Big Ten play. The Huskers are ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, where they spent the first six weeks of the season before coming in at Nos. 3 and 2 in the last two polls.
• The Huskers are second in the Big Ten and third nationally with a .309 hitting percentage.
• NU is second in the Big Ten and seventh in the nation with a .146 opponent hitting percentage.
• The Huskers are third in the Big Ten in kills per set (14.23) and blocks per set (2.83). In conference matches only, Nebraska is leading the Big Ten with 3.00 blocks per set.
• Nebraska’s .885 win percentage under head coach John Cook is the best by any program since Cook took over in the 2000 season.
• Since Cook became head coach at Nebraska in 2000, the Huskers have won at least 20 straight matches nine times.
• Nebraska won 28 straight matches from Oct. 30, 2015 to Sept. 28, 2016, which was the program’s longest winning streak since 2006-07.
• The Huskers have won 13 straight road matches, the longest road winning streak since 2003-05, when the Huskers won 26 in a row on the road.

Last Time Out
• The Nebraska volleyball team completed a successful road trip with a 25-16, 25-14, 25-17 sweep at Maryland last Sunday afternoon at the XFINITY Center Pavilion. With their 13th straight road win, the Huskers improved to 16-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten. Kadie Rolfzen led the Huskers with nine kills on 14 error-free swings for a .643 hitting percentage. She also added eight digs. Briana Holman had eight kills and five blocks, and Andie Malloy added six kills. Mikaela Foecke had six kills and hit .385, while Amber Rolfzen had six kills on .545 hitting and posted a team-high seven blocks. Kelly Hunter provided 33 assists to go with six blocks and four kills. Annika Albrecht had a team-best 10 digs. The Huskers hit .429, their best mark in Big Ten play this season. They held Maryland to .081 hitting and had a 12-3 advantage in blocks and 38-28 edge in digs. NU also served four aces to one for the Terrapins.

Up Next
• The Huskers are home again next Friday and Saturday. Nebraska hosts Illinois on Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. on BTN and Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. on NET.

Scouting Wisconsin
• Wisconsin (15-2, 7-1 Big Ten) is holding opponents to .163 hitting this season, which ranks third in the Big Ten. The Badgers lead the Big Ten in digs per set (14.64) and are fourth in blocks per set (2.74). All-America setter Lauren Carlini ranks third in the Big Ten with 11.03 assists per set, while Tionna Williams is fourth in blocks per set this season at 1.42. Molly Haggerty leads the team in kills with 3.16 per set. Lauryn Gillis adds 2.57 kills per set. Wisconsin’s two losses are at home to Minnesota last weekend and at North Carolina.

Scouting Minnesota
• Minnesota (14-3, 6-2 Big Ten entering Friday’s match at Iowa) ranks third in the Big Ten and seventh nationally with a .301 hitting percentage. The Golden Gophers are second in the conference in blocks per set (2.87) and kills per set (14.26). Setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson leads the Big Ten with 11.69 assists per set and ranks sixth in the nation. Sarah Wilhite is the conference leader in kills per set with 4.11, and Molly Lohman is fifth in blocks per set at 1.34. Minnesota’s losses this season are at Stanford, at Penn State and at Michigan State last Saturday.

Three-Time All-American Kadie Rolfzen Leads the Attack
• Senior outside hitter Kadie Rolfzen was named a first-team AVCA All-American in 2015, her third career All-America honor but first selection to the first team. Rolfzen was also a unanimous All-Big Ten selection, her third straight season on the team.
• Rolfzen leads the Huskers with 3.40 kills per set and adds 2.49 digs per set. Her double-double (21 kills, 11 digs) at Ohio State was the 44th of her career. She also has served 15 aces and is hitting a career-best .342 this season.
• An NCAA Senior CLASS Award candidate, Rolfzen ranks eighth in school history with 1,388 career kills and is eighth in career digs with 1,095. She is one of just four Huskers to rank in the top 10 in both career kills and career digs, joining Jordan Larson, Hannah Werth and Eileen Shannon.
• Rolfzen was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Oct. 17 after posting 21 kills and 11 digs at Ohio State and nine kills and eight digs at Maryland.
• Against New Mexico on Sept. 10, Rolfzen became the fifth Husker all-time to reach 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
• Rolfzen was named the most valuable player at the Nebraska Invite, Lobo Classic and Ameritas Players Challenge this season.
• Rolfzen was not only productive on the court in 2015, she excelled off of it. The graphic design major posted a perfect 4.0 GPA in 2015-16 to earn Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors.

Amber Rolfzen Set to Build On Second-Team All-America Honors
• Senior Amber Rolfzen made a position switch from outside hitter to middle blocker before the 2015 season, and the switch resulted in second-team AVCA All-America honors and the Big Ten blocks title for the Papillion, Nebraska native.
• Rolfzen is averaging 1.82 kills per set and a team-high 1.47 blocks per set. Rolfzen ranks third in the Big Ten and 14th nationally in blocks per set. In conference matches only, she is second in the Big Ten with 1.71 blocks per set.
• Rolfzen ranks ninth in school history on NU’s career block assists chart with 432.
• Rolfzen was named to the All-America Second Team and the All-Big Ten Team after posting 1.58 blocks per set in 2015, which led the Big Ten and ranked fourth nationally. Her block average was the best by a Husker since Melissa Elmer’s school-record 2.17 in 2005.
• Rolfzen was named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team after 10 kills and four blocks with a .625 hitting percentage in the championship win over Texas.
• Rolfzen accumulated three Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors in 2015 and has one so far in 2016 after 2.33 blocks per set against Purdue and Indiana.

Wong-Orantes Back For More After Breakout Season
• Senior libero Justine Wong-Orantes burst onto the national scene in 2015 with third-team AVCA All-America honors and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award.
• Wong-Orantes is averaging 3.75 digs per set this season and was named the best libero at the Nebraska Invite and Ameritas Players Challenge.
• Wong-Orantes ranks second in school history with 1,622 career digs. She is chasing Kayla Banwarth’s career record of 1,706. Banwarth is the starting libero for the U.S. Women’s National Team, and Wong-Orantes is trending on that path. Wong-Orantes played with the U.S. Women’s National Team at the Pan American Cup over the summer, averaging 4.8 digs per set while helping the Americans to the bronze medal.
• The Cypress, California native averaged 4.55 digs per set with a total of 555 digs in 2015, the third most by a Husker in school history.

Experienced Hunter Leads Huskers as Captain Again
• Despite being in her first season as the Huskers’ starting setter last year, Kelly Hunter was picked as one of the team captains. Now a junior, Hunter is the Huskers’ lone captain as selected by head coach John Cook.
• Hunter is averaging 10.93 assists and has served a team-best 18 aces. Hunter ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 24th nationally in assists per set.
• Hunter was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week for the third time in her career after 12.43 assists per set on opening weekend, as well as 1.43 kills per set and 2.00 digs per set. She was named to both the Nebraska Invite and Lobo Classic All-Tournament Teams.
• She earned her fourth career Big Ten Setter of the Week honor on Sept. 26 after a season-high 53 assists with 10 digs and six blocks in a 3-2 comeback win at Michigan State.
• The Papillion, Nebraska native guided the Huskers to the national title in 2015 and received AVCA All-America honorable mention. She was named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team after posting 42 assists, four digs and three blocks in the championship match.
• Hunter averaged 11.64 assists per set last season and totaled 1,501, the third most in the nation. She had 10 double-doubles and was the Big Ten Setter of the Week twice.

Foecke In Rare Company
• Mikaela Foecke was the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player last season, becoming just the third freshman to earn the honor, after 19 kills on .385 hitting in the championship win against Texas. The other freshmen to win the award were Deja McClendon (Penn State, 2010) and Kerri Walsh (Stanford, 1996)
• This season, Foecke is averaging 2.65 kills per set and has served 10 aces.
• Foecke received AVCA All-America honorable mention and was a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten Freshman team in 2015.
• Following her freshman season, Foecke was a finalist for the AAU Sullivan Award, presented annually to the top amateur athlete in the United States.

Holman Makes Long-Awaited Return
• Junior middle blocker Briana Holman made her first official appearance in a collegiate match since December 2014 when she took the court with the Huskers at the season-opening VERT Challenge. Holman transferred from LSU to Nebraska but did not receive her scholarship release, so she was forced to sit out the 2015 season.
• Holman is averaging 2.25 kills and 1.12 blocks per set. She is hitting .325 on the season and was named to the Ameritas Players Challenge All-Tournament Team.
• On opening weekend, Holman had an immediate impact. She was named the espnW National Player of the Week after averaging 2.57 kills and 1.43 blocks per set while hitting .571 in the wins over Florida and Texas. Holman had 10 kills and seven blocks against the Gators, and eight kills and three blocks against Texas with a .727 hitting percentage.
• Holman was a first-team AVCA All-American at LSU in 2014 with 3.94 kills and 1.47 blocks per set. She was a two-time All-SEC performer for the Tigers and represented the U.S. Collegiate National Team at the World University Games in South Korea in July 2015.

Malloy Brings More Experience to Husker Roster
• Senior transfer Andie Malloy gives the Huskers more depth and experience at outside hitter. A two-time All-Big 12 performer at Baylor, Malloy earned her degree in 2015 and had one season of eligibility remaining.
• Malloy is averaging 2.54 kills per set for the Big Red. She had a season-best 14 kills at New Mexico and was on the Lobo Classic All-Tournament Team.
• Malloy came to Nebraska after ranking second in the Big 12 in kills per set (3.89) and double-doubles (17) in 2015.

Huskers Ranked No. 1 in AVCA Coaches Poll
• Nebraska is ranked first in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll after two weeks outside the top spot.
• The Huskers began the year at No. 1 in the preseason poll for the fifth time in school history (2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2015) and spent the first six weeks of the season at No. 1. The 2006 squad went wire-to-wire to win the national title. This year’s Husker team is aiming to become the first in program history to repeat as champions.
• The Huskers have been ranked No. 1 in 93 all-time polls, the most in NCAA history.
• The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 450 times, which is the most in NCAA history.
• Nebraska has appeared in all 503 AVCA Coaches Polls since it was established in 1982. Nebraska and Stanford are the only two programs to be ranked in every poll all-time.

Huskers On Television
• The Nebraska volleyball team is set to receive extensive television coverage in 2016. The Huskers will make 16 regular-season TV appearances.
• The Huskers will have one match on ESPN2, eight broadcasts on Big Ten Network and seven more on NET. All 10 of the Huskers’ Big Ten home matches will be televised.
• Any match on BTN or NET will also be streamed online at BTN2GO.com. For non-televised Big Ten matches, an online stream is available for purchase through BTN Plus at BTN2GO.com.

Huskers Tabbed Big Ten Favorites
• The 14 Big Ten head coaches selected Nebraska as the unanimous favorite in the Big Ten Conference Preseason Poll. The Huskers finished second in the Big Ten in 2015 with a 17-3 record and are trying to win the conference crown for the first time since 2011. That will be no easy feat, however, as nine Big Ten teams are ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Nebraska had 13 matches scheduled against preseason top-25 teams.
• Seniors Amber Rolfzen, Kadie Rolfzen and Justine Wong-Orantes were picked to the All-Big Ten Preseason Team. The Rolfzen twins were All-Big Ten selections last year, while Wong-Orantes earned honorable mention but was selected as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Kadie Rolfzen was one of four unanimous selections to the preseason team.

Cook Adds to Legacy
• Nebraska head coach John Cook is in his 17th season as the Nebraska volleyball head coach in 2016. He has led the Huskers to three national championships, six final fours, 10 conference championships and 14 top-10 final rankings since 2000. Cook has 645 career wins and is the sixth-winningest coach in NCAA history.
• Since taking over the program in 2000, Cook has led the Huskers to a nation-leading .885 win percentage in that time (484-63).
• Under Cook, the Huskers have achieved 45 All-Americans and 18 Academic All-Americans, both among the best in the nation. He is a two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, earning the prestigious honor in 2000 and 2005, and a four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year.
• Cook is one of only four active coaches - and one of six all-time - to be a two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year and was honored in 2008 by USA Volleyball, receiving its All-Time Great Coach Award.

Busboom Kelly Celebrates Second National Title - One as Coach, One as Player
• Regarded as one of the best recruiters in the nation, assistant coach Dani Busboom Kelly has helped Nebraska’s resurgence to the forefront of college volleyball over the last four seasons, as the Huskers captured the 2015 NCAA National Championship at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, the same place Busboom Kelly won the national title as a player for the Huskers in 2006.
• Busboom Kelly coached two AVCA All-Americans and two honorable-mention selections in 2015. Kadie Rolfzen was a first-team AVCA All-American, while Justine Wong-Orantes was a third-team selection for the first time, as well as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year after a sparkling season at libero. Setter Kelly Hunter and outside hitter Mikaela Foecke earned All-American honorable mention, and Foecke was the NCAA National Championship most outstanding player, just the third freshman in NCAA Division I Volleyball history to earn the honor.
• In her four seasons at Nebraska, Busboom Kelly has helped the Huskers to four NCAA regional final appearances. In 2015, Nebraska setter Kelly Hunter was third in the nation in assists (1,501), while Justine Wong-Orantes was second in the Big Ten in digs per set (4.57) and moved to No. 4 in school history in career digs.

Tamas’ Bring Instant Impact
• Chris Tamas is in his second season as a Husker assistant coach, while his wife, Jennifer (Joines) Tamas, is a volunteer assistant. The two came to NU in May from Cal Poly, where they spent two seasons in the same roles. Both Chris and Jen are former U.S. National Team captains. Chris was a first-team AVCA All-American in 2003 at Pacific, while Jen was the Big West Conference Player of the Year in 2003 at Pacific.
• Chris Tamas’ impact on the program was felt immediately, as the Huskers won the 2015 NCAA Championship in his first season on the bench. With Tamas guiding the Huskers’ block and defense, Amber Rolfzen was an AVCA second-team All-American and an All-Big Ten middle blocker. The Huskers posted the top opponent hitting percentage in the Big Ten (.167) and were second in blocks per set (2.94). Rolfzen’s 1.58 blocks per set ranked fourth in the nation and was the highest block total by a Husker since 2005.

Husker Fans Set Attendance Standard Once Again
• For the third straight season, the Huskers led the nation in attendance in 2015, this time with a new NCAA attendance record of 8,206. NU’s average was 1,301 more than runner-up Hawaii.
• In 2013, the Huskers led the nation in attendance (8,175) for the first time since 1992, ending Hawaii’s 21-year reign as the national leader.
• The Huskers repeated as attendance champions in 2014 with 8,083 fans per match, which included a school-record 8,585 fans at the Oct. 3 win against Penn State.
• Nebraska has ranked in the top three nationally in attendance every season since 1990 (26 straight seasons).
• The Huskers have sold out every regular-season match since 2001, a streak of 212 consecutive matches, the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s athletics.
• The Devaney Center has hosted the three largest regular-season crowds in NCAA history and seven of the 10 largest.

Former Huskers Shine at Olympics
• The U.S. Women’s Volleyball team had a distinct “Nebraska” feel at the Olympics this summer. Libero Kayla Banwarth and outside hitters Jordan Larson and Kelsey Robinson all started or played big minutes for Team USA, as they earned the bronze medal. The Huskers’ three representatives on the Olympic team were more than any other school. Additionally, former Husker National Player of the Year Sarah Pavan earned a fifth-place finish in beach volleyball for Canada.