Huskers Begin Second Half of B1G Schedule

The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team begins the second half of its Big Ten schedule with a pair of matches this weekend at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Nebraska will host No. 24 Illinois on Friday at 6 p.m. The match will be televised on BTN and streamed at BTN2GO.com. On Saturday, Nebraska will host Northwestern at 7 p.m. That match will be televised on NET and streamed at BTN2GO.com as well. Both matches will air on Husker Sports Network affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and 105.9 FM in Omaha.

This weekend’s matches complete a four-match home stretch, as the Huskers are coming off a pair of top-five wins last weekend at the Devaney Center. Nebraska beat No. 4 Wisconsin, 3-0, last Friday, before taking a thrilling 3-2 win against No. 3 Minnesota on Sunday. The wins put the Huskers at 9-1 in the Big Ten at the halfway point, which ties them with Penn State for first in the conference standings. Wisconsin (8-2) sits right behind the leaders, and three teams have three losses including Friday’s opponent, Illinois.

Series History
• Nebraska is 22-7-1 all-time against Illinois. The Huskers have swept three straight matches against the Fighting Illini, including 25-18, 25-22, 25-21 in Champaign on Sept. 28. NU is 7-2 against Illinois since joining the Big Ten and is 3-1 in matches played in Lincoln. Illinois’ last win against the Huskers was Nov. 26, 2014, 3-2.
• Nebraska is 9-1 all-time against Northwestern and 5-1 in the Big Ten era. After dropping the first-ever meeting between the teams as conference foes in 2011, Nebraska has won five straight in the series, the last two coming in sweeps. Northwestern has never beaten the Huskers in five visits to Lincoln.

Coaches
• Nebraska head coach John Cook is in his 17th season at Nebraska and 24th overall season as a head coach. Cook is 486-63 at NU and 647-136 overall.
• Kevin Hambly is 175-79 in his eighth season as head coach at Illinois.
• Shane Davis is in his first season as head coach at Northwestern and has a record of 8-14 entering Friday’s match at Iowa. Davis previously spent 12 seasons as head coach of the men’s team at Loyola Chicago, where he compiled a 265-88 record and led the Ramblers to back-to-back NCAA titles in the spring of 2014 and 2015.

About the Huskers
• Nebraska enters the weekend with an 18-1 overall record and 9-1 mark in Big Ten play, putting the Huskers in a tie with Penn State for first place in the Big Ten standings.
• The Huskers are ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, where they spent the first six weeks of the season before falling from the top spot for two weeks.
• The Huskers completed a rugged first half of the Big Ten schedule with a 9-1 record. Eight of the Huskers’ 10 matches were against teams ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll, tied with Ohio State and Rutgers for the most ranked foes faced through 10 matches.
• Four of the Huskers’ five Big Ten road matches were against ranked teams, and the Huskers were a perfect 5-0 on the road to extend their road winning streak to 13 matches, the longest streak since 2003-05 (26 straight).
• Nebraska’s defense in conference play has been stellar. The Huskers lead all Big Ten teams with 3.08 blocks per set, a .165 opponent hitting percentage and are second in digs per set at 14.61 in conference matches.
• For the season, Nebraska is first in the Big Ten in blocks per set (2.91) and kills per set (14.35). The Huskers rank ninth and 12th, respectively, in the nation in those categories.
• In all matches played, the Huskers are second in the Big Ten and third nationally with a .306 hitting percentage. NU is second in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation with a .149 opponent hitting percentage.
• 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.

Up Next
• The Huskers visit No. 10 Penn State next Friday for a 7 p.m. (CT) match. Nebraska will also face Rutgers next Saturday at 6 p.m. (CT).

Scouting Illinois
• Illinois (14-7, 7-3 Big Ten) is coming off a 3-2 loss at home to Purdue last Saturday that snapped a three-match winning streak. Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten and 11th nationally with 2.88 blocks per set. The Fighting Illini rank fourth in the conference in opponent hitting percentage at .175. Ali Bastianelli leads the nation in blocking with 1.78 blocks per set. Brandi Donnelly ranks second in the Big Ten in digs per set at 4.42, and Jacqueline Quade is the team’s top attacker at 2.97 kills per set.

Scouting Northwestern
• Northwestern (8-14, 1-9 Big Ten) picked up its only Big Ten win last Friday at home against Purdue, 3-1. The Wildcats have been swept in eight of their nine Big Ten losses. The Wildcats are hitting .197 on the season and allowing opponents to hit .217. Symone Abbott leads the team with 3.99 kills per set, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten. Her 11.66 attacks per set leads all Big Ten players.

Huskers Ranked No. 1 in AVCA Coaches Poll
• Nebraska is the unanimous No. 1 in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll, its second straight week holding 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 94 all-time polls, the most in NCAA history.
• The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 451 times, which is the most in NCAA history.
• Nebraska has been ranked in the top 10 in the last 27 polls dating back to December of 2014.
• Nebraska has appeared in all 504 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.

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 3.26 kills per set and adds 2.46 digs per set. Her double-double (21 kills, 11 digs) at Ohio State was the 44th of her career. She also has served 16 aces and is hitting a career-best .311 this season.
• An NCAA Senior CLASS Award candidate, Rolfzen ranks seventh in school history with 1,406 career kills and is seventh in career digs with 1,113. She joins Jordan Larson as the only Huskers to rank in the top seven all-time in career kills and digs.
• Rolfzen was named Big Ten Player of the Week on October 17 after posting 21 kills and 11 digs at Ohio State and nine kills and eight digs at Maryland.
• Against New Mexico on September 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 2.09 kills per set and a team-high 1.43 blocks per set. Rolfzen ranks third in the Big Ten and 17th nationally in blocks per set. In conference matches only, she is second in the Big Ten with 1.58 blocks per set.
• Rolfzen picked up a plethora of awards the week following her standout performances vs. Wisconsin and Minnesota on October 21 and 23, respectively. Rolfzen had a career-high 16 kills in both of those matches and hit .560 with nine total blocks. She was named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week, espnW National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week.
• Rolfzen ranks ninth in school history on NU’s career block assists chart with 438.
• 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 4.06 digs per set this season and broke the school record for digs in a single match with 35 against Minnesota on October 23. The previous record was 34 by Maria Hedbeck in 1993.
• Wong-Orantes ranks second in school history with 1,672 career digs. She is chasing Kayla Banwarth’s NU career record of 1,706, needing just 35 more to break the record set by Banwarth from 2007-2010.
• 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 11.22 assists and has served a team-best 20 aces. Hunter ranks third in the Big Ten and 16th nationally in assists per set.
• Hunter has been named Big Ten Setter of the Week three times this season, giving her five career awards in her 1.5 seasons as the Huskers’ starting setter.
• 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 2.74 kills per set and is hitting at a .301 clip, significantly outpacing her .277 average as a freshman.
• 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 2.34 kills and 1.23 blocks per set. She is hitting .343 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 2.43 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.