Huskers Square Off With No. 11 Penn State, Rutgers

The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team heads to the East Coast this weekend for matches at No. 11 Penn State and at Rutgers.

The Huskers will battle the Nittany Lions on Friday at Rec Hall in University Park, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. (CT) on BTN and BTN2GO.com. On Saturday, Nebraska will face Rutgers at College Avenue Gym in New Brunswick, New Jersey at 6 p.m. (CT). That match will be streamed online with a BTN Plus subscription.

Both matches this weekend can be heard on Husker Sports Network affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and 105.9 FM in Omaha.

Series History
• Nebraska holds a 16-10 lead in the series with Penn State. The Huskers won both meetings last year, which included a 3-2 comeback win at Rec Hall on October 2, 2015. In that match, the Huskers rallied from down 2-0 to upset the No. 1 Nittany Lions, as Mikaela Foecke pounded 22 kills. The Huskers swept the rematch in Lincoln on November 28. Nebraska has won three of the last four meetings.
• Nebraska is 2-1 all-time against Rutgers with both wins coming in the Big Ten era for both teams. The Huskers will be making just their second trip to Piscataway. The only other visit was a 25-23, 25-21, 25-18 sweep on Oct. 31, 2014. Last year, Nebraska swept the Scarlet Knights in Lincoln.

Coaches
• Nebraska head coach John Cook is in his 17th season at Nebraska and 24th overall season as a head coach. Cook is 488-63 at NU and 649-136 overall.
• Russ Rose is 1,206-192 in his 38th season as head coach at Penn State.
• CJ Werneke is 71-193 in his ninth season as head coach at Rutgers. He is 182-279 overall in his 15th season as a head coach.

About the Huskers
• Nebraska enters the weekend with a 20-1 overall record and 11-1 mark in Big Ten play. The Huskers are one match ahead of Wisconsin in the Big Ten standings entering the week.
• 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. In total, Nebraska has spent nine weeks at No. 1 this season.
• The first half of Nebraska’s conference schedule was arguably the toughest of any Big Ten team. NU played eight ranked opponents in its first 10 matches - tied for most in the conference - and in total played nine ranked teams in its first 11 matches. The Huskers have eight matches remaining with four ranked foes on the docket.
• The Huskers are a perfect 6-0 in road matches this season including a 4-0 mark against Big Ten teams. Four of the Huskers’ five Big Ten road matches have been against ranked teams. The Huskers have won 13 straight road matches, the longest streak since 2003-05 (26 straight).
• Nebraska leads the Big Ten and ranks seventh nationally with a .149 opponent hitting percentage in all matches played.
• In conference play, the Huskers lead all Big Ten teams with 2.95 blocks per set and a .163 opponent hitting percentage. The Huskers are second in digs per set with 14.62 in conference matches.
• For the season, Nebraska is first in the Big Ten in kills per set (14.34) and third in blocks per set (2.85). The Huskers rank 12th and 16th, respectively, in the nation in those categories.
• In all matches played, the Huskers are second in the Big Ten and fifth nationally with a .300 hitting percentage.
• Nebraska’s .886 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 host Iowa on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. That match will air on NET-2. Nebraska then visits Indiana on Saturday, Nov. 12 for a 6 p.m. match.

Scouting Penn State
• Penn State (17-6, 9-3 Big Ten) has lost three straight matches, but all have been on the road against ranked opponents (Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota). The Nittany Lions are 10-1 at home this season and rank first in the Big Ten and third nationally with a .304 hitting percentage. They are eighth in the nation in opponent hitting percentage (.149). Simone Lee leads the Big Ten in kills with 4.28 per set. Haleigh Washington averages 1.13 blocks per set and is hitting .446 on the season, which ranks third nationally.

Scouting Rutgers
• Rutgers has lost 20 straight matches after starting the season 4-1. The Scarlet Knights rank seventh in the Big Ten in blocks per set (2.43). Meme Fletcher leads the team with 2.58 kills per set. Mikaela Matthews averages 1.20 blocks per set, and Jasmine Stackhouse averages 1.16.

Huskers Ranked No. 1 in AVCA Coaches Poll
• Nebraska is the unanimous No. 1 in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll, its third 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 95 all-time polls, the most in NCAA history.
• The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 452 times, which is the most in NCAA history.
• Nebraska has been ranked in the top 10 in the last 28 polls dating back to December of 2014.
• Nebraska has appeared in all 505 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 3.28 kills per set and adds 2.44 digs per set. She has 44 career double-doubles, has served a career-best 16 aces this season and is hitting a career-best .315.
• An NCAA Senior CLASS Award candidate, Rolfzen ranks seventh in school history with 1,427 career kills and is seventh in career digs with 1,126. 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 1.99 kills per set and a team-high 1.32 blocks per set. Rolfzen ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 33rd nationally in 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 439.
• 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 4.16 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 1,691 career digs. She is chasing Kayla Banwarth’s NU career record of 1,706, needing just 16 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 11.20 assists and has served a team-best 21 aces. Hunter ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 19th 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 2.75 kills per set and is hitting at a .305 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 2.39 kills and 1.27 blocks per set. She is hitting .346 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 2.47 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.