Huskers Rout Rutgers

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 6 Nebraska volleyball team swept Rutgers on Sunday afternoon, 25-8, 25-11, 25-13 in front of a crowd of 8,135 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. 

The Huskers (22-4, 15-1 Big Ten) extended their win streak to nine matches, their longest stretch this season without a loss. With four matches remaining in the regular season, Nebraska remains tied with Penn State atop the Big Ten standings at 15-1. The next three of Nebraska's four remaining matches will be on the road, beginning at Ohio State on Friday. 

Nebraska hit .480 and held the Scarlet Knights (5-23, 0-16 Big Ten) to .092. Rutgers' 32 total points tied the fewest by a Husker opponent in the rally scoring era (2001-present). Over the last three matches, the Huskers have held their opponents to a combined .040 hitting percentage. 

Mikaela Foecke produced the most efficient match of her career with 12 kills and no errors on 15 attacks for an .800 hitting percentage. Foecke also served three aces to lead the Huskers to nine on the day. Annika Albrecht had eight kills, while Lauren Stivrins had seven kills. Briana Holman had five kills and five blocks. Freshman Sami Slaughter came off the bench late in the second set and posted a career-high four kills on four swings. 

The Huskers dominated in digs (38-22) and blocks (8-2). Kenzie Maloney and Sydney Townsend each had 11 digs. Kelly Hunter had 34 assists for the Big Red.

Yana Kamshilina had eight kills for Rutgers.

Set 1: The Huskers jumped out to a 10-2 lead with Albrecht posting three early kills, but Rutgers scored four in a row to cut it to 10-6. From that point, Nebraska used an 8-1 run to take control, 18-7. Albrecht produced three kills in that span. The Huskers won 25-8, finishing the set on a 15-2 run. NU outhit Rutgers .615 to .067. NU had 16 kills and no errors on 26 attacks. It marked the Huskers' first error-free set since Sept. 1 against Oral Roberts. 

Set 2: Nebraska gained separation with a 10-1 run to go up 18-7 with four different Huskers posting a kill, Maloney serving an ace, and Holman and Foecke combining for a block. An ace serve by Hunter and a block by Holman and Sweet moved the lead to 21-9. Holman added a couple of kills and the Huskers rolled to the 25-11 win on a kill by Slaughter.  

Set 3: Foecke had three kills and an ace to help the Huskers to a 7-4 lead. Townsend's serve caused Rutgers fits as the Huskers pulled ahead 17-9 with the senior from Lincoln notching two aces during a 7-0 run. Nebraska cruised to the sweep with a 25-13 win, as Slaughter terminated three more times down the stretch and freshman Anezka Szabo entered the match and tallied the final point.

Up Next: The Huskers hit the road for matches at Ohio State on Friday and at Maryland on Saturday.