Huskers Sweep Past Hawkeyes, 3-0

The No. 12 Nebraska volleyball team swept Iowa 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-21) Saturday afternoon at the Devaney Center, picking up its second straight conference win. The Huskers are now 8-3 (2-0 Big Ten) on the season, while the Hawkeyes drop to 2-10 (0-2).
 
Madi Kubik led the match with 15 kills and 14 digs alongside three blocks and a service ace for her first double-double of the season. Lindsay Krause joined her in double figures with 12 kills on .500 hitting.
 
Nicklin Hames had a match-high 40 assists with six digs and two aces.
 
Lexi Rodriguez chipped in 10 digs and an ace on the afternoon. Callie Schwarzenbach and Kayla Caffey matched Kubik with three blocks for the team lead, and Caffey added five kills.
 
Iowa was led by 13 kills from Courtney Buzzerio and 11 more from Addie VanderWeide. Hannah Clayton put up a match-high six blocks with five kills.
 
Nebraska outhit Iowa .267 to .216 and also had the advantage in digs (51-41), aces (5-2) and assists (47-38). Both teams finished with six blocks on the day.
 
Set 1
Kills by four different players and a pair of Caffey blocks spurred the Huskers to an 8-2 opening lead. A 5-0 run with two Schwarzenbach blocks, an Ally Batenhorst kill and a Hames service ace pushed it to 14-5. NU matched that as its largest lead when a Batenhorst kill extended it to 23-14, and a Schwarzenbach kill put away the set at 25-17. The Huskers hit .265 with the help of five kills on .556 hitting from Krause and held Iowa to .029 as a team.
 
Set 2
The Hawkeyes swung at a .533 clip (8-of-15 with no errors) to start and led 3-1 early with kills from Buzzerio and VanderWeide and an Amiya Jones ace. NU quickly rebounded as a 4-0 run put them ahead 6-4, and Iowa answered with a 5-1 spurt. The Huskers, however, got kills from Kubik and Batenhorst, a Hames ace and a Kubik/Schwarzenbach block to regain the lead at 13-12 and held at 15-14 advantage by the media timeout. NU held to its narrow lead, and Kubik and Krause both terminated to push it to 20-17.
 
Clayton singlehandedly put Iowa back in it, tying the set at 23-23 on a kill and a solo block to prompt a timeout. It stalled again at 24-24 before a Kubik kill and a tip from Hames gave NU the win at 26-24. The Huskers weathered .310 Hawkeye hitting in the game to take a two-set lead.
 
Set 3
Iowa again took an early edge at 5-2 and led until back-to-back kills by Krause and Kubik and a Caffey/Kubik stop locked it at 10-10. Two more kills between Krause and Kubik accompanied a Keonilei Akana ace for a 13-11 lead and a Hawkeye timeout. Kubik came through down the stretch, as three straight kills from the junior spotted Nebraska a 24-20 advantage. A service error sealed the set, 25-21, and the match sweep.
 
Noting Today's Match
-Nebraska now leads the all-time series with Iowa 34-0, including 21-0 in the John Cook era.
-The Huskers remain undefeated (18-0) against Iowa when playing in Lincoln.
-NU has swept three straight from the Hawkeyes and five of the last six meetings.
-Lindsay Krause has hit .500 in back-to-back Big Ten matches.
 
Up Next
Nebraska continues its three-match home stand with Michigan on Friday, Oct. 1. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at the Devaney Center, and the match will be televised on BTN and streamed on the FOX Sports app. John Baylor and Lauren Cook West will have the radio call on Huskers Radio Network.