Minneapolis – Behind a gritty team effort, the 14th-ranked Nebraska volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit for an epic 3-2 (21-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-19, 15-7) comeback win at No. 25 Minnesota on Wednesday night.

The Huskers (12-6, 6-3 Big Ten) found themselves in a deep hole after dropping the first two sets and falling behind 16-13 in the third set. But just as they did at Minnesota in 2011, the Huskers roared back to win the match in five. Behind the arm of Kelsey Fien, the Huskers rallied to the 25-21 third-set victory, controlled the fourth set and ended the match on a dominating 8-0 run.

Kadie Rolfzen had 17 kills and 14 digs to lead the Huskers, while Fien had 14 kills over the last three sets off the bench. Cecilia Hall chipped in nine kills and seven blocks, and Amber Rolfzen had seven kills, seven blocks and a team-high 18 digs. Annika Albrecht had a career-high five kills. Mary Pollmiller had a season-best 54 assists.

Nebraska hit .244 for the match, but hit .714 in the fifth set with 12 kills on 14 attacks. Minnesota hit .198 for the match after starting out hitting .304 through the first two sets. The Huskers outblocked the Gophers 12-11 and outdug them 72-69. 

Nebraska held a 9-7 lead in the first set before the Gophers rallied with a 7-1 run to go up 14-10. Two kills by Hall kept the Huskers within four at 16-12, but three consecutive Gopher kills gave them a 19-12 lead. Nebraska put together a mini rally with kills by Hall and Kadie Rolfzen surrounding a Meghan Haggerty/Amber Rolfzen block to get within 19-15. A Pollmiller/Haggerty block cut it to 21-18, but two NU hitting errors put the Gophers up 23-18. Justine Wong-Orantes and Alexa Ethridge had rare back-to-back kills to get Nebraska within 23-20, but the Gophers closed out the 25-21 win. Nine hitting errors and three service errors hindered the Huskers’ chances of opening the match with a first-set win.

The Huskers held another early lead in set two at 6-5, but a 4-0 Gopher run erased that. Nebraska fought back to within 10-9 on a Hall kill and Pollmiller ace. But the Gophers built the lead back to 21-14 and finished off the 25-16 win. The Huskers reduced their hitting errors to five in the second set, but still had three more service errors for a total of six through two sets. 

Minnesota tallied another 4-0 run with the third set tied 8-8 to go up 12-8, but kills by Kelsey Fien and Kadie Rolfzen cut the lead in half, 12-10. After the Gophers pushed the lead to 16-13 on another Husker service error, Pollmiller and Haggerty blocked a Minnesota attack, and Fien struck again to get NU within 16-15. After a Gopher timeout, a pancake dig by Amber Rolfzen led to another Fien kill to tie the set. Paige Tapp regained the lead for the Gophers, but Fien continued to find the floor, tying it at 17-17. Hall and Fien teamed up for a block, and Minnesota’s net violation put the Huskers up 19-17. Fien continued her domination in the set with three straight kills to break a 19-19 tie and put NU up 22-19. The Huskers won the set, 25-21, on a block by Amber Rolfzen. Fien finished the frame with seven kills on 10 attacks, leading the Huskers to a much better .297 clip in the third set. After hitting .406 in set two, Minnesota was held to .140 in the third set.

Nebraska carried its momentum into the fourth set, building an 8-5 lead to force a Gopher timeout, as the Gophers became prone to errors. The Huskers went up 12-7 on a service ace by Pollmiller and 15-9 on Minnesota’s eighth of 11 attacking errors in the set. Nebraska went up 18-11 on a Kadie Rolfzen kill, and she later finished the set in favor of the Huskers, 25-19, with her 13th kill of the night.

In the final set, Kadie Rolfzen served an ace, and Fien produced for the Huskers again to put them up 7-5 after battling from behind once again. After Minnesota tied it, Haggerty gave the Huskers the 8-7 lead at the crossover with a swing from the right side. Haggerty’s kill began an 8-0 Husker run that ended the match. Hall had a kill at the net after Minnesota misplayed a serve, then Pollmiller and Hall teamed up for a stuff. Ethridge served an ace and Fien fooled the Gophers with a soft touch to the middle of the court for the 12-7 lead, forcing Minnesota’s second timeout of the set. Kadie Rolfzen then came out of the back row and swung down for a 13-7 lead. The Huskers completed the win with kills by Fien and Pollmiller.

The Huskers are on the road at No. 5 Wisconsin on Sunday for a 4 p.m. match on ESPN2.