SEATTLE, Wash. – The 14th-seeded Nebraska volleyball team’s run through the NCAA Tournament came to an end late Saturday night in Alaska Airlines Arena, as the Huskers fell to upset-minded BYU 3-0 (21-25, 20-25, 21-25) in the Seattle Regional Final.

The Huskers finished the season 23-10 and came up one match shy of the NCAA Semifinals for the third straight season. Nebraska has been in four regional finals since its last NCAA Semifinals appearance in 2008 but has been unable to advance each time.

After upsetting No. 3 Washington on Friday to snap the Huskies’ 34-match home win streak, the Huskers couldn’t muster the same performanceon Saturday to top the Cougars. 

BYU (29-4) entered the NCAA Tournament ranked 12th in the nation but was unseeded. The Cougars reeled off a second-round win over No. 11 Arizona and a Sweet 16 win over No. 6 Florida State on Friday before knocking off the Huskers on Saturday. BYU will take on No. 2 Texas in one NCAA Semifinal in Oklahoma City, Okla. next Thursday. The other semifinal pits top seed Stanford against fifth-seed Penn State.

Amber Rolfzen led the Huskers with 11 kills. Kadie Rolfzen had 10 kills and 15 digs for her fourth double-double of the NCAA Tournament. Kelsey Fien added nine kills. Senior setter Mary Pollmiller capped her Husker career with 38 assists for a career total of 5,230, which ranks fourth among current DI setters. Justine Wong-Orantes had 22 digs in a solid defensive effort. 

The Husker game plan of limiting BYU’s 6-7 hitter Jennifer Hamson worked. After posting 30 kills Friday vs. Florida State, Hamson was held to nine kills and .132 hitting by the Huskers. But the rest of her teammates stepped up, led by Alexa Gray’s 11 kills and .310 hitting. Tambre Nobles had 10 kills, and Amy Boswell added eight while hitting .438.

BYU showed why its the top blocking team in the nation, tallying 12 blocks to eight for the Huskers. NU had a 70-57 advantage in digs but committed four service errors and four reception errors to allow the Cougars to gain an edge.

Nebraska opened up an 11-9 lead early on in set one, but the Cougars used a 3-0 spurt to take a 12-11 lead. The teams engaged in a sideout battle before BYU took a 20-18 lead after Hamson’s first kill and a Husker hit off the antenna. After a Husker timeout, BYU’s Ciara Parker served an ace to make it 21-18 and Hamson killed again for a 22-18 lead, causing another Husker timeout. Kadie and Amber Rolfzen struck for back-to-back kills to cut it to 22-20 before BYU took a timeout. The Huskers then committed a service error and a reception error to fall down 24-20. The Cougars ended it at 25-21 on their fifth block of the set. BYU outhit NU .333 to .214.

Nebraska went up 5-3 in the second set on stuffs from Hall and Kadie Rolfzen and then Meghan Haggerty and Amber Rolfzen. But BYU went on a 5-0 run to take an 8-5 lead. Alohi Robins-Hardy started it with a set kill and a joust win. Two Husker attacking errors and a Boswell kill gave the Cougars the three-point edge. A Cecilia Hall kill and Pollmiller ace trimmed the deficit to 10-9. NU then fell behind 14-10 before stringing together a 4-0 run by picking up its defense. Haggerty and Kadie Rolfzen combined for a block to even the set after Wong-Orantes and Annika Albrecht produced key digs. The Huskers took a 17-16 lead after BYU hit wide. But the Huskers broke down defensively, committing passing and reception errors to help BYU to a 22-18 lead. Hamson had two kills down the stretch to help BYU finish the 25-20 win.

Melanie Keil provided a spark off the bench in set three with two kills to tie it 8-8 before Hall and Fien combined for a block for a 9-8 Husker lead. The Huskers led 11-10, but BYU rallied for a 14-11 lead a kill by Hamson and kill and block by Boswell. The Cougars began to pull away, going up 19-14 on a Husker service error, attack error and Hamson kill. The Huskers continued to fight, as a Fien kill and Pollmiller ace cut it to 20-17 and forced a BYU timeout. NU thought it had cut the lead to one when Hamson’s blast went long, but it was ruled to have tipped off a Husker’s fingers and instead made the score 21-18. The Cougars went up 23-19 after the Huskers hit long and they ended the sweep with a 25-21 win.

All-Tournament Team
Nicole Walch, Florida State
Krista Vansant, Washington
Kadie Rolfzen, Nebraska
Mary Pollmiller, Nebraska
Amy Boswell, BYU
Alexa Gray, BYU
Jennifer Hamson, BYU (Most Outstanding Player)