Omaha, Neb. – The fourth-seeded Nebraska volleyball team used a strong finish to push their way past No. 9 Kansas on Thursday, punching their ticket to Saturday’s NCAA Championship match. Nebraska won the final seven rallies of the match to defeat the Jayhawks in front of 17,551 fans at the CenturyLink Center, the largest volleyball crowd in NCAA history.
The Huskers led for all but six rallies in the first two sets, taking a 2-0 lead into the locker room following a 25-20 victory in set one and a 25-21 win in set two. The Jayhawks used six blocks to take the third set, 25-20. In the decisive fourth set, Kansas pulled within 18-16 on the strength of a 4-0 run, only to see Nebraska win the final seven rallies to advance to their seventh NCAA final.
The Huskers (31-4) will face No. 3 Texas Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. The Longhorns defeated second-seeded Minnesota, 3-1, in Thursday’s first semifinal. Kansas ended the best season in school history with a 30-3 record. All three of the Jayhawks’ losses came to the two NCAA finalists.
Kadie Rolfzen led Nebraska with 14 kills on .343 hitting, and she added five digs and four blocks. Mikaela Foecke tallied 12 kills and Cecilia Hall had 10 kills and a match-high seven blocks. Justine Wong-Orantes totaled 17 digs, while Kelly Hunter dished out 47 assists for a Husker offense that had fewer kills than KU, but out-hit the Jayhawks, .207 to .159. Kansas’ Kelsie Payne led all attackers with 22 kills, and she hit a blistering .576.
Fans can watch the Huskers go for their fourth national title, as Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. final will be televised on ESPN2. The match will also air on the IMG College Husker Sports Network, with a free stream available on Huskers.com.
Set one: Strong serving – including a trio of aces, two from Kelly Hunter – helped Nebraska take a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. Kansas won the next two points and the teams traded sideouts for the next nine rallies before three consecutive points gave the Huskers a 22-18 lead and forced a KU timeout. Nebraska earned its first set point at 24-20 and took the set on Kansas’ fifth attack error. Nebraska hit .308 in the opening set with three aces. The Jayhawks hit .286 and committed four service errors. Kelsie Payne and Tayler Soucie each had five kills for KU, while Cecilia Hall had four kills on four swings for NU.
Set two: Set two featured two lead changes and four ties in the first 15 rallies before consecutive hitting errors helped Nebraska score three straight points and take an 11-7 lead. More strong serving helped the Huskers stretch the lead to 18-12, when Kansas called its second timeout. Nebraska spent its first timeout after the Jayhawks closed to within five at 23-18. A Kadie Rolfzen quickly gave the Huskers their first set point, but Kansas won the next three rallies to force a second Husker timeout at 24-21. Kadie Rolfzen again registered a kill following the timeout to give Nebraska a 2-0 lead. Rolfzen had five kills on eight error-free swings in the second set. The Huskers hit .294 in the second set and held Kansas to a .191 attack percentage, as the Jayhawks committed eight hitting errors in the set, including a pair of Nebraska blocks.
Set three: Kansas jumped out to a quick lead in set three before Nebraska won four straight rallies to take a 7-5 lead. The Jayhawks came back with three straight points to take a 13-11 advantage and Kansas led 15-13 at the media timeout. KU stretched its lead to three to force a Nebraska timeout at 19-16. An Anna Church ace forced a second Husker timeout after Kansas took its first four-point lead of the match, 22-18. Ainise Havili scored on a setter dump out of the break and Kansas earned its first set point at 24-20. KU closed out the set with a block on the next rally. The Jayhawks held Nebraska to .078 hitting in the third set while Payne and Janae Hall each had four kills in the set. Kadie Rolfzen had four kills for Nebraska, but the Huskers committed eight attack errors in the third set after totaling eight errors in the first two sets combined.
Set four: Nebraska scored three straight points to break an 8-all tie and take an 11-8 lead in set four. The teams then traded sideouts before a Jayhawk serving error and a Kelsey Fien kill put Nebraska on top 16-12, forcing Kansas to burn its second timeout. The Huskers stuffed the Jayhawks out of the break and Fien added another kill to stretch the lead to 18-12. Following Nebraska’s 5-1 run, KU won four straight rallies to pull within 18-16, but the Huskers won the final seven rallies of the match to punch their ticket to the NCAA final. The Huskers had five blocks in the third set to hold Kansas to a .000 attack percentage. Cecilia Hall had four stuffs and two kills in the set.