The 13th-ranked Nebraska volleyball team returns home for four straight matches, beginning Wednesday against No. 12 Purdue at 6:30 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The match will be televised on BTN. The first 5,000 fans through the doors will receive a Husker fortune cookie, as the Huskers will be highlighting their summer trip to China and Japan at Wednesday’s match.
The Huskers are 14-7 overall and 8-4 in the Big Ten, putting them fifth in the Big Ten standings. A win would put the Huskers in a tie for fourth with the Boilermakers. NU is coming off sweeps at Rutgers and at Maryland last weekend. It marked the first back-to-back weekend road sweeps in Big Ten play since joining the league in 2011. John Cook is in his 15th season as head coach at Nebraska and is 427-55 leading the Huskers.
Purdue (19-5, 9-3 Big Ten) is in third place in the Big Ten standings. The Boilermakers fell at home to Wisconsin, 3-0, last week before sweeping Minnesota and now stand at 19-5 overall and 9-3 in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers are 9-2 away from home this season. Dave Shondell (Ball State, 1981) is in his 12th year as head coach at Purdue.
Media Information
Wednesday’s match against Purdue will air on BTN and stream live on BTN2GO.com. Fans can also listen to the action with John Baylor and Diane Mendenhall on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and The Wolf 93.3 FM in Omaha. Fans inside and outside the state of Nebraska will also be able to catch the live audio feed on Huskers.com for free. Live stats will be available at Huskers.com as well.
Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series with the Boilermakers, 12-7. Purdue beat the Huskers both times last year, however. The Boilermakers won 25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 25-20 in Lincoln on Oct. 18. Amber Rolfzen had 13 kills for the Huskers, while Kadie Rolfzen had 10. Purdue swept 26-24, 25-21, 25-16 on Nov. 22 in West Lafayette, Ind. Kadie Rolfzen had 12 kills in the match, while Amber Rolfzen had eight. Purdue is 3-2 against the Huskers since NU joined the Big Ten in 2011.
Up Next
The Huskers host Indiana on Saturday at 7 p.m. on NET. Following Wednesday’s match, the Huskers have seven remaining regular-season matches with four at home.
Nov. 8 Indiana Match Picked Up By NET
Saturday’s 7 p.m. match against Indiana has been picked up by NET. The match was not originally scheduled for any TV coverage, but BTN did not select the match for its wildcard pick, so NET was granted the rights to the match. It marks the 13th live regular-season appearance for the Huskers on TV this year.
Noting the Huskers
• Kadie Rolfzen leads the Huskers with 3.60 kills per set and ranks fifth in the Big Ten. The 2013 third-team AVCA All-American has 15 or more kills nine times this season. Rolfzen is also second on the team in digs with 2.64 per set.
• Kelsey Fien is third on the team in kills per set with 2.89. Over her last four matches, Fien is averaging 3.38 kills per set and hitting .340.
• Amber Rolfzen adds 2.18 kills per set with 1.86 digs per set and is second on the team in blocks with 58.
• Justine Wong-Orantes leads the Huskers in digs with 3.99 per set and ranks eighth in the Big Ten.
• Mary Pollmiller, the Huskers’ lone senior, has 775 set assists for 10.33 per set to rank fifth in the conference. She also adds a defensive presence at the net with 52 blocks to rank third on the team.
• The Huskers are fourth in the Big Ten in digs with 14.61 per set. The Huskers are 14-1 when outdigging their opponents and 0-4 when getting outdug.
• Nebraska ranks second in the Big Ten and 18th nationally with 2.79 blocks per set. Meghan Haggerty is third in the Big Ten with 1.26 blocks per set.
• The Huskers are 9-1 in matches played on Monday through Friday this season, while they are 5-6 in matches played on Saturday and Sunday.
• The Huskers are 230-0 when hitting .300 or better under John Cook.
• Nebraska is 375-16 when winning the first set under Cook.
• John Cook is 140-42 (.769) against ranked opponents at Nebraska. Just under one-third of Cook’s total victories at Nebraska (427) have come against ranked teams.
• Nebraska volleyball leads the nation with 212 consecutive sellouts, the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s athletics. NU owns a 194-18 record during the streak.
Scouting Purdue
Purdue (19-5, 9-3 Big Ten) has eight players, including four starters, back from its 2013 Elite Eight team, which finished 23-12 overall. The Boilermakers are third in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.270) and fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.173). They are fifth in blocks (2.51 per set). Annie Drews is the Big Ten kills leader with 354 and an average of 4.07 per set. Sam Epenesa adds 2.39 kills per set. Val Nichol is fourth in assists at 10.64 per set, and Kierra Jones is fifth in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.365).
Pollmiller Named B1G Co-Setter of the Week
Senior setter Mary Pollmiller was named Big Ten Co-Setter of the Week on Nov. 3. The award is the fifth career weekly Big Ten honor for Pollmiller and the first of this season for her or any Husker. Pollmiller led the Huskers to a pair of road sweeps at Rutgers and Maryland over the weekend. The Littleton, Colo., native averaged 11.67 assists per set and tallied seven kills, eight digs and two blocks. Pollmiller had 42 assists in the win against Rutgers, and she added 28 at Maryland with five kills on nine attacks for a .556 attacking percentage, helping the team hit .329 for the match. Pollmiller shared the honor with Wisconsin’s Lauren Carlini.
