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Nebraska Man Sentenced in Championship Ring Theft

Dallas Jordan
Dallas Jordan

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man who pleaded no contest to stealing a Nebraska volleyball coach’s championship rings has been sentenced to 18 months to 3 years in prison.

29-year-old Dallas Jordan was sentenced Tuesday. He pleaded no contest in August to theft of University of Nebraska-Lincoln volleyball coach John Cook’s rings.

Police say Jordan in March took at least four Big 12 Championship rings and a national championship ring from an unlocked display case at the Devaney Sports Center. They say he sold two of the rings for $860 to an undercover officer in late March. Those are the only rings that have been recovered.

Jordan will receive credit for 165 days served at the Lancaster County Jail.

Huskers Sweep Colonels for Unbeaten Weekend

Nebraska-Volleyball-HuskersDayton, Ohio – The 12th-ranked Nebraska volleyball team finished an unbeaten weekend at the Flyer-Raider Invitational with a 3-0 sweep (25-12, 25-23, 25-7) over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at the Frericks Center.

The Big Red went 3-0 at the tournament to improve to 3-2 on the season. In their final match, the Huskers swept aside a 6-1 Eastern Kentucky team that had won five matches in a row and was also unbeaten at the tournament with sweeps of Wright State and IPFW.

Kelsey Fien led the Huskers with 14 kills, while Kadie Rolfzen had 11 kills and hit a career-best .667. Mary Pollmiller had four kills, 29 assists, seven digs and three blocks, while Amber Rolfzen tallied five kills and five digs. Annika Albrecht served up three aces in a row in the third set to blow it open. Melanie Keil had three kills and five blocks.

The Huskers hit .398 as a team, while Eastern Kentucky hit just .053. The Huskers outblocked the Colonels 8-2 and outdug them 42-29. NU’s 38 assists also bested EKU’s 22. Justine Wong-Orantes added seven assists for the Big Red.

Nebraska cruised in set one to a 25-12 victory. The Huskers broke a 5-5 tie with a 20-7 outburst to wrap up the set.  Kadie Rolfzen had five kills on six attacks in the opening frame, and Fien had four as the duo combined for nine of NU’s 11 kills in the set. Pollmiller sparked NU with three blocks and eight assists. The Huskers hit .385 as a team and held EKU to a .000 hitting percentage.

The second set was much more competitive, although it didn’t look like it would be at the beginning. NU jumped in front 5-0 with a kill and ace from Pollmiller. After the Huskers took a 9-2 lead, Eastern Kentucky inched back into the set with four straight points when it was 15-10 to pull within 15-14. But Amber Rolfzen gave the Huskers a two-point cushion with a kill, and back-to-back EKU errors gave NU an 18-15 advantage. Later in the set, Fien notched back-to-back kills for a 23-18 Husker lead. But the Huskers weren’t out of danger just yet, as the Colonels scored consecutive points to cut it to 23-20 and force a Husker timeout. Keil connected down the right side out of the timeout to force set point, but the Huskers made it interesting with two mental errors that cut their lead to one at 24-23. However, Fien and Keil thwarted an EKU attack at the middle of the net to finish the set at 25-23.

A flurry of three aces by Albrecht and three straight kills by Kadie Rolfzen boosted the Huskers to a 13-1 start to set three, and they never let up from there. NU rolled to a 25-7 win in the set, its largest margin of victory this season. The Huskers held two opponents to single-digit points in 25-point sets twice on Saturday after doing so three times all of last year.

The Huskers are back in action at the Devaney Center next Friday when they host the Ameritas Players Challenge. NU will face Denver on Friday at 7 p.m. and Colgate on Saturday at 7 p.m. The tournament begins with Akron vs. Colgate on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Other matches on Saturday are Colgate vs. Denver at 11 a.m. and Akron vs. Denver at 4:30 p.m.

Lady Bulldogs Pick Up Pair of Wins over Ranked Teams

north-platte BulldogsThe North Platte Lady Bulldogs volleyball team rose early Saturday morning and made the trip to Lincoln Southwest High School and came away with two upset victories over Lincoln North Star and Lincoln Southwest.

The ninth-ranked Lady Dawgs drew No. 8 North Star in the first match of the quad. North Platte jumped out to an early lead against the Navigators. Led by senior Kaitlynn Harvey’s five first-set kills North Platte won the first set 25-19. Star juniors Olivia Nicholson and Allison Kuenle took over in the second set leading the Lady Dawgs to a 25-16 win and taking the best-of-three match in straight sets. Nicholson finished with eight kills and four aces. Kuenle had seven kills, including six in the second set. She also added two aces while serving.

North Star ended North Platte’s season in 2013 with a 3-1 win in the district finals. Harvey enjoyed getting a little revenge on the Navigators.

“It was awesome,” Harvey said.

Coach Laura Miller echoed those statements.

“I was kind of like that pit [of losing last year] is gone,” Miller said. “That was pretty awesome.”

North Platte played No. 4 Lincoln Southwest in the second match of the day. The Lady Dawgs once again took the first set with a 25-22 win over the Silver Hawks. Nicholson and Kuenle led the way once again with seven kills each in the set. North Platte jumped out to a three point lead in the second set, but Lincoln Southwest came storming back and won the set 25-18. The Dawgs very easily could have hung their heads and accepted a loss to the fourth-ranked team, but instead they displayed great confidence and didn’t back down as they dominated the third set 25-16 for the 2-1 match win. Miller said there is a reason for the resilience her team showed.

“They’ve all gained a lot of confidence from last season,” Miller said. “I think we just started off at a higher level [this year] than we normally do so our confidence level is definitely there and that’s exciting.”

Nicholson finished the match with 22 kills, Kuenle followed with 13 kills, including the exclamation point, a resounding blast from the left side to finish it. Junior setter Alex Neff had three aces in the match and helped lead a stout North Platte defense.

North Platte showed great hustle in both matches and gave everything they had on every ball. Harvey said that’s a great way to play.

“It was really fun today,” she said. “I’m really glad we played well.”

Miller said the hustle displayed by North Platte was key to getting the two wins.

“With that kind of effort we kind of wear the other team down a little bit,” she said. “They’re kind of like ‘what do we got to do to get the ball on the ground’ and they finally just give up or make a mistake.”

With the two wins North Platte improves to 4-0 on the season, including wins over three ranked teams, No. 8 Lincoln North Star, No. 4 Lincoln Southwest and C1 No. 3 Ogallala. Miller said the other teams in the state have noticed the Bulldogs.

“We will definitely have a target on our back,” Miller said. “I’m going to welcome that and I think the kids will too.”

The Lady Bulldogs next game is on Thursday, September 11 at Grand Island Northwest. The Vikings are ranked fourth in Class B. First serve of the varsity match is scheduled for 7:00 PM and the game can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 with the pregame show starting at approximately 6:45.

Huskers Get Past Bakersfield

Nebraska-Volleyball-HuskersDayton, Ohio – The No. 12 Nebraska volleyball team beat Bakersfield 3-1 (25-16, 25-8, 22-25, 25-19) in the first of two matches on Saturday at the Flyer-Raider Invitational at the Frericks Center.

Kelsey Fien followed up her 12-kill performance on Friday with a career-high 17 kills against Bakersfield. Kadie Rolfzen had a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs. Melanie Keil set a career high with eight kills on 12 attacks for a career-best .667 hitting percentage. Meghan Haggerty came up big at the net for the Huskers with six kills and nine blocks. Mary Pollmiller finished with 46 assists, and Justine Wong-Orantes had 15 digs to match her season best.

The Huskers improved to 2-2 overall and 2-0 at the tournament. Bakersfield fell to 2-4 overall. Molly O’Hagan led the Roadrunners with 11 kills.

NU totaled a season-high 14 blocks to just four for Bakersfield. The Huskers had a 60-51 advantage in digs but committed seven service errors to CSUB’s four.

Similar to Friday, the Huskers got off to a slow start. Bakersfield went up 7-5 early in the first set courtesy of four early errors by NU. But the Huskers settled in and went up 10-9 on a swing by Fien. That started a run where the Huskers took eight of nine rallies, keyed by two Kadie Rolfzen kills. Bakersfield got no closer than five the rest of the set, as the Huskers pulled away to the 25-16 win.

In set two, NU bolted out to a 4-1 lead and never looked back. The Huskers strung together 10 straight points to go up 17-4 with Kadie Rolfzen serving up three consecutive aces to break the backs of the Roadrunners. Redshirt freshman Kira Larson recorded her first career kill to end the set at 25-8. The Huskers’ margin of victory equaled their largest set victory since a 25-4 third-set win over Louisiana-Monroe in the season opener last season.

But Bakersfield came back in set three and took leads of 9-5 and 15-11. NU rallied to tie it at 15-15 with two kills coming from Kadie Rolfzen. The Huskers then took an 18-16 lead, but Bakersfield fought back with a 5-0 run to go up 21-18. The Huskers didn’t help themselves with a service error and two attacking errors during the run. NU got it back to within 21-20 on back-to-back kills by Fien and Kadie Rolfzen, but Bakersfield answered with three points to push the lead to 24-20. Back-to-back Husker points were too little too late, though, as CSUB finished a 25-22 win on a kill by Sydney Haynes.

CSUB carried its momentum into the fourth set, taking an 11-7 lead to force a Husker timeout. The Roadrunners maintained the four-point lead at 14-10, but the Huskers put together a 5-0 run to go up 15-14, aided by two Kadie Rolfzen kills and two double-stuff blocks from Haggerty combined with Amber Rolfzen and Kadie Rolfzen. With the set tied at 18-18, the Huskers finally gained some separation with a double-stuff block by Cecilia Hall and Pollmiller and a kill by Hall to the vacant back row for a 20-18 lead. The Roadrunners made it 20-19 following a timeout, but Fien blasted to the floor for a 21-19 Husker lead. Hall and Fien finished off the match with back-to-back kills.

The Huskers finish the tournament against Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m. (CT).

Huskers Sweep Dayton for First Win of Season

Nebraska-Volleyball-HuskersDayton, Ohio – The No. 12 Nebraska volleyball team swept host Dayton 3-0 (29-27, 25-14, 25-23) in its opening match at the Flyer-Raider Invitational on Friday night at the Frericks Center.

Kadie Rolfzen got untracked for the Huskers, posting a match-high 15 kills after totaling six through the first two matches of the season. Junior Kelsey Fien added 12 kills of her own, one off her career high, and the duo combined to hit .373 on the night.

The Huskers improved to 1-2 on the young season heading into matches tomorrow against Bakersfield and Easten Kentucky. Dayton fell to 2-2. Alaina Turner and Jill Loiars led the Flyers with 11 kills each.

Coming off an outing with just one kill against Stanford last Sunday, Kadie Rolfzen showed her All-American form with 15 kills on 28 swings for a .429 hitting percentage. She also had three blocks and eight digs on the night. Rolfzen’s 15 kills matched the most she’s had since 20 against Michigan on Nov. 16 last season.

Fien came off the bench and added a huge spark for the second straight match. After leading NU with nine kills last time out against Stanford, the junior outside hitter finished one kill shy of her career-high 13, which she set at Auburn last season.

Senior setter Mary Pollmiller had 35 assists and a season-high 11 digs to pace the Huskers. Justine Wong-Orantes added 10 digs. The Huskers had eight total blocks with Meghan Haggerty leading the way with a career-best four.

Dayton quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, but the Huskers fought back with three straight points aided by a Kadie Rolfzen kill. The Huskers tied the set for the first time at 7-7 on an errant set by the Flyers. NU took its first lead at 11-10 on a wide hit by the Flyers. The Huskers went up by two at 14-12 and again at 16-14, but allowed Dayton to tie the set each time. Three straight kills by Kadie Rolfzen gave the Big Red a 20-17 lead, but Dayton scored five straight to go up 22-20. However, following a timeout the Huskers gathered themselves and back-to-back kills by Fien evened things up at 22-22. After Dayton briefly went ahead 23-22, Fien struck again and a Dayton attacking error gave NU its first set point at 24-23. The teams traded rallies to 28-27 before Fien finished off the set with a swing down the line on the left side for the 29-27 Husker win.

Kadie Rolfzen had six kills in the first set alone, matching her total for last weekend’s matches. Her twin, Amber Rolfzen, had three kills of her own and an ace. Fien added four kills, all coming after the Huskers trailed 22-20.

In set two, the Huskers wasted no time in taking control. Fien blasted three kills to give NU a 3-1 lead and Amber Rolfzen added a kill and Annika Albrecht recorded her second ace of the match for a 5-1 Husker advantage.The closest Dayton would get the rest of the way was 6-3, but the Huskers put an end to that with three straight points on back-to-back kills by Kadie Rolfzen and a Dayton attacking error to go up 9-3. The Huskers never let their foot off the gas the rest of the set and built the advantage to 11 by the end of the set for a 25-14 win.

In the second set, Fien had five kills, while Kadie Rolfzen had four and Amber Rolfzen had three. Pollmiller posted two kills on dumps and added 13 assists. The Huskers posted 14 digs in the set and they came from seven different Huskers.

The Huskers picked up where they left off to begin set three, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. But trailing 7-2, Dayton won five of six points to claw within 8-7. Kadie Rolfzen hammered down the line to put NU up 9-7, but the Flyers came all the way back to take an 11-10 lead on a Big Red attacking error. With the set tied at 12-12, Albrecht served up her third ace of the night for a 13-12 lead, and an attacking error by Dayton put NU up two, 14-12. Dayton hung around within 16-15, but Haggerty sent one to the floor, and Justine Wong-Orantes produced a one-handed dig that led to a double-stuff block from Haggerty and Pollmiller to force a Dayton timeout with the Huskers ahead 18-15. Dayton battled back from a 24-20 deficit to make it 24-22 and force a Husker timeout, but Kadie Rolfzen fittingly ended the match with her 15th kill of the night.

The Huskers finish play at the Flyer-Raider Invitational with back-to-back games on Saturday. At 10 a.m. (CT) the Huskers will take the court with Bakersfield, which fell to IPFW 3-0 earlier on Friday. Then at 2 p.m. (CT) NU squares off against Eastern Kentucky, which swept Wright State in its tournament opener on Friday to move to 5-1 on the season.

No. 15 NPCC Lady Knights Drop Two

NPCC-Knights-LogoNorth Platte – The No. 15 North Platte Community College Lady Knights volleyball team dropped two games this week. On Tuesday the Lady Knights traveled to Hastings where they were defeated by the Hastings College JV in four sets 20-25, 15-25, 25-14, 17-25. North Platte then hosted the No. 16 (DI) Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen at the ribbon cutting of the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium re-model on Thursday. The Lady Knights fell in straight sets to the Plainswomen 19-25, 20-25, 22-25.,

Against Hastings College JV the Knights fell in four sets. Sophomore Samantha Kennedy led the way with 12 kills and three blocks as she was the only Lady Knight in double-figures. Freshman Valerie Most was second with six kills. Joli Hopping was the lone Lady Knight with more than one assist as she recorded 13. Erica Goodwin and Aryn Mesinger both were in double-figures in digs at 12 and 10 respectively.

In their first home game since the opening weekend of the Subway Invite, North Platte was defeated in straight sets by a team they defeated in four sets at the Subway Invite. Kennedy again led the Knights in kills with nine, while sophomores Taylor King and Samantha Byrn each chipped in five. Hopping recorded 11 assists on the evening while freshman Gabrielle Nickel recorded nine. Goodwin and Mesinger were again in double-figures with 19 and 13 digs.

The Lady Knights return to action next week as they host rival McCook Community College (3-7) at 7 p.m. at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium before taking to the road for the Pizza Hut Invitational in Sterling, Colo. at Northeastern Junior College.,

Huskers Hit the Road for Flyer-Raider Invitational

Nebraska-Volleyball-HuskersThe Huskers (0-2) are looking to bounce back from home losses to two top-15 opponents last weekend in the AVCA Showcase. NU opened the season on Friday at the Devaney Center against No. 13 Florida State and lost 3-1 after winning the opening set. The Huskers then hosted No. 3 Stanford on Sunday and dropped the match 3-0.

Friday’s match marks the second season in a row the Huskers will have faced Dayton. NU swept the Flyers 25-20, 25-21, 25-13 at the Ameritas Players Challenge at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sept. 13, 2013. In that match Amber Rolfzen had 10 kills and 13 digs, while Mary Pollmiller dished out 34 assists. Nebraska held Dayton to a .010 hitting percentage. The Huskers will be meeting Bakersfield and Eastern Kentucky for the first time in school history.

Fans can listen to all the action with John Baylor and Lindsay Peterson on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and The Wolf 93.3 FM in Omaha. Fans outside the state will also be able to catch the live audio feed on Huskers.com. Friday’s match against Dayton will have a free live video stream link available at Huskers.com.Saturday’s matches will be audio only.

Nebraska returns all but one starter from last year’s team, which finished with a 26-7 record and a No. 7 national ranking after a second consecutive trip to an NCAA Regional Final. The one loss is a big one, as outside hitter Kelsey Robinson was the Big Ten Player of the Year, a first-team AVCA All-American and a finalist for the Honda Award. While Robinson’s production will be missed, the Huskers still return the vast majority of their production from a season ago. Nebraska returns 96 percent of its assists from 2013, 73 percent of its blocks, 71 percent of its digs and 67 percent of its kills.

The Huskers also bring back 2013 third-team All-American Kadie Rolfzen, along with honorable-mention All-Americans Mary Pollmiller and Meghan Haggerty. Pollmiller is the lone senior on a 16-player Nebraska roster that features 11 freshmen and sophomores. NU’s one senior ties for the fewest in school history, while the 11 underclassmen tie for the most. Nebraska is also the only preseason ranked team with fewer than two seniors. As the lone senior, Pollmiller is one of three Husker captains for the 2014 season, along with junior outside hitter Alicia Ostrander and sophomore libero Justine Wong-Orantes.

Scouting the Dayton Flyers
Dayton enters the weekend with a 2-1 record after topping Bowling Green 3-1 and Middle Tennessee 3-0 at the Bowling Green Tournament on opening weekend. The Flyers’ lone loss came to Pittsburgh 3-0.

Dayton posted a 16-13 overall record last season and finished fifth place in the Atlantic 10 with an 8-6 record. Dayton has three starters and its libero back in 2014. Junior Jill Loiars is the top returning hitter, recording 258 kills in 2013 to rank second on the team. Junior setter Jenna Jendryk recorded 978 assists last season, and junior libero Janna Krafka led the team with 475 digs.

The Flyers have strung together 19 straight winning seasons and have appeared in the NCAA Tournament nine times, including six straight from 2007-12. Last season was the first in which the Flyers failed to reach the NCAA Tournament since 2006.

The Flyers are led by Tim Horsmon, who returns to the helm at Dayton this season after serving as head coach there from 2003-07. Horsmon led the Flyers to a 128-43 record in his five seasons before becoming the head coach at Maryland. Horsmon went 79-114 as the head coach at Maryland from 2008-13 and left last December to return to Dayton. While at Dayton from 2003-07, Horsmon led the Flyers to four NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the second round twice and finishing 33-2 overall in his final season in 2007. Overall, Horsmon has 15 years of Division I head coaching experience and is 306-208 overall.

Scouting the Bakersfield Roadrunners
Bakersfield is off to a 2-1 start with sweeps over Mississippi State and Louisiana-Monroe and a 3-0 loss to Sam Houston State at the Sam Houston State Tournament last weekend. The Roadunners will play four matches at the Flyer-Raider Invitational this weekend against IPFW, Bowling Green, NU and Dayton.

Last year, the Roadrunners finished 21-12 overall and 12-4 in the Western Athletic Conference. Bakersfield reached the finals of the WAC Tournament. The Roadrunners must replace a pair of first-team all-conference selections and will look to 2013 second-team all-conference selections Molly O’Hagan and Mariah Alvidrez to do so. O’Hagan, a senior middle blocker, led Bakersfield in 2013 with 94 blocks and was second on the team in hitting (.327) and kills (356). Alvidrez, a senior libero, recorded the fourth-most digs in a season by a Roadrunner (609). Bakersfield returns four starters in all, including outside hitters Danika Youngblood and Kelsee Sawyer.

Giovana Melo is in her first year as head coach, replacing Jolene Shepardson, who took the head coaching job at San Jose State. Melo has Nebraska ties, having coached Western Nebraska Community College for six years, reaching five NJCAA Division I final fours and winning the 2010 NJCAA national championship. She posted a 262-20 record in six years at Western Nebraska CC.

Scouting the Eastern Kentucky Colonels
Eastern Kentucky went 3-1 at the Central Florida Invitational in Orlando, Fla., last weekend. The Colonels topped Northeastern (3-2), Florida International (3-0) and Western Carolina (3-0) but fell to host Central Florida (3-0).

The Colonels finished 18-16 in 2013 for their first winning season in seven years. Senior Dena Ott leads the Colonels, ranking fourth on the all-time EKU chart with 1,831 career digs entering the 2014 season. Ott needs 624 digs this season to break the school record of 2,454. She ranked 43rd in the NCAA last year with 4.9 digs per set. Alexis Plagens was named to the preseason All-OVC team after finishing second for the Colonels last year with 2.94 kills per set and 385 total kills. Senior setter Abbey Cvelbar was named Ohio Valley Conference Setter of the Week on Monday after posting 49 assists with 12 kills and only two errors in the win over Northeastern last weekend. In the other three matches on the weekend she tallied 31, 30 and 35 assists. Eastern Kentucky plays its home opener on Wednesday against Marshall before heading to Dayton.

Lori Duncan is in her 17th season as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky. She is 211-276 at the helm at EKU entering Wednesday’s match against Marshall. Duncan’s teams captured shares of Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles in 2004 and 2005, and her 2004 squad won the conference tournament to earn the OVC’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Quick Hitters
• Nebraska features the fewest seniors (1) and most underclassmen (11) in school history this season.
• With its No. 12 ranking, Nebraska has appeared in every one of the AVCA’s 464 all-time weekly polls.
• NU and Stanford are the only two programs to appear in every AVCA poll, dating back to its inception in 1982.
• Nebraska has spent a nation-leading 418 weeks in the top 10.
• The Huskers are 224-0 under Cook when hitting .300 or better.
• NU is 364-15 (.960) when winning the first set under John Cook.
• Nebraska is 138-39 against ranked teams under Cook (.780).
• Just over one-third of Cook’s total victories at Nebraska (413) have come against ranked teams.
• Dating back to last season, NU has played five straight matches against ranked opponents, a streak that will end this weekend.
• The Huskers played nine of their final 14 matches in 2013 against ranked teams, going 6-3 in that stretch.
• Last weekend’s matches marked the 202nd and 203rd consecutive sellouts for Nebraska volleyball. NU owns a 188-15 record during the streak.

Strong Start for Ostrander
Junior outside hitter Alicia Ostrander took advantage of her increased role in the Husker lineup in a big way on opening weekend. After redshirting in her first season at Nebraska and playing sparingly as a freshman and sophomore, Ostrander stepped right into the starting lineup in the season opener against Florida State and produced a career-high 18 kills to lead the Big Red. The 6-3 native of Gordon, Neb., entered the season with a career high of five kills against Saint Mary’s on Sept. 12, 2013. She more than tripled that last Friday and her 18 kills nearly equaled her entire kill total (19) of last year. For the weekend, Ostrander recorded a team-leading 23 kills.

Huskers Serve Up Youth in 2014
The 2014 Nebraska volleyball team is one of the youngest squads in the nation and arguably the youngest in program history. The Huskers’ 16-player roster features one senior (Mary Pollmiller), four juniors, six sophomores and five freshmen.
• The one senior on this year’s roster ties for the fewest in Nebraska history, as this marks the seventh time in the 40-year history of the program that a Husker team has had only one senior.
• Nebraska boasts 11 underclassmen on its roster, tied for the most underclassmen on a roster in school history. Nebraska’s 1978 roster featured 14 underclassmen and its 1979 roster featured 12 underclassmen, but NU fielded both a varsity and JV team both seasons, and the varsity roster consisted of fewer than 11 underclassmen.
• The Huskers feature the fewest seniors of any team that was ranked in the preseason AVCA Top 25.
• Of the more than 330 Division I volleyball programs, Nebraska is one of 48 teams featuring one or no senior.
• NU is one of 64 teams nationally with 11 or more underclassmen on its 2014 roster.

A Brief Look at the 2014 Nebraska Volleyball Team
Despite being among the youngest squads in school history, Nebraska returns plenty of experience from a 2013 campaign that saw the Huskers post a 26-7 record, advance to an NCAA Regional Final for the second consecutive season and finish the year with a No. 7 ranking. Although the Huskers feature the fewest seniors (1) and most underclassmen (11) in school history this fall, Nebraska still returns five starters – plus libero Justine Wong-Orantes – from 2013.
The lone player Nebraska must replace is a key loss, as Kelsey Robinson concluded her career by earning first-team All-America honors in 2013. She was also chosen as the Big Ten Player of the Year and a finalist for the Honda Award. Robinson led NU in kills (530), attacks (1,206) and aces (32) last fall, while ranking second in digs (229) and fourth in blocks (70). Despite Robinson’s graduation, Nebraska still returns plenty of production in 2014.
• Nebraska returns 96 percent of its assists from last season, led by senior Mary Pollmiller. After splitting time early last season with Kelly Hunter, Pollmiller emerged as the Huskers’ full-time setter and went on to record 1,279 assists. Pollmiller ranks third nationally in career assists (4,092), and she earned honorable-mention All-America accolades in 2011 and 2013.
• NU returns every middle blocker from the 2013 roster. Four Huskers saw action at middle blocker last season, and all four players were either freshmen or sophomores. The group figures to benefit from another year of experience, as Nebraska aims to improve upon its No. 14 national ranking in blocks last season. Junior Meghan Haggerty, an honorable-mention All-America selection in each of her first two seasons, paces the middles, while sophomore Cecilia Hall was an honorable-mention all-region pick as a redshirt freshman in 2013.
• Led by returning libero Justine Wong-Orantes, Nebraska returns 71 percent of its digs from last season. Wong-Orantes tied the Husker freshman record with 399 digs in 2013, and she is one of four returning Huskers who totaled more than 200 digs last year.
• Offensively, Nebraska returns more than two-thirds of its kills from a year ago, despite Robinson’s absence. Sophomore Kadie Rolfzen, a third-team All-American last fall, is the leading returner after she totaled 377 kills in 2013, the third-highest freshman total in school history. Her twin sister Amber added 244 kills and overall, Nebraska returns seven of its top eight kill leaders from last season.
• Nebraska returns three players who garnered All-America recognition in 2013, including third-team selection Kadie Rolfzen and honorable-mention picks Mary Pollmiller and Meghan Haggerty.

Huskers’ Lone Senior Among the Nation’s Best
Tri-captain Mary Pollmiller is Nebraska’s lone senior in 2014. The Huskers may only have one senior, but Pollmiller is one of the nation’s top setters. She is in her second season at Nebraska after spending her first two years at Tennessee in 2011 and 2012. Pollmiller was the 2011 SEC Freshman of the Year, and she has earned honorable-mention AVCA All-America accolades twice in her career, including last season (also in 2011). Pollmiller owns 4,092 career assists, a total that ranks third nationally. The nation’s top three active players in career assists are all Big Ten Conference setters.

Top Freshmen Look to Build on Impressive Rookie Seasons
Sophomores Kadie Rolfzen and Justine Wong-Orantes produced two of Nebraska’s top statistical freshman seasons at their positions in 2013. Rolfzen, an outside hitter, tallied 377 kills as a freshman, while Wong-Orantes produced a team-leading 399 digs.
• Rolfzen’s 377 kills and 3.46 kills per set both ranked as the third-highest totals ever by a Husker freshman.
• Rolfzen was named a third-team AVCA All-American as a freshman, and she was also the AVCA North Region Freshman of the Year and a first-team All-Big Ten selection.
• Wong-Orantes’ 399 digs tied for the highest freshman total in Husker history.
• In 2013, Wong-Orantes became just the third Husker freshman to lead the team in digs.
• This fall, Wong-Orantes will look to become the first player in school history to lead the Huskers in digs as both a freshman and sophomore.

Tough Road Ahead
Nebraska is scheduled to play 13 of its 29 matches this season against teams that were ranked in the preseason AVCA Top 25. NU began its tough slate immediately by facing 13th-ranked Florida State and No. 3 Stanford on opening weekend.
Nebraska is set to face four ranked teams in its nine-game non-conference schedule before playing nine of its 20 Big Ten Conference matches against ranked teams. The Big Ten placed eight teams in the preseason AVCA poll, with all eight teams ranked in the top 16.
• Forty-five percent of NU’s regular-season matches will come against teams ranked in the preseason.
• The Huskers are the only top-10 team that played a pair of ranked opponents in the opening weekend.
• Nebraska’s 13 matches against preseason ranked teams are the second-highest total nationally.
• The Huskers played a school-record 15 regular-season matches against ranked teams last season, a mark Nebraska could challenge this season.
• NU’s four non-conference matches against teams ranked in the preseason poll are the third-most of any top-25 team.
• Among the 13 matches against preseason top-25 teams are six matches vs. top-10 opponents.
• Nebraska will host the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the AVCA preseason poll.
• In addition to the ranked opponents, NU will play 15 matches – more than half its schedule – against 2013 NCAA Tournament teams, including 12 matches against teams that advanced to the round of 16.

Huskers Outdone by No. 3 Stanford

Nebraska-Volleyball-HuskersLincoln – The seventh-ranked Nebraska volleyball team fell to No. 3 Stanford, 3-0, in front of 8,562 fans at the Devaney Center in the final game of the AVCA Showcase on Sunday.

Stanford (2-0) led most of the way in each of the first two sets and won both by identical 25-17 scores. The Huskers (0-2) jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the third set before Stanford took 13 of the next 17 rallies to go up 19-14 en route to a 25-19 win in the third and final game.

Junior Kelsey Fien led the Huskers with nine kills, while Mary Pollmiller and Alicia Ostrander each had five kills. Pollmiller’s five kills came on 11 attacks for a team-best .364 hitting percentage, and she added 24 assists. Freshman Annika Albrecht had 10 digs, as did sophomore Amber Rolfzen.

Jordan Burgess led three Stanford players with double-digit kills with a match-high 14. She also had 12 digs. Morgan Boukather added 13 kills and 18 digs, while Inky Ajanaku posted 10 kills and hit .500 to lead the Cardinal to a team hitting percentage of .365. The Huskers hit just .131 on the afternoon but committed 10 fewer errors than the 26 on Friday against Florida State. Madi Bugg had 46 of Stanford’s 53 assists and was successful four times on her five attacks.

The Huskers posted the first point of the match, but Stanford responded with three straight to go up 3-1 and never let the Huskers even up the set the rest of the way. NU cut the Cardinal lead to 9-8 on a kill by Ostrander and a Stanford error. But the Cardinal went on a 6-0 run to go up 15-8 after four straight attacking errors from the Huskers. Stanford built the lead to 20-10, but Nebraska tried to build momentum heading into set two with back-to-back kills by Ostrander and Amber Rolfzen to get within 24-17 before Stanford’s Boukather finished off the game. Seven of the Huskers’ 16 attack errors in the match came in the first set.

In set two, Stanford built an 8-5 lead before Fien and Pollmiller sandwiched kills around a Stanford error to even the set at 8-8. But an NU service error and kill by Boukather put Stanford back on top 10-8. Soon after, Kadie Rolfzen recorded a kill and another Cardinal attacking error tied the set at 12-12. But just like the previous time NU evened up the set, Stanford responded quickly with three points this time to go up 15-12. The Huskers were never able to get closer than three points the rest of the set as Stanford hit .450 in set two for the 25-17 win.

Freshman Sydney Townsend served the Huskers into a 3-2 lead in the third set with an ace, and Stanford hit into the net to put NU up 4-2. After a kill by Stanford, Albrecht posted a kill and the Cardinal hit into the net again to give NU a 6-3 lead to force a Stanford timeout and bring the Devaney Center crowd into the match. Stanford crept back to within 7-5 on a McGehee kill, but the Huskers took three of the next four rallies for a 10-6 lead. NU maintained the four-point edge at 12-8, but Stanford put together a 5-0 run to claim a 13-12 lead. A service error by Stanford evened the game at 13-13, but the Cardinal pulled away with six points in the next seven rallies for a 19-14 lead. Burgess had two kills during the run. The Huskers could get no closer than three points the rest of the way as the Cardinal finished off the match with a 25-19 win in game three.

The Huskers will hit the road for the first time this season at the Flyer-Raider Invitational next weekend in Dayton, Ohio. NU will play at Dayton on Friday at 6 p.m. (Central) and then face CSU Bakersfield at 10 a.m. and Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

No. 15 NPCC Lady Knights 5-0 at McCook Tournament

NPCC-Knights-LogoMcCook – The No. 15 North Platte Community College Lady Knights volleyball team went 5-0 at the McCook Tournament over two days. The Lady Knights travelled down to McCook on Friday afternoon where they defeated Dodge City Community College in four sets 27-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-18, Southeast Community College in four sets 25-22, 25-14, 17-25, 25-21 and Lamar Community Collge in straight sets 25-13, 25-12, 25-19. North Platte then returned on Saturday where they knocked off Eastern Wyoming College in four sets 25-13, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20 before defeating the host McCook Community College in straight sets 25-16, 25-15, 25-18.

In the opening game of the tournament the Lady Knights were led by freshman Valerie Most and sophomore Samantha Kennedy who finished with 16 kills and 15 kills respectively in their four set victory. Both Most and Kennedy had three blocks. Sophomore Samantha Byrn was also in double-figures with 10 kills. Joli Hopping paced North Platte with 26 assists while Gabbie Nickel had 16. Erika Goodwin had 21 digs while Aryn Meisinger had 12 and Byrn had 11.

Against Southeast Kennedy was the lone Lady Knight in double-figures in kills with 12 to go along with six blocks as they won in four sets. Hopping again led the way in assists with 18 while Nickel had 14. Goodwin had 24 digs while Byrn had 15 and Meisinger had 12.

In the third and final game of the first day, the Lady Knights won in straight sets and were again led by Kennedy (11 kills) and Most (10 kills). Kennedy, sophomore Kylie Wroot and sophomore Abby Kurtzer all had four blocks. Hopping contributed 17 assists and Nickel chipped in 14. Goodwin was the lone Lady Knight in double-figures for digs with 17.

On Saturday, the Lady Knights defeated Eastern Wyoming for the second time already this year in four sets. Kennedy and sophomore Taylor King both had 10 kills for North Platte. Nickel led the way for the Lady Knights with 22 assists and Hopping had 20. Goodwin had 27 digs while Byrn had 21 and Meisinger had 12.

In the final game of the tournament, North Platte knocked off their rival and the host McCook in straight sets. Kennedy and Byrn led the strong showing with 12 kills apiece while Hopping had 27 assists and Goodwin had 23 digs. Meisinger and Byrn each had 11 digs.

“We had a good weekend going 5-0,” said head coach Sally Thalken. “Next week will be very tough with Hastings College JV and Northeastern Junior College. I hope we step up to the challenge.”

The Lady Knights return to action on Tuesday September 2 as they travel to Hastings to take on the Hastings College JV at 7 p.m. North Platte then returns home on Thursday September 4 to host No. 16 (D1) Northeastern Junior College in newly remodeled McDonald-Belton Gymnasium at 7 p.m.

Huskers Fall to No. 13 FSU in Season Opener

Nebraska-Volleyball-HuskersLincoln – Junior Alicia Ostrander enjoyed a career night, but the seventh-ranked Nebraska volleyball team fell in a hard-fought battle to No. 13 Florida State, 3-1, in front of 8,569 fans Friday night, the largest crowd under the current Devaney Center seating configuration.

The Huskers won the opener 25-18, before Florida State won the next three sets, all by two points. The Seminoles took set two 27-25 and won sets three and four by identical 25-23 margins. With the loss, Nebraska fell to 0-1 on the season, while FSU improved to 1-0.

Ostrander led Nebraska with a match-high 18 kills, more than tripling her previous career high of five kills. Ostrander produced 18 kills after totaling 19 kills all of last season. Sophomore Amber Rolfzen also finished in double figures with 13 kills, as did junior Meghan Haggerty, who hit .421 while putting down 10 kills on 19 swings. Sophomore Kadie Rolfzen led Nebraska with 18 digs – tying her career high – while classmate Cecilia Hall tied for match-high honors with five blocks.

Despite the loss, Nebraska produced more kills, more assists, more blocks and a higher hitting percentage than the Seminoles, while the teams each recorded 72 digs. The Huskers hit .182 in the match and recorded 12 blocks.

Florida State hit .176 and was led by Nicole Walch, who bounced back from a slow start to tie Ostrander for match-high honors with 18 kills. Katie Horton added 17 kills, while Katie Mosher was outstanding at libero, producing 33 digs.

FSU was the first team to lead by more than two in the opening set when a pair of blocks helped the Seminoles win four straight rallies to take a 9-6 advantage and force an early Husker timeout. The timeout did wonders for NU, as Nebraska won 10 of the next 12 rallies, capping the 10-2 run by taking a 16-11 lead. NU closed out a 25-18 victory when Ostrander delivered her fifth kill on the Huskers’ second set point. Nebraska held Florida State to an .018 attack percentage in the opening set, recording four blocks and 32 digs.

The Seminoles turned the table on Nebraska in set two, turning an early three-point deficit into a 14-10 advantage on the strength of a 9-2 run. The Huskers pulled back within two at 19-17 to force an FSU timeout then capped a 5-0 run by taking a 20-19 lead. Ostrander’s 10th kill of the match kept Nebraska on top 21-20 before FSU won the next three rallies. Nebraska then fought off three Seminole match points before a Kiara Wright kill wrapped up a 27-25 Florida State win. FSU hit .263 in the second set, led by seven kills on 11 swings from Walch, who was held to a -.077 percentage in set one.

Florida State won the first three rallies of set three and didn’t trail until Nebraska won back-to-back rallies following 12 consecutive sideouts to earn a 12-11 lead. The Seminoles regained the lead at 15-14 then stretched their advantage to 20-17. Consecutive kills from each of the Rolfzen twins pulled Nebraska back within one before Horton delivered a thundering kill and Mosher served an ace to force a Husker timeout with Florida State in front 22-19. Nebraska won the first three points following the break to tie the set and force a Seminole timeout. Horton ended the run with a kill and Sarah Wickstrom followed with an ace to give FSU two set points. An Ostrander kill fought off one set point, but Florida State earned a 25-23 win on Horton’s 10th kill of the match.

Nebraska won the first five rallies of set four and seven of the first eight but could not hang on to the early advantage. NU built the lead to 9-2 on kills from six different Huskers. Florida State came right back with a 7-1 run to pull within one at 10-9. The Seminoles pulled even at 11 and grabbed their first lead at 18-16 on three consecutive kills from Horton. Nebraska won the next two rallies to tie the set but Florida State answered with consecutive points of its own. The Seminoles stretched the lead to 22-19 on a Husker hitting error. NU came back to win three of the next four rallies and tie the set at 23, but back-to-back hitting errors gave Florida State the match with a 25-23 victory.

Nebraska returns to action on Sunday, when the Huskers host third-ranked Stanford at Noon. The match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. The Cardinal opened its season with 3-0 sweep at Iowa State on Friday.

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