Block Lifts Huskers to Sweep of Maryland

LINCOLN, Neb. – The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team shut down Maryland’s league-leading block and serve in a 25-16, 25-9, 25-19 win on Saturday night in front of 8,133 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. 

Maryland (13-11, 4-8 Big Ten) entered the match as the No. 1 blocking team in the country and the league leader in service aces in the Big Ten, but the Huskers (19-2, 11-1 Big Ten) were dominant in both areas to pick up the sweep. Nebraska had 12 blocks and held Maryland to a season-low five blocks. The Huskers had six service aces and held Maryland without an ace for just the second time this year. The Huskers never trailed in the entire match. 

Six Huskers each had five or seven kills in the match. Whitney Lauenstein had seven kills and eight blocks; Bekka Allick had seven kills and three blocks, and Lindsay Krause had seven kills and three blocks with a team-best .462 hitting percentage. 

Kaitlyn Hord had five kills and nine blocks. Both Lauenstein and Hord tied their season highs for blocks. Madi Kubik and Ally Batenhorst each had five kills. 

Nebraska hit .263 and held the Terrapins to a season-low .000 hitting percentage. Nicklin Hames had 17 assists, and Anni Evans had 13. 

Lexi Rodriguez and Kenzie Knuckles led Nebraska in digs with 13 and eight, respectively, as the Huskers held a 46-41 advantage. Of NU’s six aces, Kubik and Rodriguez both had two, while Hames and Lauenstein each had one.  

Set 1: The Huskers claimed an early 6-2 lead and stayed ahead by four at 9-5 after back-to-back blocks by Allick and Krause. After a kill by Batenhorst and a block by Hord and Lauenstein, the Huskers led 14-8. Maryland committed two service errors and a hitting error, and Krause terminated to lift the Huskers to a 19-11 advantage. Maryland pulled back within five but a kill by Lauenstein and back-to-back blocks by Hord and Lauenstein made it 24-16 Huskers. NU went on to win 25-16. 

Set 2: The Huskers got off to a 3-0 start with two blocks by Hord and Lauenstein, and kills by Allick and Hames and an ace by Lauenstein increased NU’s lead to 11-4. Allick, Krause and Batenhorst combined for four kills in a row, and two aces by Kubik helped the Huskers go ahead 19-5 after an 8-0 run. Nebraska won 25-9 with a dominating .440 hitting percentage to -.083 for the Terrapins. 

Set 3: Hord had a kill and three blocks to help NU to a 7-2 lead. Lauenstein, Allick and Kubik had kills to make it 10-3, and Maggie Mendelson checked in and posted a kill for an 11-4 advantage. Maryland clawed back to within 15-12, but a kill by Kubik and an ace by Rodriguez had the Huskers back up by five, 17-12. After a timeout, the Terrapins scored three straight to cut it to 17-15 before Lauenstein sided out for the Big Red with a kill. But after two unforced errors by Nebraska, the lead was cut to one at 18-17. After a timeout, the Huskers got back-to-back kills from Allick to go up 20-17, and Krause put down two in a row to make it 22-18. After one more Maryland point, Nebraska finished out the sweep with a kill by Krause, a block by Lauenstein and Hord and an ace by Hames. 

Up Next: The Huskers are home again on Wednesday, hosting Indiana at 8 p.m.