Huskers Clash With Florida State in NCAA Second Round

The 10th-seeded Nebraska volleyball team (22-7) takes aim at Florida State (20-9) tonight, facing the Seminoles on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. in the NCAA Second Round. The Huskers advanced after a first-round sweep of Campbell Friday night.
 
The match will be streamed on ESPN+, with Larry Punteney handling play-by-play duties and Kathi Wieskamp providing color commentary.
 
This week’s action will be carried on Huskers Radio Network with the NU radio team of John Baylor and Lauren Cook West. Baylor is in his 28th season handling play-by-play duties for the Husker volleyball program, and West, a former All-America setter at NU, will provide color commentary for the sixth straight year.
 
Huskers Radio Network will carry the matches on HRN radio affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and AM 590 in Omaha. A live audio stream will be available at Huskers.com and on the Huskers app. Inside the Devaney Center, fans can access the direct radio call of the match at 87.7 FM.
 
Tourney Time
Nebraska was selected as the No. 10 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament last Sunday and makes its 40th straight NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend — second most in NCAA history, behind only Penn State (41).
 
Louisville, Texas, Pitt and Wisconsin received the top four seeds from the NCAA Tournament Committee. Should those teams all advance past the first weekend, they would host an NCAA Regional the following weekend. Nebraska is in the same region as Texas along with No. 7 national seed Kentucky and No. 15 Washington. The Huskers would have an opportunity to host an NCAA Regional only if they advance past the opening two rounds and Texas and Kentucky were upset in the first or second round.
 
• Nebraska is 119-34 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in postseason wins and winning percentage (.778).
• Nebraska (153) and Stanford (163) are the only programs in NCAA history to play 150 NCAA Tournament matches.
• NU is 26-2 all-time in second-round matches, having won their last nine second-round contests dating back to 2012.
• The Huskers are 76-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament home matches, including 21-2 at the Devaney Center. They have won 15 consecutive home matches in the NCAA Tournament.
• NU is 55-1 all-time against unranked opponents in the NCAA Tournament.
• Two wins this weekend would secure NU its 37th NCAA Regional appearance, maintaining its NCAA-leading total.
• Nebraska has advanced to nine consecutive NCAA Regionals, the third-longest streak in the country. Only two teams carry longer streaks: Penn State (18) and Texas (15).
• John Cook has led Nebraska to an NCAA Regional in 20 of his 21 seasons.
• Cook is 86-22 in his NCAA Tournament career, including a 78-17 record as Nebraska’s head coach.
 
Quick Hits
• Nebraska capped the Big Ten slate last weekend, finishing as runner-up behind Wisconsin.
• The Huskers moved up one spot to No. 10 in the AVCA national poll this week.
• NU is one of a nation-leading eight Big Ten teams to qualify for the 2021 NCAA Tournament field. The Huskers won the conference’s most recent national title (2017).
• Nebraska’s matchup with Florida State is its 19th all-time against a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference and its second this season. The Huskers fell to ACC champion Louisville on Sept. 18.
• Last weekend’s quick turnaround has the Huskers primed for the postseason. They will have played on consecutive nights just four times this year: Aug. 27-28 in the Husker Invitational, Sept. 3-4 in the Ameritas Players Challenge, Nov. 26-27 at Wisconsin and Purdue and Dec. 3-4 in the NCAA First and Second Rounds.
• Nebraska leads the country with an average home attendance of 8,185 this season at the Devaney Center.
• Nebraska was the last unbeaten team in Big Ten play this year. Its 10-0 start was their second-best since joining the conference in 2011.
 
Scouting the Florida State Seminoles
Florida State is 20-9 on the season after sweeping Kansas State Friday in the NCAA First Round, snapping the Seminoles’ three-match losing skid. FSU hit .340 in the match and limited K-State to just .077. Emma Clothier recorded 11 kills with no attack errors while hitting .611 and added four blocks.
 
Clothier averages a team-leading 2.68 kills per set with .336 hitting. Three other Seminoles average at least two kills per set: Morgan Chacon (2.63 k/s), Audrey Koenig (2.48 k/s) and Khori Louis (2.39 k/s). Louis also leads FSU with 0.85 blocks per set.
 
Florida State seeks its sixth NCAA Regional appearance, having previously earned Sweet 16 berths in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
 
Head coach Chris Poole is in his 14th season at Florida State and owns a record of 326-104 and a career mark of 876-334 over 35 years.
 
Noting the Series: vs. Florida State
Nebraska has a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series with Florida State. The two last met Aug. 29, 2014 in the AVCA Showcase at the Devaney Center, where the Seminoles won 3-1. NU won the first set (25-18) before the Seminoles took the next three, each by two points. A crowd of 8,569 was on hand that night, and it remains the third-largest volleyball attendance total ever at the Devaney Center.
 
NU’s wins over FSU were a 2-1 victory on Oct. 21, 1978 and a 3-2 decision on Oct. 2, 1982 — both in Springfield, Mo. A win Saturday night would be the Huskers’ first over FSU in Lincoln.
 
Up Next
With a win over Florida State on Saturday, Nebraska advances to an NCAA Regional next weekend, Dec. 9 and 11, at Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas.