Huskers Victorious in Spring Match, Defeating Colorado State 3-1

Courtesy of NU Athletic Communications 

McCook, Neb. – The Nebraska volleyball team continued its tradition of traveling across the state to play its spring volleyball matches with a 3-1 win over Colorado State in front of a crowd of 1,750 at the Graff Events Center on Saturday.

The Huskers took the first two sets, 25-13, 25-17, before Colorado State won set three, 25-23. Nebraska responded well in set four, posting a 25-12 win to finish the spring season.

Jazz Sweet led NU with 17 kills on .343 hitting. Freshman Madi Kubik had 15 kills and four service aces in her first time in a Husker uniform. Fellow incoming freshman Kenzie Knuckles played the entire match as Nebraska’s libero.

Lauren Stivrins had eight kills and four blocks and hit .778. Lexi Sun also had eight kills playing in just the first two sets. Capri Davis played the final two sets and had five kills. Callie Schwarzenbach chipped in six kills on .417 hitting.

Nicklin Hames served four aces and had 43 assists, as the Huskers hit .268 for the match. The Big Red had 11 service aces and six blocks.

Set 1: Hames served the Huskers to a 4-0 lead to start the match, and Sweet had seven of NU’s first 13 kills to boost the Huskers to a 17-11 advantage. A kill and two blocks by Stivrins and an ace and kill by Kubik helped the Huskers pull away to a 25-13 win.

Set 2: The teams went back and forth early in the second set and were tied 8-8 when NU went on a 3-0 spurt to take an 11-8 lead. NU held a 15-11 edge at the media timeout and Stivrins and Kubik recorded kills out of the timeout to make it 17-11. Hayley Densberger served an ace for a 19-12 lead, and Kubik and Stivrins struck for back-to-back kills to make it 21-13 Huskers, and NU posted a 25-17 win to take a 2-0 lead.

Set 3: Colorado State held an 11-8 advantage before Hames dumped a kill and served back-to-back aces to level the score. Davis terminated an overpass to give the Huskers a 12-11 lead, but CSU responded with a 5-1 run to go back up 16-13. Kubik’s 11th kill and back-to-back service aces brought the Huskers back to a 19-19 tie. NU went ahead 20-19 on the next rally, and Davis hammered the Huskers to a 21-20 lead. The teams traded rallies to a 23-22 Husker lead, but Colorado State scored the final three points of the set to win 25-23.

Set 4: Davis had a pair of kills and Kubik’s fourth ace made it 7-4 Huskers. Schwarzenbach posted a kill and a block with Davis for a 10-6 NU edge. Hames served a big run, including a pair of aces, as the Huskers went up 17-8. Sweet, Kubik and Stivrins took over with kills down the stretch, and Nebraska finished off the 25-12 win.

(Photo – Kenny Larabee)