‘Kills you can’t stop’: Lauenstein goes off (again) to lead Nebraska past Long Beach State | Volleyball

Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook is still in wait-and-see mode about sophomore Whitney Lauenstein’s hot start to the season.

Lauenstein went off again Saturday to lead No. 2 Nebraska with 12 kills and four blocks in a 25-16, 25-22, 25-14 win against Long Beach State at the Devaney Sports Center.

Her .381 hitting percentage led all hitters in the match.

Earlier in the week, Lauenstein had a career-high 25 kills with a .385 hitting percentage to help Nebraska beat No. 17 Creighton in five sets.

Cook still wants to see how consistent Lauenstein can be over the entire season — she had just a .130 hitting percentage last season, including a few matches where she had a negative hitting percentage. She had some big kills last season, but she often hit directly into the block.

Through three weeks of this season, Lauenstein leads Nebraska with 86 kills on .367 hitting.

Long Beach State coach Tyler Hildebrand doesn’t have to be as measured in what he says about Lauenstein. Hildebrand coached Lauenstein last season at Nebraska and has seen the improvement she’s made already.

“It isn’t like she’s getting kills that you can stop,” Hildebrand said. “She’s getting kills you can’t stop. I’m really happy for her.”

Last season, Lauenstein had the size and potential. Now she’s added range and variety to her hitting.

“She hit some shots today that people aren’t going to stop on the national team,” Hildebrand said.

And Nebraska’s current lineup means Cook doesn’t have to decide between Lauenstein and Lindsay Krause like last season.

Right after the match, Lauenstein said the team’s sports psychologist, Brett Haskell, commented on her mental growth.

“I had a lot of errors tonight and tipped some balls out. It happens,” Lauenstein said. “But being able to come back and dominate, I wouldn’t have been able to do that last year.”

On Saturday, Nebraska (7-0) was strong at the end of each set. The Husker dominated Long Beach in kills, 44-26.

Madi Kubik and Bekka Allick each added eight kills. Kaitlyn Hord had a great start to the match with kills on each of her three attempts and one block. She finished with four kills and four blocks. Lexi Rodriguez had 15 digs.

Natalie Glenn had nine kills to lead the Beach (4-2).

Nebraska had a .283 hitting percentage and held the Beach to .078 hitting.

“Long Beach is a fun team to play,” Cook said. “They go fast and they get after it and fly around and cover really well. So we can learn some things from this match. I just thought our size wore them down a little bit.”

With a kill to end the second set, Kubik reached 1,000 career kills, becoming the 24th Husker all-time to reach that milestone.

The match was a homecoming for Hildebrand and Long Beach State middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach. She is playing her super-senior season at the Beach after playing four seasons at Nebraska. Schwarzenbach had a big grin after she received a huge ovation when she was introduced as a starter.

Schwarzenbach finished with three blocks and one kill.

After the match, Hildebrand and Schwarzenbach posed for a photo with the Nebraska players. On Friday some of the Nebraska players went to the hotel the Long Beach State team stayed at to surprise Schwarzenbach.

“We loved Tyler and Callie, and we miss them a lot,” Lauenstein said.

Cook also knew Long Beach State setter Zayna Meyer of Wheaton, Illinois. She came to Nebraska’s Dream Team camp and probably would have liked to come to Nebraska, but Nebraska didn’t have a spot for a setter at the time.

“One of the reasons you play sports is about building relationships, and we have some very strong relationships with Long Beach,” Cook said.

Hildebrand said he got emotional just getting off the airplane in Omaha. The sport has taken him many places in college volleyball and for international tournaments, but he’s always felt something different during a match in Lincoln.

“I’ve played or coached in every gym in the world, and there is not a gym that’s like this,” he said.

Husker sophomore outside hitter Ally Batenhorst wasn’t available due to an abdominal injury. Nebraska stayed in the two-setter rotation with Nicklin Hames and Anni Evans, but freshman Maggie Mendleson played at right-side hitter. She had four kills and two blocks.

Hildebrand, who was an All-American setter for the Long Beach State men’s team, says the 6-2 offense may be the best lineup for the Huskers this season.

“When you have the depth of pins that they have and you have three good setters and you can do all of that, it’s a lot of physicality to deal with,” Hildebrand said. “So I think it’s a very good idea for them, and I think they’re going to be hard to stop.”