No. 4 Nebraska Tops Georgia, 3-1

The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team remained undefeated with the nightcap of the Ameritas Players Challenge Friday night, defeating Georgia 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-16) at the Devaney Center. The Huskers’ win improved them to 4-0 (0-0 Big Ten) on the season, while the Bulldogs drop to 2-2 (0-0 SEC).
 
Madi Kubik was Nebraska’s leader in kills for the third straight match, finishing with 15 alongside five digs and three blocks. Kayla Caffey followed with nine kills and five blocks, and Lexi Sun had another nine kills with three aces, two digs and a block.
 
Nicklin Hames collected her second double-double of the day with a match-high 39 assists, 10 digs and two blocks.
 
Whitney Lauenstein provided a spark off the bench, tallying eight kills at a .429 clip with two blocks and three digs. Callie Schwarzenbach added six blocks and five kills for the night.
 
Lexi Rodriguez also chipped in 10 digs and a season-high nine assists with a service ace.
 
Georgia was led by 16 kills from Kacie Evans, and Amber Stivrins added 11 more. The duo registered two blocks and a pair of aces apiece. Clara Brower finished with 33 assists, and Phoebe Awoleye, Kayla Rivera and Mackenzie Norris had five blocks each.
 
As a team, Nebraska hit .231 to Georgia’s .162 and had a 12-10 advantage at the net.
 
Set 1
Two NU blocks and a kill by Hames helped the Huskers to an early 4-0 run that pushed them to a 6-4 lead. With Nebraska up one, Sun put down a kill and consecutive ace serves to extend the Husker advantage to 9-5. Georgia later broke through a 13-13 tie and went up five by 20-15. The Bulldogs had two short 3-0 runs late in the set, each halted by a Lauenstein kill. But Georgia got late kills from Awoleye and Stivrins to finish it, 25-19.
 
The Bulldogs hit .296 with five kills from Evans and three blocks from Awoleye, while Nebraska was limited to .036 hitting as a team. UGA had a 5-2 advantage on the block.
 
Set 2
Georgia had six kills on its first 10 attempts of the set with no errors. Trailing 11-7, the Huskers rattled off four straight points on three kills from Sun and Schwarzenbach and a Schwarzenbach/Lauenstein block to lock it at 11-all and prompt a Bulldog timeout. Neither team could gain a foothold as the match tied 10 more times up to 21-21, and kills from Caffey and Kubik put the Huskers in front by one. A four-hit violation then made it 23-21, and a Caffey/Kubik stuff block brought it to set point. Kubik’s final kill down the line clinched it at 25-21 for NU, which hit .353 for the set. Akana served the last four points as the Huskers ended on a 5-0 run.
 
Set 3
The Huskers took the first three points of the third set. After Georgia tied it at 4-4, kills by Lauenstein and Kubik coupled with a Rodriguez ace serve created a three-point edge. The Bulldogs grabbed a brief lead at 14-13, but a kill apiece from Caffey and Kubik quickly brought the momentum back to the Huskers, who went up 16-14. Another Kubik kill, followed by a Bulldog attack error, pushed it to 22-19 before a Georgia timeout. Kubik’s seventh kill of the set and two more Georgia attack errors then closed it at 25-22 to put NU up 2-1 in the match.
 
Set 4
Nebraska had found its rhythm by the fourth set, hitting a blistering .625 to Georgia’s -.087, and five Huskers had at least two kills. NU got three kills and three blocks from Caffey, who helped them outblock UGA 5-0.

The Huskers put together a 4-0 run with the help of a Kubik kill, a backrow kill from Kenzie Knuckles and another strike by Lauenstein to gain a 6-2 advantage. Back-to-back tallies by Caffey and Sun made it a six-point lead at 10-4, and the Huskers matched that again with a kill and a solo block courtesy of Schwarzenbach. By that point, NU had eight kills on 10 swings while hitting .700, and a pair of Georgia attack errors stretched it to 15-7.

 

The Huskers took their largest lead of 12 after two UGA attack errors brought it to set point, and they finished it off with one final kill from Kubik to win 25-16.

 

Noting Tonight’s Match

-Nebraska remains undefeated in the all-time series with Georgia, 6-0, including 3-0 in the John Cook era.

-The Huskers have 10 or more blocks as a team in three of their last four matches.

 

Up Next

Nebraska concludes the Ameritas Players Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 4, facing Arizona State at 6 p.m. at the Devaney Center. The match will be streamed on Big Ten Network+, and John Baylor and Lauren Cook West will have the radio call on Huskers Radio Network.