Red Tops White in Scrimmage, 3-0

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska volleyball team held its annual preseason scrimmage on Saturday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Red team defeated the White team, 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-18), in front of 7,946 at the Devaney Center. 

Madi Kubik led the Red squad with 13 kills on .385 hitting to go with seven digs and four blocks, and Lindsay Krause added 12 kills on .407 hitting. Whitney Lauenstein chipped in nine kills and four blocks. Kennedi Orr set the Red attack with 35 assists as the team hit .311 on the night. Orr also had nine digs, four blocks and three kills. The Red team had 12 total blocks, led by Kaitlyn Hord, who had nine to go with four kills. Lexi Rodriguez had a match-high 18 digs as the Red libero. 

The White team got nine kills from assistant coach Jaylen Reyes, who played alongside five Husker players. Hayden Kubik had eight kills and seven digs, and Kenzie Knuckles had four kills and eight digs. Anni Evans had 27 assists and nine digs for the White team. Maisie Boesiger chipped in seven digs as the libero for the White team. 

Freshman middle blockers Bekka Allick and Maggie Mendelson split time on both squads. For the match, Allick totaled six kills and two blocks and Mendelson had seven kills and two blocks. 

Set 1: The Red team took the first set, 25-21, hitting .343 in the opening frame and recording six blocks. Madi Kubik had six kills on .455 hitting, and Orr tallied 13 assists and two kills. For the White team, Hayden Kubik had four kills and hit .444, and Mendelson had four kills while hitting .333. Anni Evans set 10 assists and had five digs. 

Set 2: The Red team used a 7-2 run to stretch its lead to 19-11 and finished off a 25-15 win to take a 2-0 lead. Hord increased her total blocks to eight through two sets, while Kubik had 12 kills on .526 hitting after two sets. Hayden Kubik and Mendelson continued to lead the White team with six kills apiece, while Reyes put down three kills in the set to bring his match total to four. 

Set 3: The White team stayed within striking distance in set three, pulling within 12-11 after kills by Reyes and Allick and a block by Reyes. But the Red team pulled ahead 19-14 with kills by Lauenstein and Mendelson. Red went on to win 25-18. 

Up Next: The Huskers open the season next Friday with the Ameritas Players Challenge. Nebraska will play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 11 a.m. on Friday and Tulsa at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The Huskers also play Pepperdine on Saturday at 7 p.m.