Three takes from Nebraska’s victory over Georgia in four sets

After a five-set victory over Omaha earlier in the day, Nebraska grinded out a win over Georgia in four sets (19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-16).

Head coach John Cook said after a long Omaha match that his team would have to ‘grind out a win’ against Georgia. After battling in the first two sets, the Huskers started to look like they were “playing Nebraska volleyball,” as Cook and his players say.

Here are my three takes on the Huskers (4-0) win over Georgia (2-2):

When outside hitters freshman Whitney Lauenstein and junior Madi Kubik sat down at the table for the post-game interview, Kubik looked at her teammate and said “Did you hit .429, bro?”

The stat sheet in front of them did not lie, Lauenstein hit .429 in her fourth college volleyball match.

The Waverly native had 8 kills, three digs and two blocks.

Cook gave Lauenstein a shot in the first set after starter Lindsay Krause had one kill on five swings with four errors.

“We had a couple of people struggling and Whitney came in and gave us a big lift,” he said.

In the second set, Lauenstein had three kills, a dig and a block. All three of her kills and block either tied Nebraska with the Bulldogs or gave them a one-point advantage. She had back-to-back saves during one rally that ended with a kill by Kubik.

Lauenstein said it was “pretty nerve-wracking” to come off the bench.

“I just take a deep breath and go in and just trust my teammates,” she said. “That’s one thing that’s really big is to trust that my teammates are gonna trust that I’m gonna come in and I’m ready to go.”

The third and fourth sets were when Nebraska started to create a rhythm with setter Nicklin Hames, according to Cook.

The Huskers won the fourth set 25-16 after allowing five match points. As a team, they hit .625 with 12 kills and two errors.

“We were starting to play with some rhythm and better execution,” Cook said. “Nicklin got a better rhythm. We just started flowing a little bit better.”

Hames missed Nebraska’s first two games with an ankle injury but returned to help the Huskers win both matches on Friday. In her absence, sophomore Anni Evans and freshman Kennedi Orr both set for NU.

“I still feel like the whole season so far, we’ve been a little choppy except game one against K State, we were in a really nice rhythm there with Kennedi (Orr).”

After gaining some consistency, Nebraska started playing at a higher level, according to Cook.

“It took Nicklin a while to get in a good rhythm and we started flowing a little bit, start playing like we’re capable of playing,” he said.

The Huskers ran a 5-1 system in both matches on Friday, this meaning there was enough space with substitutions for defensive specialists to play.

Lexi Rodriguez has been Nebraska’s starting libero this whole season and contributed 10 digs, one ace and nine assists, including two backsets. She has had a good opportunity to shine.

However, Kenzie Knuckles and Keonilei Akana were able to play on Friday the most they have played all season.

“Kenzie Knuckles and Akana did a great job in the back row and helped us get back in that match,” Cook said. “But we were getting served off the court and blocked off the court in the first part of that match.”

Akana had four digs, one ace and one assist. Knuckles, a team captain, had five digs and one kill what she smashed from the backrow to give NU a 5-2 lead early in the fourth set.

While the stats don’t show it, Akana and Knuckles are both serving weapons that the Huskers use in order to either get ahead early or get them out of a hole.

Nebraska plays Arizona State on Saturday at 6 p.m. for their final match of the Ameritas Players Challenge. The game is available on BTN+ and the Husker Sports network.