Three takes from No. 6 Nebraska volleyball being swept by No. 5 Louisville

No. 6 Nebraska Volleyball fell in three sets to No. 6 Louisville (25-17, 25-20, 25-18). The last time the Huskers were swept at home was Oct. 5, 2019 against Wisconsin. NU has now lost three consecutive games (Utah, Stanford and Louisville) for the first time since 2018.

The Huskers have three days until they kick off Big Ten conference play against Northwestern on Wednesday. Head coach John Cook said he is concerned.

“But I also know this team can be really good so, at some point, it’s going to click,” he said.

Here are my three takes on Nebraska’s brutal loss to Louisville:

Over the last few games, Nebraska has struggled with their opponents going on scoring runs.

Louisville went on a 4-0 run in the first set that created separation between the teams after several back-and-forth points to start the match. At that time, Nebraska went down 8-4 and couldn’t fight out of the hole, although they got within two points a few times.

In the second set, the score remained within two until Louisville scored three consecutive points to lead 15-13. Nebraska scored four of the next five points but the Cardinals went on a 9-3 run, with five points in a row at one point, to win the set 25-20.

Louisville had their longest run of the match in set three with seven unanswered points and a 9-1 run to win the final set 25-18.

“We have this another level when we decide that it’s time to win the match. I don’t know how to describe it,” said Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly.

She said she knew the game was over for Nebraska when middle blocker Amaya Tillman blocked NU’s middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach to help the Cardinals go up 20-17. That was error No. 3 in NU’s five-error streak.

Cook accounted for part of Nebraska’s loss to Stanford to a few runs in the first and third sets. The Huskers had the same issue against Louisville.

“They were more consistent than we were,” Kenzie Knuckles said. “I think when it comes down to those challenging moments at the end of games, that’s when you have to trust your training the most, and we haven’t done that.”

After the match, Cook said he does not know why Nebraska played so pour and that it’s back to the drawing board before conference play begins.

“Louisville completely outplayed us. We did nothing to put any pressure on them,” Cook said. “They played free, loose, aggressive and we just really did nothing, didn’t really even compete like we needed to.”

Nebraska hit .046 as a team and -.034 in the final set. Outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein led the team with nine kills. She hit .625 with five kills in the first set. Then, in the second, she hit -.571 with no kills and four errors on seven swings. Lauenstein came back in the final set with four kills.

Ally Batenhorst had the second-most kills with five, including four in the second set, and three block assists.

Middle blocker Kalynn Meyer played in the second set after Kayla Caffey had an apparent eye injury. Meyer had the best numbers for the Huskers with two kills on four swings and no errors. She also had one solo block and two block assists.

Nebraska swept then-No. 20 Creighton four games ago and has lost all three games since. Cook said the Huskers took a step back against the Cardinals since their last victory.

“It was like a heavyweight fight. We got punched and we just didn’t respond,” he said of the Louisville match.

Nebraska did not play well in any area of the game and Cook said he is going to have to find a way to get this team to “play consistently good volleyball” for Big Ten play.

Busboom Kelly beat her former coach and boss in their first matchup. And it was on the road in front of 8,286 fans. That’s quite the homecoming.

She was on the 2006 Nebraska National Championship team and was Cook’s assistant coach from 2012-2016.

“Coming back here was pretty special. I love this place, and I have a lot of amazing memories here,” Busboom Kelly said. “But it was awesome to bring a team that I’m so confident in, and they’re so confident in themselves and to get to challenge Nebraska. It was really cool to see us rise to that challenge.”

Louisville, now 10-0, hit .255 as a team, including a .375 clip in the final set. Middle blocker Anna Stevenson led the way with 11 kills, one error and a .588 hitting percentage. She also had two solo blocks and four block assists.

Outside hitters Anna DeBeer and Aiko Jones each had 10 kills. Jones had seven block assists, adding to a team total of 12 total blocks. Tillman had one solo block and five block assists.

Louisville dominated Nebraska the entire match and as Cook said, NU couldn’t find a way to respond.