Box score LJS OWH Corn Nation Daily Nebraskan Hail Varsity Pitt BBS Photos LJS* OWH* |
Albrecht | Rolfzen | Wong-Orantes |
----------------------------- 1 2 3 4 Pitt (NR) 9 20 29 19 NEBRASKA (5) 25 25 27 25 ----------------------------- |
The fifth-ranked Huskers improved to 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2012. Tournament MVP Kelly Hunter led NU with a career-high 50 assists, 11 digs and eight kills. Annika Albrecht had a career-high 18 kill and 10 digs, while Kadie Rolfzen - also an All-Tournament team member - had 17 kills and six digs. Justine Wong-Orantes, NU's third All-Tournament team honoree, had 19 digs. Mikaela Foecke and Amber Rolfzen each added seven kills and four blocks, while Cecilia Hall had six kills and four blocks, as NU set a season high with 10 blocks.
Pittsburgh (2-1) was led by Kadi Kullerkann's 12 kills. Casey Durham added 10.
NU outhit Pitt .278 to .103, as the Huskers held their three opponents over the weekend to a combined .107 hitting percentage.
The Huskers put together a 17-2 run to close out an emphatic 25-9 first-set victory. The Huskers led 8-7 but reeled off nine straight points with two kills by Albrecht and Foecke and one each from Kadie and Amber Rolfzen. Nebraska hit .333 and held Pitt to a -.054 clip. Six different Huskers had kills in the set, with five registering at least two kills.
Nebraska led for good in the second set after taking a 2-1 lead and stretching it to 18-12 on a Hunter kill. After Pitt pulled it back to 19-17, the Huskers got two kill by Kadie Rolfzen and two straight attack errors by Pitt to go up 23-17. Foecke capped off the set with a kill for a 25-20 win and 2-0 Husker lead.
The Huskers encountered their toughest challenge so far this season in set three, as Pittsburgh built a 14-8 lead courtesy of four straight points off blocks, three by Kullerkann and Amanda Orchard. Trailing 16-11, the Huskers used their block to put together a 6-0 run to take the lead, with Hall contributing two and Foecke one in the comeback. Pitt regained an 18-17 lead with a Husker service error and then a service ace off the net by Mariah Bell. The Panthers extended the lead to 21-18, but Albrecht swung Nebraska back into the game with two straight kills to get within 21-20. Albrecht and Amber Rolfzen teamed up for a block to tie the set at 21-21. The teams traded points back and forth to 27-27, when Maria Genitsaridi and Durham got back-to-back kills to give Pitt the 29-27 win.
Nebraska took a 6-4 lead in the fourth, but a 4-0 run by Pitt gave the Panthers an 8-6 edge. The Huskers responded to take a 13-12 lead on a tip kill by Meghan Haggerty after a long rally, then Brooke Smith served up an ace for a 14-12 lead and the Huskers tacked on another block by Haggerty and Hunter. The Huskers went up 18-13 on another block, this time by Haggerty and Foecke. The Huskers didn't let Pitt within five the rest of the way in claiming a 25-19 win.
Nebraska hits the road for the first time this season with a pair of top-15 matchups at the VERT Challenge in Austin, Texas next weekend. Nebraska will play No. 3 Texas on Friday at 6 p.m., and No. 13 Oregon on Saturday at 5 p.m.