Huskers Beat Washington
to Reach NCAA Semifinals
 Hunter |  Rolfzen |  Rolfzen |
-----------------------------
1 2 3 4
Washington (1) 17 25 20 21
NEBRASKA (5) 25 21 25 25
----------------------------- | ||
The fourth-seeded Huskers qualified for their first NCAA Semifinals since 2008 by beating fifth-seeded and top-ranked Washington, 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21), on Saturday at Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum.
Next Thursday, Nebraska's 12th NCAA Semifinals appearance will occur at the same place the last two have - at the CenturyLink Center (formerly Qwest Center) in Omaha. Match times are set for 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 17, though which time slot the Huskers play in will be determined after the four teams are set. Nebraska will face the winner of No. 1 USC/No. 8 Kansas. The NCAA Championship match is set for Saturday, Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m.
All-session tickets to the NCAA Championship can be purchased here while they are still available. As of last week, about 1,700 all-session tickets remained.
In the regional final, setter Kelly Hunter led the Huskers (30-4) with 46 assists, seven kills, seven digs and six blocks. Hunter's distribution and timely attacks keyed Nebraska's surge to Omaha.
Kadie Rolfzen had 20 kills and 15 digs for her ninth straight postseason double-double, while Amber Rolfzen had nine kills, eight blocks and four digs. On the pins, Mikaela Foecke had 11 kills and Kelsey Fien had 10. Justine Wong-Orantes led the strong Husker back row again with 18 digs. Kenzie Maloney had seven, and Annika Albrecht added five.
Nebraska beat Washington in nearly every statistical category, including hitting (.296 to .204), blocks (12 to 11), digs (61 to 49) and service aces (seven to five).
Washington (31-3) was led by Lianna Sybeldon's 15 kills and six blocks.
Set 1: Nebraska came out of the gate on a mission. Kadie and Amber Rolfzen each had a kill and combined for two blocks to put NU up 7-3. The Husker block kept rolling as Amber Rolfzen and Fien added another before three straight kills made it 13-4. Washington went on a three-point run to get within 17-12, but a Foecke kill ended that spurt and Nebraska outscored Washington the rest of the way for a 25-17 win. Amber Rolfzen had four kills and three blocks in the set, as the Huskers won the hitting battle .304 to .148 and had four blocks in a dominant set.
Set 2: Washington built a 5-3 lead, but Nebraska erased it and took a 6-5 lead with two Amber Rolfzen kills. After back-and-forth rallies, the Huskers went up 12-8 an an Amber Rolfzen ace. The Huskies cut it to 12-11 before Hall ended the run with a kill. The teams battled back and forth, but Washington hit wide and Amber Rolfzen and Hunter teamed up for a block and a 19-17 Husker lead to force a UW timeout. The Huskies came out of the timeout with a 5-0 run to take a 22-19 lead, and Washington held on for the 25-21 win. Although the Huskers again had four blocks in the set, their hitting percentage dropped to .093 while UW hit .146.
Set 3: Washington got a pair of aces from Cassie Strickland to go up 6-2. The Huskers fought back to within 7-6 with some heavy hitting from Foecke, and an ace by Sydney Townsend tied it 8-8. The Huskers took their first lead of the set at 14-13, but Washington drew even on the next rally. But kills by Foecke and Fien pushed Nebraska in front, 16-14, and led to a dominating Husker finish. Nebraska went up by three, 19-16, on Hunter's sixth kill of the match. Hunter then served back-to-back aces for a 22-17 Husker lead. Fien ripped a kill for a 4-0 run and 23-17 NU lead. Kadie Rolfzen and Foecke closed out the set with kills for a 25-20 Husker win.
Set 4: One set away from Omaha, the Huskers weren't about to let it out of their grasp. NU jumped out to an 8-3 lead with three kills by Kadie Rolfzen, strong back row play and Hunter's timely attacks. A kill by Amber Rolfzen and block by Amber Rolfzen and Hunter gave the Huskers a 15-10 lead and forced a Washington timeout. Foecke and Amber combined for another block out of the timeout to make it 16-10. Kadie Rolfzen continued to fire away and put NU in front, 22-17. Washington cut it to 22-19, but the Huskers held strong and finished the job with a 25-21 win to clinch the first NCAA Semifinals bid.
Notes