Nebraska advances to Second Round with sweep of Morgan State

Lincoln, Neb. -- The University of Nebraska advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 15-1, 15-2, 15-0 victory over Morgan State in front of a crowd of 4,154 fans at the Nebraska Coliseum on Friday night.

The Huskers, the No. 1 seed in the Pacific Region, will play Utah, a 15-12, 15-11, 15-5 winner over Illinois State in the other first round match tonight, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the NU Coliseum.

On the night, the Huskers hit an impressive .486, while Morgan State struggled hitting just .011. Nebraska was led by sophomore outside hitter Nancy Meendering who had a match-high eight kills and hit .250. The Honey Bears were led by senior middle blocker Tiffany Pickens, who had seven kills.

In game three, Nebraska dominated throughout as the Huskers didn't allow a point in a 15-0 win. Nebraska hit .556 in the third game, while MSU struggled to a minus-.091 hitting percentage.

Morgan State took the lead 1-0 in game two on a Dorothy Buford kill, before the Huskers roared back to score the games next 14 points. MSU fought off one Nebraska game point and cut into the lead at 14-2 before a kill by NU sophomore Nancy Meendering ended the game at 15-2. In the second game, Meendering had six kills and hit .417.

The Huskers were on fire in game two hitting .552, with only two attacking errors, while Morgan State improved to a .147 hitting percentage and had 10 kills, four by Tiffany Pickens.

In the first game, Nebraska took a 4-0 lead before the Honey Bears scored a point when Nebraska setter Fiona Nepo failed to connect a set attempt to outside hitter Nancy Meendering. The Huskers kept the pressur up and took an 11-1 lead on a kill by senior Jaime Krondak. The Huskers won the game 15-1 in 11 minutes when a shot by Morgan State's Dorothy Buford sailed long.

The Huskers hit .360 in the first game and made only two errors. The Honey Bears hit minus .065 and had four kills while making six errors.

Nebraska (29-1) Match Notes:
* The three points were the fewest allowed in a match in school history since the best-of-five format began. The previous best was six, which the Huskers have posted seven times in school history.

* The three points allowed by the Huskers were also the fewest scored against the Huskers in an NCAA match. The previous low was 12 scored by Cornell in the first round of the 1993 tournament.

* It was the 32nd time in school history the Huskers allowed zero points in game (15-0 in game three).

* The Huskers' .486 was the third highest this season. NU hit .506 against Kansas and .500 against Oklahoma.

* Nebraska played all 12 roster players tonight.