Huskers Win 25th Straight in Sweep of Iowa State

Ames, Iowa. - The second-ranked Nebraska volleyball team ended the regular season in style, sweeping Iowa State, 30-12, 30-14, 30-21 Saturday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. The Huskers, who clinched the outright Big 12 title last week, finish the regular season with a 27-1 record, including a perfect 20-0 mark in conference play.

The Huskers head into the NCAA tournament on a roll, winning its last 25 matches. The victory also extended its streak of consecutive victories over Big 12 teams to 50, dating back to the 1999 season.

Junior Laura Pilakowski paced the Husker attack with a game-high 13 kills, while junior middle blocker Amber Holmquist added 10 kills on 17 attacks for NU in the victory. Junior setter Greichaly Cepero nearly added a triple-double in the three-game sweep, recording 31 assists, nine digs and nine kills, hitting .750 on 12 attacks. The Huskers hit over .300 in all three games before finishing the contest with a .393 hitting percentage.

In the opening stanza NU jumped out to a quick 3-0 advantage, before the Cyclones countered, scoring two-straight points of their own. Nebraska would then go on to outscore ISU 7-1 in the next eight points and held a 10-3 lead. NU wouldn't look back, expanding its advantage to 26-10 and then a block by Amber Holmquist and Anna Schrad secured game one, 30-12. Dalager drilled three kills and notched two digs to help the Cyclones cause in the opening set.

The Cyclones hung with NU in the early stages of game two, as neither squad was able to build a sizable advantage until NU took a 17-11 edge at the midpoint of the set. Nebraska increased its lead to 23-12 and then held match point at 29-13. ISU's Dana Koziol registered her only kill of the match to hold off the Huskers on the first game point, but NU eventually claimed game two, 30-14.

Game three proved to be the most competitive set of the night. NU jumped out to a quick 6-2 advantage, but ISU chipped away and eventually cut the Huskers lead to 15-14. Mandi Harms led the Cyclones charge, pounding two of her final five kills in that span. NU responded to Iowa State's comeback, outscoring the Cyclones 7-2 in the next nine points to take a 22-16 lead. The Huskers widened their margin to 25-17, before back-to-back kills from Harms and Sara Stribe cut the lead to 25-19. The Huskers eventually secured the match as Holmquist notched her 10th kill of the day to win the final game, 30-21.

Freshman Brittany Dalager paced ISU with 10 kills and nine digs, as the Cyclones concluded its season with a 4-22 mark, including a 1-19 mark in league play.

The Huskers will learn their NCAA fate Monday afternoon. The pairings will be announced at 2 p.m. The selection show will be broadcast live on NETV2, and can be seen on the satellite (C-Band, Telstar 5, Transponder 23) Telstar 5 is located 97 degrees west on the satellite orbital chart. The downlink frequency is 4160 MHz (V).