Nebraska Block Stops Illinois in Sweep

Normal, Ill. ? The seventh-ranked Nebraska volleyball team used a dominant blocking performance to sweep Illinois, 30-27, 30-20, 30-20, Saturday morning in the Barker GMC Classic at Redbird Arena. The Huskers tallied 20 team blocks, a mark they achieved just once in 2002 with one of the best blocking teams in school history.

Junior right side hitter Ally Rebholz led the blocking effort with a career-high 11 stops, including three solo blocks. Rebholz' previous best was five. Sophomore middle blocker Melissa Elmer tied her career best with nine total blocks.

Senior libero Jenae Dowling backed up the Husker block with a career-high 20 digs.

With the win, NU improved to 2-0 on the season. The Huskers, who defeated Clemson Friday night, continue tournament action tonight when they face Illinois State a 7 p.m. at Redbird Arena.

'We knew that we were going to be one-on-one a lot with their left sides,' Cook said. 'Their middles were so tall that we had to commit there, so we challenged Ally and Kelsey (Fautsch) to shut down the outsides. What they did was very difficult. It was really the most impressive job I've seen of right-side blocking for quite some time.'

Nebraska tallied nine blocks in game after recording nine for the match against Clemson Friday night. Elmer and Rebholz led the effort with five and four, respectively, in game one.

The Huskers trailed most of game one after falling behind, 8-2, early. Illinois led 25-22 after NU committed back-to-back ball-handling errors. But after Cook called a timeout, Nebraska scored five straight. Senior outside hitter Anna Schrad started the rally with a kill, and after Rebholz blocked Melissa Vandrey, Elmer tied the score at 25 with a kill. Two more blocks gave NU a two-point lead. Nebraska secured the 30-27 first-game victory on an Illinois hitting error.

NU led throughout game two and wrapped up a 30-20 win with a four-point run. Rebholz and Elmer each pounded kills, and the two combined for back-to-back blocks to end the game. The Huskers hit .385 in game two compared to ..231 in the first game.

Game three went much the same way. With the score tied 17-17, Schrad served six straight to give NU a 24-17 advantage. Nebraska finished the game and the match on a kill from Rebholz.

Schrad finished with 12 kills and 12 digs, her first double-double of the season. Elmer had nine kills, and Rebholz added seven.

Vandrey led Illinois with 12 kills but hit minus -.041. Illinois hit .033 as a team.