The fourth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team ends non-conference action at Iowa State on Saturday at 4 p.m. The match will be streamed online for a fee through Cyclones.com. John Baylor and Lindsay Peterson will have the radio call on the Husker Sports Network (107.3 FM in Lincoln and 105.9 FM in Omaha). A free live audio stream and live stats will also be available at Huskers.com.
The Huskers swept Creighton at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha on Tuesday night. Nebraska has won five straight matches since a five-set loss at Texas on Sept. 4. The last four Husker wins have all come in sweeps. A Husker win on Saturday would give them a 9-1 start to the season, which would be the best since 2011 when the Huskers began 18-1.
Iowa State enters the match with a 7-3 overall record. The Cyclones began the season ranked 21st in the AVCA Top 25 Poll but dropped out after an opening-weekend loss to Marquette (0-3). Iowa State also lost at Virginia (2-3) and at Iowa (1-3). The Cyclones do own a win over then-No. 25 Texas A&M (3-1) and have swept their last two matches against Milwaukee and UNI.
Nebraska leads the all-time series, 80-2. The Huskers swept the last meeting between the teams on Sept. 14, 2013 in Lincoln, 25-13, 25-22, 27-25. The Huskers will be making their first visit to the Hilton Coliseum since Sept. 15, 2012, when the Cyclones upset the No. 1 Huskers, 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 25-21). NU head coach John Cook is 25-2 all-time against Iowa State and is 14-2 against the Cyclones in the Christy Johnson-Lynch era (since 2005). Johnson-Lynch was a two-time AVCA All-American setter at Nebraska and a 1995 national champion.
About the Huskers
• Nebraska leads the Big Ten with a .306 hitting percentage. NU ranked fourth in the nation in hitting entering the week. The Huskers are also third in the Big Ten and sixth nationally in kills per set (14.69).
• Nebraska hit .350 or better in four straight matches from Sept. 5 to Sept. 12. The last time the Huskers had hit .350 or better in four straight matches was Aug. 26 to Sept. 12, 2012.
• Setter Kelly Hunter guides the Husker offense with 11.25 assists per set. The sophomore had a career-high 57 assists and nine kills in the comeback win against Oregon on Sept. 5. Hunter was named the B1G Setter of the Week on Aug. 31 and Nebraska Invitational MVP on opening weekend.
• True freshman outside hitter Mikaela Foecke has put together a special run in her past three matches. The West Point, Iowa native has totaled 38 kills in that stretch with just two hitting errors for a .571 hitting percentage. Foecke earned Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday and has five straight matches of double-digit kills. Foecke leads the team with 90 kills and averages 2.81 per set. She became the first Husker with double-digit kills and at least a .550 hitting percentage in back-to-back matches since Brooke Delano in 2010.
• Outside hitter Kelsey Fien, an All-Big performer in 2014, is averaging 3.15 kills per set with a .349 hitting percentage. Fien matched her career-high 19 kills and hit .390 against Oregon on Sept. 5.
• Two-time All-American Kadie Rolfzen is putting up 3.11 kills per set along with 2.57 digs per set. The junior has 27 career double-doubles.
• Libero Justine Wong-Orantes averages 4.16 digs per set and has not made a reception error in her past two matches.
• Middle blocker Amber Rolfzen leads the team with 29 blocks and 1.61 per set. She had seven in the win over UC Davis last Friday and a season-best eight against Georgia Tech last Saturday. She added six more against Creighton on Tuesday.
Scouting Iowa State
The Cyclones are led offensively by true freshman Jess Schaben. The Defiance, Iowa native averages 3.42 kills per set and broke the ISU record for kills by a freshman with 28 in a win over Appalachian State on Sept. 4, earning Big 12 Rookie of the Week. Ciara Capezio adds 2.89 kills per set and 2.63 digs per set. The Cyclones get solid production out of their middle blockers. At the Comfort Suites Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa last weekend, Alexis Conaway averaged 1.82 kills and 1.00 blocks per set while hitting .462. Samara West had 12 kills and hit .632 in the loss to Iowa. For the season, West puts up 2.47 kills per set. Libero Caitlin Nolan, a 2014 AVCA third-team All-American, leads the Big 12 in digs with 5.66 per set. Her 34 digs in a win against Appalachian State this season are the most by a Big 12 player this year. Nolan had 29 digs in the three-set sweep of UNI on Wednesday night.