The fourth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team will play its first Big Ten home match of the season against Iowa on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers and Hawkeyes are meeting for the second time in four days, as Nebraska earned a hard-fought sweep at Iowa on Wednesday night, 25-23, 25-20, 25-23. Saturday’s match will be streamed online with a HuskersNSide subscription at Huskers.com. John Baylor and Diane Mendenhall 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 are 10-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten after Wednesday’s sweep at Iowa. It marks the best start since 2011, when the Huskers went 18-1 to begin the year. In Wednesday’s win, Kadie Rolfzen had 14 kills and 10 digs with a .387 hitting percentage to lead the Big Red. Amber Rolfzen added 10 kills and three blocks, and the Huskers hit .284 as a team to .243 for Iowa. Nebraska had to battle back from a 17-10 deficit in set one and 6-1 deficit in set two for those victories. Iowa put together a rally of its own in the third set to tie it 22-22, but NU prevailed down the stretch.
Iowa enters the match 10-4 (0-1 Big Ten) and had its eight-match win streak snapped by the Huskers on Wednesday night. Iowa is receiving 24 votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll, putting them six spots outside the Top 25. Of the Hawkeyes’ four losses this season, three are to teams currently ranked in the top 13 (No. 4 Nebraska, No. 11 Hawaii and No. 13 UCLA). Iowa is 3-3 away from home this season and 0-2 in true road matches.
Nebraska leads the all-time series 21-0. Nineteen of the 21 meetings have resulted in Husker sweeps, including Wednesday’s matchup in Iowa City. The last time Iowa took a set from the Huskers was Sept. 5, 1987. John Cook is 21-2 all-time vs. Iowa and 9-0 while coaching at Nebraska.
About the Huskers
• The Huskers are hitting .294 on the season to rank second in the Big Ten and 10th nationally.
• Nebraska averages 14.90 kills per set, which ranks second in the conference and third in the nation. The Huskers also rank second in the conference in digs per set (16.15).
• Nebraska had a season-best 12 blocks at Iowa State last Saturday, 10 coming in the final two sets. After averaging 1.96 blocks per set through the first seven matches, NU has put together 3.1 blocks per set over the last four matches.
• Two-time All-American Kadie Rolfzen is putting up a team-best 3.29 kills per set along with 2.83 digs per set. The junior has 29 career double-doubles. Rolfzen recorded a career-high eight blocks at Iowa State last Saturday and was rewarded with Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
• Middle blocker Amber Rolfzen leads the team with 39 blocks. Her 1.56 blocks per set ranks second in the Big Ten and seventh nationally.
• True freshman outside hitter Mikaela Foecke averages 2.82 kills per set with a .341 hitting percentage, the best by an NU outside hitter. Foecke has won two straight Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week honors. In two matches on Sept. 12, Foecke 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.
• Setter Kelly Hunter guides the Husker attack with 11.41 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. She has a team-best four double-doubles, the latest coming at Iowa State last Saturday with a career-high 17 digs.
• Libero Justine Wong-Orantes averages 4.13 digs per set and has not made a reception error in her past four matches.
• Outside hitter Kelsey Fien, an All-Big performer in 2014, is averaging 2.81 kills per set with a .298 hitting percentage. Fien matched her career-high 19 kills and hit .390 against Oregon on Sept. 5.
Scouting Iowa
Iowa is led by 3.73 kills per set from junior outside hitter Lauren Brobst. Sophomore middle blocker Jess Janota adds 3.08 kills per set, while fellow middle Mikaela Gunderson chips in 2.14 kills and 0.92 blocks per set. The Hawkeyes are a vastly different team from last year’s 14-17 squad. Three starters returned, but Iowa welcomed in three transfers who are playing major roles this season. Annika Olsen, a sophomore defensive specialist from Georgia Tech, leads the team with 4.76 digs per set. Junior setter Loxley Keala, a Missouri transfer, records 11.63 assists per set and 1.98 digs per set. Finally, Ashley Mariani, a junior from Tennessee, contributes 1.88 kills per set and 0.55 blocks per set. Those three have played in every set for Iowa this season.
Wong-Orantes Moving Up Career Digs Chart
Junior Justine Wong-Orantes ranks 11th in school history with 1,014 career digs entering the match and needs 18 to move into the top 10. Wong-Orantes surpassed 1,000 career digs at Iowa State on Sept. 19, becoming the fastest Husker to reach 1,000 digs, doing so in just 75 matches.
Rolfzen Closing in on 1,000 Kills
Junior Kadie Rolfzen enters the match with 897 career kills. She is aiming to become the 21st player in Husker history to reach 1,000 career kills and just the ninth to do so before her senior season. The last Husker to reach the 1,000-kill plateau before her senior season was Jordan Larson as a junior in 2007.