The 10th-seeded Nebraska volleyball team advanced to its 10th straight NCAA Regional Final with a 3-0 sweep of Illinois Thursday night at Texas' Gregory Gymnasium. The Huskers never trailed in set one but had to come from behind in each of the final two sets en route to posting the 25-12, 25-21, 25-17 win.
After winning the first set easily, Nebraska trailed 12-6 in set two before storming back with an 18-5 run. NU led 24-17 after the run but Illinois fought off four set points before the Huskers finally finished off the set. Nebraska then trailed 13-10 in the third set, but the Huskers won eight of the next nine rallies to take the lead and outscored the Illini 15-4 over the final 19 rallies of the match.
With the win, Nebraska (24-7) advances to face Texas on Saturday in the Regional Final. Illinois ended its season with a 22-12 record, including three losses to the Big Red.
Kayla Caffey and Madi Kubik led Nebraska with 11 kills apiece. Kubik committed only two errors and hit .290, while Caffey had 11 kills on only 19 swings and hit .529. Her 11 kills were a career-high for an NCAA Tournament match, and she also led all players with five blocks. Lindsay Krause, who had kills on seven of her first eight swings, finished with eight kills on .429 hitting and added three blocks. Ally Batenhorst had six kills for the Big Red, while Kenzie Knuckles and Lauren Stivrins each had three service aces. Nicklin Hames dished out 33 assists and added 10 digs for her team-leading 21st double-double, while Keonilei Akana had a match-high 13 digs.
Nebraska hit .260 in the match and had 15 more kills than Illinois (41-26). The Huskers also outblocked the Illini 6-5, outdug Illinois 51-47 and had twice as many services aces (8-4). Nebraska held Illinois to a .088 attack percentage, the Illini's second-lowest mark of the season. Kennedy Collins led Illinois with eight kills, and Jessica Nunge added seven kills and 10 digs.
Set 1
Nebraska opened to an early advantage and led 5-1 after a Knuckles ace. Illinois got within one by 7-6 before kills by Kubik and Stivrins bookended a 4-0 Husker run to make it 11-6.
Midway through the set, Stivrins served a 7-0 Husker tear -- including two aces -- and four Illini errors in that span helped push the NU lead to 18-9. Illinois got no closer than seven the rest of the way, and the Huskers capped the set on a 6-0 run with Knuckles at the service line. A Krause kill finished it off, 25-12.
Nebraska, which never trailed, hit .250 in the set with the help of four kills on five swings for Krause, who added two blocks. NU held Illinois to negative hitting at -.057.
Set 2
It was Illinois who got the upper hand in set two as NU had five attack errors on its first 13 swings. Three straight Illini kills spotted UI a 12-6 edge before NU took a timeout.
The Huskers came back with a vengeance, putting down five straight kills -- three from Caffey and one each from Batenhorst and Krause. With NU threatening at 12-11, Illinois called for a timeout of its own. Hames came out of the break to knot the set on an ace, and Krause and Kubik combined for three consecutive kills to assume NU's first lead at 15-13.
After back-to-back Kubik kills pushed it to 18-15, a Batenhorst kill and two Illini errors extended it to 21-17. NU kept punching with a five-point spurt -- which made the overall run 18-5 -- to reach set point at 24-17, but the Illini responded with four straight kills to cut it to 24-21. After an NU timeout, Batenhorst put it away with a kill for the 25-21 win and a two-set lead.
NU hit .263 in the set. Caffey had six kills on 10 swings in the set and hit at .500 clip. Krause, who then had seven kills on her first eight swings of the match, had no errors through the first two sets. Akana accounted for seven of her digs in set two.
Set 3
Kubik was Hames' main target in the third set, registering six kills on .312 hitting. Caffey attacked at a 1.000 clip with four kills on four swings and added three blocks.
Nebraska broke out of a 13-10 deficit with a 5-0 run with two kills apiece from Caffey and Kubik and a Knuckles ace, and the Huskers never trailed again. Illinois closed the gap to one at 15-14 but NU won the next three rallies on two kills from Kubik and an ace from Lexi Rodriguez. The Huskers won six of the final seven rallies of the match, closing it out on a kill from Caffey.
Up Next
Nebraska will face No. 2 seed Texas on Saturday in the NCAA Regional Final. First serve is set for 9 p.m., with television coverage on ESPNU and radio coverage on the Huskers Radio Network.
Nebraska Post-Match Notes
- With the win over Illinois, Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional Final for the 10th consecutive season and for the 31st time in its 40 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances.
- Nebraska's 31 appearances in a Regional Final are the most in NCAA history, two more than Stanford (29). The Huskers' streak of 10 consecutive NCAA Regional Finals is the longest active streak in the country, six more than Wisconsin (4).
- The Huskers advanced to an NCAA Regional Final for the 19th time in 22 seasons under head coach John Cook.
- With the win, Nebraska improved to 121-34 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in postseason wins and winning percentage (.781).
- Nebraska improved to 31-6 all-time in NCAA Regional Semifinal matches.
- Nebraska took a 2-0 lead on Illinois. The Huskers improved to 92-1 in the NCAA Tournament when winning the first two sets. Nebraska has won 90 consecutive postseason matches when taking a 2-0 lead.
- The Huskers improved to 57-1 all-time against unranked opponents in the NCAA Tournament. Overall, Nebraska has won 86 consecutive matches against unranked opponents dating back to the 2017 regular season.
- John Cook improved to 88-22 in his NCAA Tournament career. He ranks third in NCAA history in career postseason victories and second among active coaches behind Penn State's Russ Rose.
- Cook is now 80-17 in the NCAA Tournament as Nebraska's head coach. His .825 postseason winning percentage at Nebraska is the top mark in NCAA history among any coach with at least 20 NCAA Tournament matches at one school.
- With his 80th NCAA Tournament win at Nebraska tonight, Cook joined Penn State's Russ Rose as the only coaches to lead one program to 80 postseason victories.
- Nebraska defeated Illinois for the third time this season, marking the first time the Huskers have defeated the same opponent three times in a season since NU went 3-0 against Penn State during the 2016 season.
- The Huskers swept Illinois in all three meetings this season, marking the first time the Huskers have swept an opponent three times in the same season since NU swept both Iowa State and Oklahoma three times during the 1995 season.
- Nebraska never trailed in set one, and the Huskers won 14 of the final 17 rallies, turning an 11-9 advantage into a 25-12 win. NU scored the final six points of the set.
- In set two, Nebraska used an 18-5 run to turn a 12-6 deficit into a 24-17 lead.
- In set three, Nebraska had an 8-1 run that turned a 13-10 deficit into an 18-14 lead.
- Kayla Caffey had a match-high 11 kills and match-high five blocks. Her 11 kills were a career high for an NCAA Tournament match, including her time at Missouri.
- Lindsay Krause had seven kills on eight error-free swings in the first two sets and finished with eight kills.
- Lauren Stivrins had a season-high three aces in the match. Five of Strivrins' seven aces this season have come against the Illini.
- Kenzi Knuckles also had three aces, tying her season high. It was the fifth time this season Knuckles has had three aces in a match.
- Nicklin Hames recorded her 21st double-double of the season with 33 assists and 10 digs.
- Hames had 33 assists in the match, giving her 616 assists in her NCAA Tournament career. Hames is only the fourth Husker to total 600 career postseason assists.
- Hames had one service ace in the match, increasing her total to 18 aces in her NCAA Tournament career. Hames tied Jennifer Saleaumua (18) for third place in Nebraska history for postseason aces.
- Stivrins played in her 21st NCAA Tournament match against Illinois, moving into a four-way tie for third place in Nebraska history for career NCAA Tournament matches played.