by Lincoln – The No. 3 Nebraska volleyball team fell for the second straight night, as No. 16 Wisconsin posted a 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-22) win on Saturday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
The Huskers dropped to 16-4 overall and 7-3 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin improved to 14-6 and 6-4 in the Big Ten.
Mikaela Foecke had 15 kills and seven digs for the Huskers. Kadie Rolfzen had 13 kills and nine digs. Rolfzen’s seventh kill of the match, which came early in the second set, was the 1,000th of her career and made her the 21st player in Husker history to reach 1,000 career kills. She is the ninth Husker to do so before her senior season.
Amber Rolfzen had nine kills, and Alicia Ostrander (Oglala-Lakota) had seven. Kelly Hunter had 49 assists and 10 digs. Justine Wong-Orantes had 28 digs.
For Wisconsin, Kelli Bates had 16 kills and 14 digs, while Lauryn Gillis had 14 kills and 19 digs. Lauren Carlini had 49 assists, eight digs and five blocks.
The Huskers committed a season-high 35 attack errors and hit a season-low .133. Wisconsin hit .253 and outblocked NU 15-8, matching the season high by a Husker opponent.
Set 1: Wisconsin led early on, including at 13-11, but the Huskers strung together a 7-0 run on the back of Annika Albrecht’s serve, with three kills by Foecke and a kill and block by Kadie Rolfzen to take an 18-13 lead. Wisconsin pulled back to within 22-21 before Kelsey Fien got a kill and Kadie Rolfzen blasted two more for the 25-21 Husker win.
Set 2: Wisconsin controlled the second set to claim a 25-17 win and even the match. The Badgers hit .429 and held NU to .158. Wisconsin took a 7-3 lead and never let NU get closer than three points the rest of the way.
Set 3: Nebraska rallied from 12-8 down to tie the set 13-13. Amber Rolfzen and Kelly Hunter each had a kill and block in that stretch. The Badgers scored four straight to break a 14-14 tie and lead 18-14. Consecutive Husker hitting errors gave Wisconsin a 22-17 lead. The Badgers finished off the 25-19 win, as the Huskers committed 10 attack errors for the second straight set.
Set 4: The Huskers turned up their block in game four to take a 16-13 lead, as the crowd came to life after a Hunter/Amber Rolfzen stuff. Wisconsin came right back to tie it 16-16 and took an 18-17 lead on a block. After an Amber Rolfzen kill tied it, the Badgers went up 20-18 on two kills by Gillis. The Badgers pulled ahead 22-19 before an Alicia Ostrander kill. The Badgers hit into the net and Wong-Orantes served an ace to pull NU within 23-22. But a serve into the net out of a timeout gave Wisconsin match point, and Bates sealed it with a kill.
Up Next: The Huskers are home again next weekend with Rutgers on Friday (7 p.m., NET) and Maryland on Saturday (7 p.m., NET).
