NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team won its fourth straight match with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-14) sweep of Rutgers on Wednesday night at College Avenue Gymnasium.
Five different Huskers had at least six kills in the match, as Nebraska (11-1, 3-0 Big Ten) hit a season-best .468. Nicklin Hames had 34 assists and seven digs to lead the Huskers. Their hitting percentage was their best in a Big Ten match since hitting .480 against Rutgers on Nov. 12, 2017.
Lexi Sun had a match-high 12 kills on a career-best .800 hitting percentage, and Madi Kubik had nine kills while hitting .316, the best mark of her freshman season.
Jazz Sweet had eight kills, and Callie Schwarzenbach posted seven kills on nine swings for a .778 hitting percentage. Sweet, Schwarzenbach and Lauren Stivrins all had three blocks in the match. Stivrins added six kills on .556 hitting.
NU had a 28-22 advantage in digs and 6-4 edge in blocks. Nebraska held Rutgers (6-8, 0-3 Big Ten) to .112 hitting for the match.
The Huskers return home to play their first Big Ten conference home match on Saturday at 7 p.m. against No. 13 Wisconsin. The match will be televised on BTN and can be heard on the Husker Sports Network. Fans attending Saturday’s match are encouraged to arrive early to avoid potential traffic and parking issues after Nebraska’s 3 p.m. football game against Northwestern.
Set 1: The Huskers had eight kills in their first 10 attacks, but Rutgers hit .500 on its first 10 attacks and a pair of service errors by NU had the score tied at 9-9. Stivrins recorded back-to-back kills and NU finally gained separation with a 12-9 lead. Kills by Sun and Hames and an ace by Stivrins increased the lead to 16-11. Sweet posted three kills to help NU go up 21-13, but a 3-0 run by Rutgers cut it to 21-16. After a timeout, the Huskers scored the final four points of the set, including kills by Kubik and Sweet. NU hit .615 in the set with 19 kills and three errors on 26 swings.
Set 2: Sweet recorded a kill and a block with Stivrins to boost the Huskers to a 7-3 advantage early. Rutgers pulled within 12-10, but the Huskers went back up by four, 14-10, on another kill by Sweet. NU pulled ahead 19-11 after Schwarzenbach had a kill and a solo block, and Sweet and Stivrins tallied another block together. Anezka Szabo subbed in late in the set and posted a block with Schwarzenbach, and a serve by Nicole Drewnick was mishandled by the Scarlet Knights to give the Huskers a 25-15 win. NU hit .400 in set two and held Rutgers to .000 hitting.
Set 3: Sun and Schwarzenbach struck back-to-back kills to give Nebraska a 9-7 lead, and they each added kills to push the lead to three at 12-9. Two kills by Sweet and a solo block by Stivrins pushed the lead to 17-10. Megan Miller served an ace, and Sun added a couple more kills as the Huskers pulled away to a 25-14 win in the final set.
