The No. 6 Nebraska volleyball team (6-1) plays its final non-conference road match of the regular season this Tuesday, Sept. 14, visiting No. 16 Stanford. First serve in the Huskers’ third straight top-20 matchup is set for 7 p.m. CT at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.
Quick Hits
• After a midweek sweep of No. 19 Creighton last Wednesday, Nebraska saw its six-match win streak snapped Saturday night in a 3-2 loss to No. 20 Utah.
• The Huskers will have played four straight top-20 opponents in an 11-day span by the end of this week with No. 19 Creighton (Sept. 8), No. 20 Utah (Sept. 11), No. 16 Stanford (Sept. 14) and No. 5 Louisville (Sept. 18).
• Nebraska (2015, 2017), Stanford (2016, 2018, 2019) and Kentucky (2020) have claimed the last six national championships.
• Last Wednesday’s Nebraska-Creighton match was played in front of 11,279 fans at the CHI Health Center Omaha, marking the NCAA’s largest regular-season crowd this season and the 10th-largest regular-season, volleyball-only crowd in NCAA history.
• Nebraska has held its opponents to .120 hitting this season, the third-best mark in the Big Ten.
• Five of NU’s six freshmen have seen the court so far this year.
Scouting the Stanford Cardinal
Stanford is 4-2 on the season after splitting a pair of matches in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Eugene, Ore., last weekend. The Cardinal fell 3-1 to No. 13 Minnesota on Friday, then outlasted No. 18 Penn State 3-2 on Saturday. Stanford’s only other loss of the season was a 3-0 sweep at No. 1 Texas on Sept. 5.
Starting with Tuesday night’s Nebraska match, Stanford plays five of its next six matches at home.
Stanford finished 2-8 in a Pac-12-only schedule and missed the postseason for the first time in program history last spring, snapping a streak of 39 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Caitie Baird was named All-Pac-12 and earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, and Elena Oglivie was recognized with All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
Kevin Hambly is in his fifth season at the helm with a record of 100-19 at Stanford and a career mark of 278-105 over 13 years as a head coach.
Noting the Husker-Cardinal Series
In the rich history of Stanford and Nebraska matchups, the Cardinal leads the all-time series 10-6, including 4-4 in the John Cook era. Stanford has won the last three meetings.
The most recent Nebraska-Stanford contest was Sept. 18, 2019 at the Ameritas Players Challenge in Lincoln. It was a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2, as the top-ranked Huskers fell 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 17-25, 16-25). Madi Kubik had 14 kills to lead NU, and Lexi Sun and Lauren Stivrins added nine kills apiece. Sun and Kenzie Knuckles each posted 15 digs, and Nicklin Hames registered a double-double on 40 assists and 16 digs.
Other notables in the series:
• Nebraska’s last win over Stanford was Aug. 29, 2008 at the Runza/AVCA Showcase in Omaha, Neb., where the Huskers swept 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 26-24).
• The Huskers’ only other trip to Stanford was Oct. 12, 1990. The Cardinal won 3-0 (15-8, 15-10, 15-8).
