The No. 5 Nebraska volleyball team heads to Michigan for its final two road matches of the Big Ten season this week. The Huskers and Wolverines will play Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) and Friday at 6 p.m. (CT) at Cliff Keen Arena. Both matches will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM with coverage on the Huskers Sports Network beginning at 6:30 on Thursday and beginning at 5:30 on Friday.
The Huskers led the Big Ten in defense last season and so far this season have picked up where they left off, holding opponents to .162 hitting to rank second in the conference behind only Wisconsin (.131).
• Nebraska’s .270 season hitting percentage ranks second in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin (.345).
• Nebraska ranks second in the conference in kills (14.18 per set), assists (12.90 per set) and fourth in digs (14.59 per set).
• Senior outside hitter Lexi Sun leads the Huskers with 3.98 kills per set with a team-high 16 service aces as well as 2.20 digs per set. She ranks fourth in the Big Ten in kills per set. Sun was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on March 8 after averaging 5.17 kills per set on .315 hitting in the two wins at Illinois. Sun earned the conference player of the week honor again on March 22 after 4.33 kills per set on .408 hitting in two sweeps over Iowa.
The Wolverines enter the week with a 4-5 record and have not played nine of their originally scheduled matches due to COVID-19. Michigan is coming off a pair of losses at Ohio State last weekend.
• Michigan is hitting .218 for the season and allowing opponents to hit .229. Those marks rank eighth and ninth, respectively, in the Big Ten.
• Michigan averages more kills (14.21) and assists (13.39) than any team in the Big Ten. The Wolverines rank last in the conference in blocks per set (1.43).
• Paige Jones leads Michigan with 3.84 kills per set. Jones was a first-team All-Big Ten player as a sophomore in 2019.
Nebraska leads the all-time series, 17-3, and has a nine-match win streak against the Wolverines. The Huskers are 14-2 against Michigan since joining the Big Ten. Nebraska swept Michigan in Lincoln the only time they met in 2019.
