Nebraska volleyball opens NCAA Tournament with sound sweep of Delaware State

Nebraska volleyball opened the postseason in style on Thursday night and swept Delaware State 25-15, 25-9, 25-10.

The Huskers were relatively short-handed in the match, too. Nicklin Hames was in street clothes while outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein missed the first two sets due to an illness that kept her out of practice until Wednesday.

But, Ally Batenhorst, Lindsay Krause and Nebraska’s defense were there to pick up the slack.

“We’re gonna get to keep playing,” head coach John Cook said. “That’s all that really matters in all this. We took care of business. I talked to our team about being a good defensive team and they did a good job on Delaware (State) tonight.”

A win like this comes at a great time for the Huskers on the heels of last week’s Big Ten title disappointment. But, the regular season is in the past.

“We know that nothing that happened in those 10 weeks can affect what we do these six matches,” Krause said. “It’s a completely new season and coming into this week we know that you have to respect your opponent like you do any team in the Big Ten.”

Both teams entered the night with the best opponent hitting percentages in the country. The Huskers’ led the category holding opponents to a .129 clip compared to .132 for Delaware State. Yet it was the Nebraska’s defense that ultimately prevailed. Nebraska posted 15 blocks surrendered a -.108 hitting percentage in front of a hearty Husker crowd at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

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Nebraska struggled to separate in the early going. Huskers led Hornets 9-8 before ripping off a 6-1 run bolstered by a pair of blocks and an attack error from Delaware State’s Alondra Maldonado. Halfway through the first, Nebraska led 15-9.

The Huskers set Ally Batenhorst early and often in the match’s opening set.

The sophomore was set 14 times in the first 30 rallies compiling four kills and adding a block. Fellow underclassmen Bekka Allick followed Batenhorst’s fourth kill with a termination of her own to force a Hornet timeout.

Nebraska led it 19-13 after the stoppage and didn’t look back. The Huskers closed the set on a 4-0 run and sealed the deal with a Kaityln Hord block to win it 25-15.

“They were setting the ball literally on a line,” Cook said. “Their hitters are quick so it took our block awhile to adjust to that speed.”

Nebraska hit .250 in the set compared to Delaware State’s .024 hitting percentage. Batenhorst’s four kills led the way for the Huskers and the newly-minted six rotation player was set in 15 of Nebraska’s first 32 attack attempts. Maldonado paced the Hornets with three kills but hit -.111 with four attack errors.

The night’s defensive battle began as advertised. But, it quickly became a one-sided affair. The Huskers tallied six blocks in the first set and out-dug Delaware State 19-16.

NU started slow again in the second, but the Huskers heated up fast after an initial Hornet challenge.

A 3-0 Delaware State scoring run capped by a service ace from Alayna Lacy forced Nebraska’s first timeout of the match leading 9-8. What came next was an immediate jump in intensity from John Cook’s squad. The Huskers responded with a 7-0 spurt of their own that pushed the lead to 16-8 and featured a pair of aces from Batenhorst.

“She’s got a great serve when she turns it loose,” Cook said of Batenhorst. “She’s got to turn it loose in matches. I see it in practices every day and she made some nice runs tonight.”

The Hornets stopped the run with a Danielle Allen kill, but that was the final rally Delaware State claimed in the set. Nebraska took the final nine exchanges in the second for a 25-9 win. Overall, the Huskers outpaced the Hornets 16-1 post timeout.

The disparity in hitting percentages swung even further Nebraska’s way in the second game. The Huskers hit .522 to the Hornets -.156 and NU added four more blocks.

Nebraska maintained its momentum into the third, building a healthy 8-2 lead. Three of those eight points came on blocks. The Huskers cruised to victory from there. Hornet head coach Dr. Bruce Atkinson attempted to rally the troops with Nebraska ahead 18-5 but to no avail. The Huskers earned the sweep with a 25-10 win in the third and won 41 of 52 rallies following Cook’s only timeout of the match.

“We had a lot of big runs,” Cook said. “I think on only one of them we missed a serve to end it. We kept running them until they made a side out.”

At night’s end, Nebraska had either forced or benefited from 30 Delaware State attack errors. Four of the Hornets’ top five attackers hit negative and three of those attackers had more than 20 attempts.

The Huskers hit .341 for the match and Krause led the way 10 kills, seven of which came in the final set. Hord boosted the Nebraska defense with nine total blocks.

The newly named All-Big Ten Second-Team middle said discipline was key, along with keeping her block low and over as opposed to high.

“Once we started setting up in a good spot, I think our defense was able to read around us,” Hord said. “Lexi (Rodriguez), as per usual, went off and so did a lot of other people who came in.”

The Huskers will face Kansas in the second round on Friday night. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Nebraska downed the Jayhawks in a spring exhibition earlier this year (26-24, 18-25, 25-16, 25-17). The Huskers will have to prepare quickly.

“We’re playing tomorrow,” Cook said. “That’s the take. Stats don’t matter anymore. All that matters is we win.”