Nebraska volleyball survives Kansas 3-1, advances to Sweet 16

Nebraska volleyball punched its ticket to the Regional round on Friday night in a 25-14, 25-18, 19-25, 26-24, cardiac killer with Kansas.

The match marked the return for Nicklin Hames who had missed the last week with a rash of various afflictions. The setter has dealt with sickness as well as a head injury and tallied 25 assists against the Jayhawks.

“It’s hard to not be able to help your team,” Hames said. “I’m just super grateful that the trainers got me back and I’m able to play again.”

Getting back now carried a significant weight for the sixth-year senior.

“It’s out last game in Devaney, and I guess for me, ever,” Hames said. “It’s pretty special to be back out there with my team and I thought it was a really fun match. I mean, a lot of fun.”

Freshman middle Bekka Allick is the polar opposite playing in her first postseason. But like Hames, she has a good grip on the bigger picture.

“Honestly, I’m just really grateful,” Allick said. “I get to play with incredible women and incredible volleyball players and so I’m just trying to take it all in.”

There needs to be focus in the midst of that.

“I’m so curious as to the kind of person I become out of this,” she added. “This is one of those times where I think it’s really easy for someone in my position to shy away from it, or I could go to a whole new level and put myself in an even better position next season.”

Allick is well on her way. She gave head coach John Cook’s squad nine kills and three blocks in the win.

The Huskers achieved a number of milestones in the win. Nebraska picked up its 26th win of the season and has never lost to Kansas in 89 matches. Perhaps most importantly, it’s the 11th straight year Nebraska has reached the Sweet 16 and the 38th time in program history.

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The opening set wasn’t pretty.

Nebraska and Kansas combined for nine attack errors and four service errors in the first 21 rallies. But the Huskers picked up right where they left off on Thursday night and built a brick wall at the net. Nebraska tallied four blocks to build a 13-8 lead and force a Jayhawk timeout.

Cook’s squad kept the pressure on. The Huskers went on a 4-0 run featuring a pair of kills from Ally Batenhorst making it 17-9 midway through the first. Kansas drew within five with a 3-0 run, but the Jayhawks’ stretch of offensive futility continued and Nebraska claimed the opening set 25-14.

The Huskers were smothering on the defensive end holding Kansas to a -.250 hit percentage on 32 attacks. The Jayhawks had just two kills compared to 10 attack errors. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Nebraska. There were six NU attack errors in the first set along with five service errors.

Nebraska began to spread it around in the second.

The Huskers led 15-13 at the media timeout and had five attackers had three or more kills. Madi Kubik led the way with five kills closely followed by Batenhorst and Lindsay Krause with four apiece. Kansas boasted four players with two or more kills paced by Caroline Bien and her three kills.

Nebraska grew its lead with a six-point cushion on a 7-3 run highlighted by kills from five different Huskers. The Jayhawks fought off the first Husker set point, but Bekka Allick capitalized on a Kansas free ball to earn a kill and give Nebraska a 25-18 win.

Both teams cleaned up their act in the second go around. After totaling 12 combined kills in the first set, the Huskers and Jayhawks posted 31 for the subsequent stanza.

Back against the wall, Kansas put together its best set yet in the third. The Jayhawks forced a Nebraska timeout by winning four of five rallies and taking a 12-8 advantage. Kansas led by as many as five before a 3-0 Husker run cut the Jayhawk lead to 17-15.

Kansas weathered the storm. The Jayhawks fought off Nebraska for a 25-19 win in the set hitting .310 with only four attack errors. Rhian Swanson provided Kansas with six kills in the third and the Jayhawks kept their season alive.

“We had a tough time stopping them in the last two sets,” Hames said. “Their offense picked it up a little bit and we weren’t doing as well on defense.”

For a period, Nebraska got complacent.

“We realized we were really close to sealing the deal,” Allick said. “I think we sat back on our heels and they took advantage of that with junk balls and exploited our miscommunication. Kudos to them on that.”

Areas like this is where the Huskers miss senior defensive specialist Kenzie Knuckles. The Yorktown, Indiana, native had 177 digs this year along with 18 service aces.

“Game three we broke down in the back row with ball handling and passing,” Cook said. “That’s where Kenzie can be a difference maker.”

The fourth remained tightly contested until Kaitlyn Hord put together a 3-0 run all by herself. The senior sandwiched a kill with a pair of key blocks to give the Huskers a 9-6 edge.

“Man, that got me hyped,” Allick said of Hord’s run. “It was so impressive because I remember she got the stuff block and then she got the overpass kill where she absolutely annihilated the ball. That’s Kaitlyn Hord, man.”

Yet once again, Kansas fought their way back and claimed a 15-14 lead and a Nebraska timeout.

“What happened was Kansas started tipping,” Cook said of what changed for his team defensively after the second set. “They were really hitting our block but they were trying to tool our blockers. They did a nice job and then we got a little undisciplined.”

It was a fierce grind from then on. There were 13 ties and eight lead changes in the rest of the fourth set. But when the dust had settled, Nebraska had come out on top with a 26-24 win. The Huskers got seven kills from Krause in the set including the clinching swing from the right pin.

Nebraska advances to the Regional round on Thursday, December 8 with broadcast coverage and opponent still to be determined. The Huskers will likely play either No. 3 Oregon or No. 6 Arkansas with a potential matchup with No. 1 Louisville awaiting in the Elite Eight.

“We really leaned on each other tonight and we found a way to get it done,” Hames said. “That’s going to be super important down the stretch in those big moments, being able to look to each other, trust each other and have a lot of resilience when it gets tough.”

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