Three takes from Nebraska volleyball’s sweep of Michigan

Nebraska volleyball (15-0) closed out a successful road trip by taking down Michigan (3-12) in straight sets on Saturday night.

Opening-set struggles continued for the Huskers, but Nebraska fought off five set points and recovered from a five-point deficit to win the first 29-27. What followed was a quick return to form for head coach John Cook and company. Victories in the second and third sets by eight and 11 points respectively completed the sweep.

Lindsay Krause paced all attackers with 15 kills while Valentina Vaulet terminated eight times to lead the Wolverines. Lexi Rodriguez tallied 16 digs and Bergan Reilly posted 40 assists along with seven digs.

Nebraska closed its Big Ten stint away from the Devaney Center a perfect 4-0. Here are three takes on Saturday’s match.

Another slow Huskers start followed by a much better rebound

For a fourth consecutive road match, Nebraska didn’t fire on all cylinders in the opening set.

Cook’s group rallied back to win, much like they did on Friday night, but he admitted things were much too close for comfort. The Huskers totaled seven attack errors and four service errors in the first set. Nebraska had five attack errors and seven service errors in the last two games combined.

“We did some good things, we just weren’t very consistent,” Cook said of the match as a whole on the Huskers Radio Network. “Michigan came out and they really played well in game one. They were really serving tough. When you’re in these gyms, it just takes a while because we come in here and we can’t like play a game and practice. Once we settled down, we did some nice things.”

Cook added that he told his team things would have been a lot more fun if they played like they did in the second and third sets from the jump.

Another deep road crowd greeted the Huskers at the Crisler Center. In total, 7,831 fans watched Nebraska best Michigan which is the second-best attendance number in the program’s history.

“I think our stadium match has ignited an interest in volleyball from the fan that maybe wasn’t a volleyball fan,” Cook said. “I think they were captivated by that stadium match and I think that’s why we’re seeing all these huge crowds.”

Of course, Husker fans have a good hand in that too. They have made their presence known in all of Nebraska’s last four road matches.

The Huskers deserve credit for snapping out of their funk much faster tonight and making a major comeback in the first. Winning on the road in the Big Ten is hard. Look no further than No. 16 Minnesota which lost a five-set thriller to Maryland Friday evening and went down in four sets to Rutgers (9-7) 24 hours later. Each of those matches were away from home.

That Scarlet Knight victory was the program’s first ever against a AVCA Top-25 opponent.

Even though it wasn’t always the prettiest volleyball, Nebraska took care of business during this road trip in a conference where no foe is a true pushover.

Three takes from Nebraska volleyball’s 3-1 victory over Michigan State

Krause steals the show

While the Murray family took center stage on Saturday night, and rightfully so, Krause’s performance may be a longer-term storyline for the Huskers.

Entering tonight, the 6-foot-4 junior had hit .418 in her previous three matches. Add 15 more kills to that total on 27 swings with just one error. That brings Krause’s cumulative hitting percentage to .463 across her last four appearances. That is a season-high showing and her most kills since Nebraska’s season-ending loss to Oregon last December.

At .519, it’s also Krause’s second-highest hitting percentage of her career. A .667 outing against Iowa last year on 10-of-15 swings stands as a career best. That obviously a smaller volume compared to Saturday.

“She’s doing a nice job,” Cook said. “She’s got in a great rhythm. She took some big swings tonight. I like her serve and we ran a lot of points with her serving so that’s good.”

Krause hammered seven kills on 12 swings in the first set along with an ace. She added five more in the second and four more in the third including one from the left pin to seal the match. That’s a welcome sign for the Huskers as they hope to develop a three-headed monster of Beason, Krause and Murray.

All posted double-digit kills.

The Murray Bowl

A battle between sisters Harper and Kendall Murray was the primary underlying storyline of the match and there were some early moments that delivered. In the first set, Kendall Murray notched an ace off her younger sister Harper before the latter got the former back with a block in the second.

Harper Murray met expectations in her homecoming. It wasn’t a perfect opening set with four kills on nine swings and a pair of service errors. Eventually she settled in and the rest of the way was much smoother sailing.

“Think of the pressure of her coming back here,” Cook said. “She started off a little shaky but she got it going.”

In sets two and three, Murray tallied nine kills on seventeen attempts and finished the match with a double double. Her 11 digs were good for second on the team and she added three blocks and two service aces to her line.

Kendall Murray had some solid moments, too. The senior posted five kills on 27 attacks with an ace, two blocks and a dig.

The postgame crowd proved to be one final highlight on the night for Harper Murray. The gaggle of fans surrounding the freshman drew comparisons on the radio broadcast to former Nebraska All-American Mikaela Foecke’s visits to her home state of Iowa. Early returns on Murray’s career indicate she has a similar level of star power.

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