What a debut for such a highly anticipated start to the DBK era. We saw a lot of good, but we also saw some things that will need to be improved as the season goes on.
We finally got answers to a lot of the questions that were being asked since the end of last season. Laney Choboy ran out in the Libero jersey to start the match and I think this was the best decision. She proved this in the game as well. She had 16 digs and just looked like a mirror of Lexi Rodriguez when she would throw her body everywhere
the ball went.
Taylor Landfair was another one that people didn’t know what was going to happen with. Well I think she basically told her haters to shut it tonight with her amazing blocking game and her contribution to scoring points as well.
It was also nice to see Teraya Sigler get her first collegiate start as she played in the back row all night subbing for Andi Jackson, Rebekah Allick, and Landfair. Virginia Adriano also got her first collegiate start and made it a good one as well.
The Huskers started off looking super strong at the beginning of the match, but kind of started to taper off and were at risk to lose the set as Pitt jumped ahead. DBK took a timeout and that was all that was needed as the Huskers went on a 7-1 scoring spree to win the set.
Landfair really highlighted that 1st set as she had a number of blocks to stop Olivia Babcock dead in her tracks. Landfair was really the reason why Babcock was so quiet in the 1st set since she was such a force at the net.
It seems like it took Bergen Reilly a little bit to get in her rhythm to start the match. Sets were shaky and kind of off, but she figured it out just like she always does. Allick and Adriano missed a couple shots to start, but had it all figured out by the end of the 1st.
he Huskers took charge in set 2 and probably had people thinking it was going to be a sweep to start the season. Nebraska was just smacking Pitt in the face at this point, literally. No literally. Harper Murray slammed a ball into a Pitt players face. It looked like it hurt. Ouch.
Campbell Flynn and Allie Sczech made their debuts for the Huskers tonight as they came into the match for the last few points of the 2nd. Flynn recorded an assist and a dig while Sczech recorded a block. The Huskers won the 2nd set with a 25-11 score.
Pitt decided to wake up in the 3rd set and play some volleyball today in the 3rd set after their coach, most likely, got on them. Their out of system play was very bad to start the match and this is a category they usually lead the country in. This was cleaned up in the 3rd and the Huskers paid for it.
The 3rd set was just the worst all around. They only hit .079% and their blocking/defense just seemed off. Pitt came out fast and Nebraska just couldn’t seem to keep up. This resulted in a 20-25 loss and a sweep gone as we headed to set 4.
The Huskers rebounded in the 4th seeming to be ready for Pitt to come out hard again. Nebraska led the set, until the end, after they took the 8-7 lead. One area that kind of showed that it needed improvement during set 4 was playing balls off of the block. They would get a good block but no one would be there to keep the ball up.
Andi Jackson led all hitters tonight hitting .348% on the night and adding 8 blocks as well. Harper Murray and Rebekah Allick also had good nights hitting .278% and .235%, respectively. They combined for 8 blocks as well.
Taylor Landfair was the star at the net tonight with 8 kills and 8 very impressive blocks. She definitely showed why she deserves that outside spot.
Laney Choboy and Bergen Reilly both helped keep balls up with 16 digs and 10 digs, respectively.
While the Huskers had a very impressive first match, there are always things to improve on and DBK will surely be pointing these out on their off day tomorrow. DBK did state that she loved their maturity they showed tonight. That is definitely a big reason why they didn’t let set 3 affect them and they just brushed it off and kept going.
The Huskers will return to PBA on Sunday, August 24th to take on Stanford at 2:30pm. This match will be broadcast on ESPN.
