In a much anticipated game between Northwestern (7-11, 0-7 B1G) and No. 1 Nebraska (18-0, 7-0 B1G), the Cornhuskers showed 5,329 fans, the most at a NU volleyball game this year, why they are the best team in the country.
Though the ‘Cats had some flashes of good play, they were ultimately out-dueled in a three set loss, bringing their losing streak to seven straight in conference play.
Northwestern started strong, but the duo of Andi Jackson and Harper Murray proved to be too much for NU to keep up
with. Jackson ended her night with a game-high 10 kills on .600 hitting, while Murray was right behind her with nine terminations to couple with three blocks on the night. On the flip side, Mara Štiglic tried her best to carry a struggling Wildcat system with nine kills of her own, but it wasn’t enough, as the offense hit a dismal .030.
In the first set, the Wildcats played competitively with the Cornhuskers, as there were nine ties and five lead changes. The ‘Cats started off with back to back points to open the set and built upon them with crucial kills from Campbell Paris and critical blocks from Maya Stillwell. Though this prominent individual play allowed the ‘Cats to bring it to a tie at 17 apiece, that would be the last time the ‘Cats would score, as the Cornhuskers would go on a 7-0 run led by Murray and Jackson to win them the first set.
After the first set, the Wildcats tried to regain some momentum in hopes of tying things up. They did so by repeating a strong start to the set, winning four of the first five points with some help from Nebraska errors. After four unanswered scores by Nebraska gave it a one point advantage later in the set, the Cornhuskers went on a 13-7 run against the ‘Cats and took the second, 25-14.
You could tell midway through the second set that the ‘Cats seemed gassed, while the Cornhuskers stayed composed and had cleaned up the errors that kept the ‘Cats in contention.
Nebraska went up 7-3 to start the third set and the ‘Cats were unable to climb out of that hole, despite the trio of blocks in the set that contributed to the total of eight on the night, led by first-year Ellie Stiernagle and sophomore Kayla Kauffman. Nebraska ended up closing the sweep with a 25-15 third set.
Though the ‘Cats had somewhat of a promising showing in the first set, they were unable to hold their weight against the experienced and highly talented Cornhuskers. The ‘Cats look towards this weekend, where they play No. 22 Michigan State, hoping to snap their seven game losing streak and to hopefully get their first Big Ten win of the season.
