Nebraska 3 vs Maryland 0 – 25-14, 27-25, 25-14
Nebraska’s passing was hot and cold against Maryland this afternoon. Maryland served nine aces against Nebraska which is a very rare occurrence, but Nebraska’s middles
had a banner day which means there were enough good passes to set those middles.
Allick tied her career high for kills with 13 while hitting .706 and earning six blocks on the day. Jackson had nine kills and hit .800 and chipped in four blocks. Allick also contributed two digs while Jackson had one dig (she flew forward fully extended and dug the ball) and one ace. These middles are dynamic and integral to the Husker team. While these stats start to look similar, the style of play and energy from Allick and Jackson is quite different.
Allick brings a fire to the court that feels like a volcano erupting as she elevates to terminate an overpass. Jackson is more like ice as she cleanly, athletically and quickly terminates the ball. Her intensity is cool and composed as she slides across the net for a kill. Fire and ice this middle duo of Allick and Jackson in the Husker line up; the best middle combo in college volleyball.
For the nine aces against them today, Nebraska will double down on the serve receive passing work that they already do every practice. Passing serve is foundational to any volleyball team. You must practice it daily. It is part of every gameday preparation and after a match with so many errors, the coaching staff will incorporate it even more in the practice schedule.
Important to note, we saw another option in the Nebraska playbook today. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly used the double sub to keep three hitters in the front row and keep a setter in the backrow. She brings opposite hitter Allie Sczech in for setter Bergen Reilly when Reilly rotates front row. At that same time, she brings freshman setter Campbell Flynn in for opposite hitter Virginia Adriano as Adriano rotates backrow.
This subbing move increases the offensive weapons in the front court and gives more height to the right-side block; when you would have 6’1” Reilly blocking, with this sub you now have 6’4” Sczech blocking. Coach DBK used this option in set two which also happens to be the set in which Maryland pushed Nebraska to extra points, 27-25. While they happened in the same set, it wasn’t this sub that caused the set to be extended.
Passing broke down most in set #2 and there were more hitting errors in this set than the other two sets. After the match Coach DBK said she thinks this sub is one that she and the team will need this season, and she thought this was a good match to work on it.
We can see as a fan base that Coach Busboom Kelly uses her bench differently than her predecessor. DBK likes to see the subs play from the start of the set rather than only coming in late in a set and finishing off an already decided outcome. When the set is 18-9 and you sub in, the pressure is different than when you start 0-0 and play through all ups and downs of the 25-point process.
Against Maryland we saw Skylar Pierce on the left side pin in set #1. She was effective in her limited time. She earned one kill on four attempts. We also saw Manaia Ogbechie in the middle during set #3. She earned one kill on three attempts and contributed a block.
Nebraska will take the next six days to practice and prepare for Penn State. They play in University Park, PA 7 pm CT on Friday, October 3rd on FOX.
