Nebraska 3 vs Kansas 0- 25-12, 25-11, 25-12
It was a complete win. Nebraska blocked. Nebraska dug. Nebraska killed the ball with excellent efficiency. There were no holes, and this match was never in doubt. Nebraska won the match from first serve to last kill.
As a team, Nebraska hit .450 for the match and held Kansas to .029. The Nebraska block was very active and equally accurate in hand placement and timing. As a team, Nebraska blocked 10 balls to the floor with no chance for the Jayhawks to recover
the ball.
Behind the block, the defense was just as suffocating. Huskers dug 48 balls which means nothing was hitting the floor. The minute the block touched a ball, there was a Husker moving forward to dig and pass that ball into a setting situation.
If you were watching the TV coverage tonight, it was striking to move from watching a back and forth and all out fight of a match between Texas A&M vs Louisville to the start of the Husker match. The striking points seemed to be the speed in which a Husker got to the ball on defense or the ease at which a Husker attacker swiped the ball off blockers hands. You can’t quite pin down the drastic difference in play, but you could see it as a viewer.
Sunday will come and a new opponent will take the court in the Devaney Center. We know that every match is different and there are many factors that play a part in the final outcome of a competition. The match against Kansas tonight will translate into but not forecast the outcome against Texas A&M. For tonight, however, Husker celebrate a convincing win.
Third Round Matches
December 11th (# are seeds in the last AVCA Coach’s Poll)
#11 Creighton Defeated #8 Arizona State 3-1
#2 Kentucky Defeated Cal Poly 3-0
#4 Pitt Defeated #17 Minnesota 3-0
#12 Purdue Defeated #7 SMU 3-1
December 12th
#3 Texas Defeated #15 Indiana 3-0
#10 Wisconsin Defeated #5 Stanford 3-1
#6 Texas A&M Defeated #9 Louisville 3-2
#1 Nebraska Defeated #16 Kansas 3-0
Fourth Round Matches
December 13th
#2 Kentucky vs #11 Creighton 4 pm CT ESPN2
#4 Pitt vs #12 Purdue 6:30 pm CT ESPN2
December 14th
#3 Texas vs #10 Wisconsin 6:30 pm CT
#1 Nebraska vs #6 Texas A&M 2:30 pm CT
Nebraska plays one more match in the Devaney Center against Texas A&M on Sunday at 2:30 pm CT.
