No. 4 Nebraska volleyball returns to action at Illinois
The Huskers and Fighting Illini will battle on Friday at 8 p.m. The teams will meet again on Saturday at 6 p.m. Friday's match will be televised nationally on BTN and streamed on the FoxSports platform.
LINCOLN, Neb. (Husker Athletics/KLKN) — The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team will head to Champaign, Ill., for a pair of matches against Illinois this weekend.
The Huskers and Fighting Illini will battle on Friday at 8 p.m. The teams will meet again on Saturday at 6 p.m. Friday’s match will be televised nationally on BTN and streamed on the FoxSports platform. Saturday’s match will not be televised but will be streamed online with a BTN+ subscription.
Husker Sports Network will broadcast all the Husker action on HSN radio affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and AM 590 in Omaha. A live audio stream will be provided at Huskers.com and the Huskers app. John Baylor is in his 27th season doing play-by-play for the Husker volleyball program. Lauren (Cook) West, a former All-America setter for the Huskers, will provide color commentary.
Video Previews
John Cook worried about losing momentum following postponed matches:
Nicklin Hames on losing matches against No. 1 Wisconsin:
About the Huskers
• Nebraska is off to a 7-1 start but has had four matches postponed so far, including last weekend’s series at No. 1 Wisconsin. Nebraska hasn’t played a match since Feb. 21, while Illinois hasn’t played since Feb. 20.
• The Huskers led the Big Ten in defense last season and so far this season have picked up where they left off, holding opponents to .150 hitting to rank second in the conference behind only the Badgers (.122).
• Nebraska’s .261 season hitting percentage also ranks second in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin (.351).
• Nebraska ranks first in the conference in kills (14.63 per set), assists (13.19 per set) and second in service aces (1.63 per set). NU is showing a marked improvement in the aces column from last year, when the Big Red ranked 13th in league play in aces per set (1.00).
• Senior outside hitter Lexi Sun leads the Huskers with 3.67 kills per set with a team-high 11 service aces as well as 2.52 digs per set.
• Senior middle blocker Lauren Stivrins is putting up 3.41 kills per set on a team-high .478 hitting percentage, which ranks first in the Big Ten Conference.
• Sophomore outside hitter Madi Kubik adds 3.11 kills per set and 2.85 digs per set.
• Junior setter Nicklin Hames paces the Husker attack with 11.26 assists per set – most in the Big Ten – and she chips in 3.41 digs per set with seven service aces.
• Junior middle blocker Kayla Caffey has stepped in for the Huskers and contributed 1.95 kills per set on .347 hitting with 1.40 blocks per set.
• Junior middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach leads the team in blocks per set at 1.56.
Scouting Illinois
• Illinois (2-6) began the season with two wins at Iowa but since then has lost six in a row to No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 10 Penn State and No. 19 Ohio State. The Fighting Illini rank 10th in the conference in hitting (.184) and 11th in opponent hitting (.255). Illinois is the top serving team in the Big ten with 65 aces (1.97 per set).
• Megan Cooney leads Illinois with 3.70 kills per set. Taylor Kuper leads the Big Ten in aces with 0.64 per set (21 on the year) and digs (4.39 per set).
Series History
• Nebraska is 27-8-1 all-time against Illinois. The Huskers have won two in a row over the Fighting Illini and eight of the last nine matches overall. Nebraska has won the last four matches played at Huff Hall. The Huskers’ last loss in Champaign was Nov. 26, 2014.
• The teams last met on Sept. 27, 2019 at Huff Hall. Nebraska won 3-2 after falling behind 2-1 in the match. Jazz Sweet had 17 kills on .333 hitting, while Lexi Sun, Lauren Stivrins and Madi Kubik all had five kills.
Coaches
• John Cook: 21st year at Nebraska (595-82); 28th year overall (756-155)
• Chris Tamas: 4th year at Illinois (73-35)
