MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – No. 4 Nebraska extended its winning streak to five after defeating K-State in straight sets (25-21, 25-15, 25-19) Sunday afternoon at Morgan Family Arena.
Nebraska (5-0), the nation’s leader in opponent hitting percentage, used 12.0 team blocks to limit K-State (4-1) to its lowest output on the season in kills (31), hitting percentage (.056), and assists (30).
Aliyah Carter led the Wildcats with nine kills and hit .074 while Liz Gregorski added seven kills with Aniya Clinton and Sydney Bolding each tallying four.
Izzi Szulczewski paced the offense with 23 assists to go along with five digs and two kills.
Defensively, senior Mackenzie Morris registered a match-high 12 digs with Sydney Bolding leading the Cats with six blocks.
Two Huskers posted double figure kills with Merritt Beason and Andi Jackson each adding 10 while Jackson generated a match-high .750 hit percentage. Lindsay Krause and Harper Murray each contributed nine kills as Nebraska’s offense hit .277.
SET-BY-SET
Set One – Nebraska 25, K-State 21
Nebraska’s offense hit .368 while its defense picked up four blocks with the Wildcats hitting .220. With 10 tie scores in the first set, Nebraska took hold of the lead behind a service ace from Harper Murray to ignite a 5-1 run. Carter and Gregorski each accounted for five of the Wildcats 14 kills in the set, hitting .333. Beason guided the Huskers with eight kills on 13 swings.
Set Two – Nebraska 25, K-State 15
The Cats were limited to a -.121 efficiency on eight kills in the second. Following a 7-1 run to start the set, Nebraska collected 11 kills led by a .207 clip led by three from Krause and Murray. A kill from Bolding trimmed the score to 11-9 but Nebraska finished on 7-1 spurt to lead 2-0 in the match. Carter totaled three kills while Szulczewski added two.
Set Three – Nebraska 25, K-State 19
K-State put together its own successful scoring run as the Wildcats opened the final frame with a 7-4 lead. The Wildcats continued to lead throughout the set until an attack error leveled the score at 13-all. After another tied score, Nebraska went on 8-2 run to create a 24-18 edge. Clinton had a team-best four kills in the set.
IN THEIR WORDS
Head Coach Jason Mansfield
Overall statement…
“I think we have high expectations and so disappointed but that the crowd was amazing again. So I loved that. I think you want to play the best teams to figure out where you’re at. I think Nebraska is a really good team and I think they’re going to continue to get better throughout the season. So that’s obviously our goal as well. We’re going to learn a lot from this match, but I thought we made a lot of really good plays that I haven’t seen us make in matches. So I thought that was really cool. They brought that out of us which was cool.”
On adjustments made in the third…
“I think the girls took a deep breath in that five-minute break and just knew that we could play better and more consistently, so I thought it showed a lot to be honest. You know, I thought to start the third set and be aggressive and make plays was awesome. To see that and see that fight in us that they knew that we could play better, and they did. So I think that was a huge positive. I felt that in the middle of the third. I had thought that this is really good for us and I’m proud of that we’re not just hoping things are going to happen, but that we’re making them happen.”
Senior Mackenzie Morris
On keeping the point alive…
“I would say just try to stay in the moment and stay focused because it’s so easy to start thinking about the play. I think just being where your feet are, and just trying to be as disciplined as I can for the team is the biggest part of like what keeps me in those moments.”
On the match atmosphere at Morgan Family Arena…
“It’s so amazing just to see all the support we’re getting. And I think it’s huge for our team and just the program in general. I didn’t feel a difference from playing an unranked opponent and ranked opponent. Just super exciting for us.”
Senior Aliyah Carter
On preparing for Big 12 action…
“I feel like it’s one of those things where you have to learn before conference, because when conferences here it’s a game every single day or every other day. So I think it was an eye opener just to see what we need to work on to get ready.”
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State suffered its first loss of the season moving to 4-1 in preseason play
- Nebraska remains undefeated with a 5-0 record
- The Wildcats were held to a season-low .056 hitting percentage (31 kills, 25 errors, 108 attacks) compared to the Huskers .277 (42 kills, 14 errors, 101 attacks)
- Carter led the Cats with nine kills along with six digs and two blocks
- Gregorski had seven kills followed by Clinton and Bolding each with five
- Defensively, Bolding registered a team-high six blocks and Morris led with 12 digs
BEYOND THE BOX
- Nebraska leads the all-time series 83-4. Sunday’s match was just the third meeting since the second round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
- The loss was the first match against a Top 25 team.
- Nebraska has now won five straight matches in straight sets.
- K-State is 3-1 in three-set matches.
- The match marked the Wildcats first match against a nationally-ranked opponent
- K-State is 22-122-1 against teams in the Big Ten
WHAT’S NEXT
K-State will head to Nashville, Tenn., to take on UT Martin (2-4) and Lipscomb (1-4) in the Lippy Invitational starting Sept. 8. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT Friday against UT Martin.
