Kansas Falls 3-0 at Nebraska
Nov. 12, 2004
LINCOLN, Neb. – Despite its stifling defense and serving, the University of Kansas volleyball team fell to third-ranked Nebraska 3-0 Friday night at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers defeated the Jayhawks 30-27, 30-24 and 30-26.
The Jayhawks, now 15-10 overall and 6-10 in the Big 12 Conference, tallied 42 digs and nine service aces against the Huskers (23-1, 16-0).
Kansas came out on fire in game one, taking a 10-6 lead and forcing a Husker timeout. The Jayhawks led by as many as five points until Nebraska took over the lead at the 21-20 mark.
KU used two time outs and battled back to within 28-27. The Huskers capitalized on two KU passes over the net and ended the game with two kills, 30-28. Josi Lima led KU with five kills in game one and held the Huskers to just a .194 hitting percentage.
Nebraska took an 8-3 lead in game two after five kills and two blocks. KU came roaring back, tying the game 10-10 behind three kills and two straight Husker hitting errors. Three points later, libero Jill Dorsey collided with a teammate and left the match with an injury. Dani Wittman changed into the libero shirt and returned to the floor in Dorsey’s place.
The Huskers held on to a comfortable two-point lead but broke open their advantage to 28-22. Two Nebraska kills ended game two, 30-24. The Jayhawks hit -.026 and were out-blocked 9.0 to 1.0 in the second stanza.
KU trailed the Huskers by just a few in game three and held on behind solid serving and defense. Nebraska rattled off five straight to take a 20-14 lead but KU came back to within one, 24-23. Emily Brown and Lima picked up two big blocks (down 27-25) but the Huskers ended the game and match, 30-26.
Lima led KU with 11 kills and 10 digs in the loss. Jana Correa and Paula Caten added eight kills apiece while Brown and Ashley Michaels rounded out the offense with six and four kills, respectively.
In Dorsey’s (six kills) absence, Brown led the defense with 12 digs. Jamie Mathewson and Andi Rozum added five digs apiece, Correa had four and Wittman three. Rozum notched a career-best five aces to go with her 32 assists. Michaels also added two aces in the loss.
KU was out-blocked by the Huskers 23.0 to 5.0 but held Nebraska to a .184 attack percentage. Three Huskers’ finished with a team-high nine kills.
“We played well tonight in a very competitive match,” head coach Ray Bechard said. “We served very well and got them out of their system. I was also pretty excited that we were able to hold them under a .200 hitting percentage. We could have had some smarter shots because they got in front of us at the net quite a bit. I told the team we can’t let this affect our next match. We just have to keep on playing hard.”
The Jayhawks’ road trip continues Wednesday at No. 9 Texas. Match time at the Gregory Gym is set for 7 p.m.
