Post-match notes: 2017 Nebraska-Florida NCAA final
• With the win, Nebraska (32-4) won its fifth national title and second in three seasons. The Huskers became only the third team in NCAA history to win five national championships in volleyball (Penn State and Stanford have each won seven).
• John Cook won his fourth national title in 18 seasons as Nebraska’s head coach. Cook became the fourth coach in NCAA history to win four national titles and the third to win four national championships at one school, joining Penn State’s Russ Rose (7) and former Stanford head coach Don Shaw (4). Another former Cardinal head coach, John Dunning, won five NCAA titles – three at Stanford and two with Pacific.
• Cook also joined Russ Rose as the only coaches to win four national titles since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1998.
• Cook improved to 66-14 in the NCAA Tournament as Nebraska’s head coach, including a 4-1 record in the NCAA Final.
• As a program, Nebraska improved to 108-31 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 5-3 record in the NCAA Final. The Huskers have won their last three NCAA Finals (2006, 2015 & 2017).
• Annika Albrecht, Mikaela Foecke, Briana Holman, Kelly Hunter, Kenzie Maloney and Sydney Townsend each won their second national championship as all six were members of Nebraska’s 2015 NCAA title team. The six became the first players in Nebraska history to win multiple national championships.
• Nebraska won its 19th straight match, its longest winning streak to end a season since the Huskers went 34-0 en route to the 2000 NCAA title in John Cook’s first season.
• NU finished the season with 32 wins, tying for its most wins since finishing 33-1 in 2006, when the Huskers won their third national title.
• The Huskers ended the season with a 12-3 record against ranked opponents, including a 7-0 record vs. top-10 foes and a 4-0 mark against top-five opponents.
• Nebraska improved to 9-3 all-time against the Florida Gators, including a 3-0 record in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Huskers held Florida to a .141 attack percentage, their lowest mark of the season. The Gators’ previous low was .165 against Texas in the 2017 season opener.
• Mikaela Foecke, Kelly Hunter and Kenzie Maloney all made the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team, while Foecke and Hunter were named co-Most Outstanding Player. Foecke and Hunter both made the all-tournament team for the second time in their careers (also in 2015) to join Sarah Pavan as the only Huskers to be a two-time NCAA Championship All-Tournament team selection.
• Foecke was named the Most Outstanding Player for the second time in her career (2015 & 2017). She is just the fourth player in NCAA history to twice be named the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player and the first to earn the honor in non-consecutive years. The other two-time Most Outstanding Players are Megan Hodge (Penn State, 2007 & 2008), Keao Burdine (USC, 2002 & 2003) and Lauren Cacciamani (Penn State, 1998 & 1999).
• Hunter became just the fourth setter to be named the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player, joining Misty May (Long Beach State, 1998), Greichaly Cepero (Nebraska, 2000) and Micha Hancock (Penn State, 2013).
• Mikaela Foecke had a match-high 20 kills, the most in her NCAA Tournament career, and marking the first time a player had 20 kills in the NCAA Final since Ariel Scott (21) for Penn State in 2013. Mikaela Foecke had the kill on set point in each of Nebraska’s three set victories Saturday.
• Foecke finished with 39 kills at the 2017 NCAA Championship, the fifth-highest total in NCAA Championship history in the 25-point scoring era (since 2008).
• In five career matches at the NCAA Championships (Semifinals & Final), Mikaela Foecke has totaled 83 kills. She has averaged 16.6 kills per match and 4.4 kills per set in her five career NCAA Semifinal and Final matches.
• Kelly Hunter ended her career with 4,125 assists, the second-most in Husker history. She also totaled 564 career postseason assists, the third-highest total in school history.
• Hunter ended her career with a 16-1 record in the NCAA Tournament as Nebraska’s starting setter, posting the most wins and highest postseason winning percentage by a starting setter in Husker history. She set the Huskers to three NCAA Semifinals and two NCAA Finals, winning both championship matches.
• Hunter had a season-high six kills on a season-best .600 hitting. The six kills were the second-most of her NCAA Tournament career, trailing only the seven kills she totaled against Washington in the 2015 NCAA Regional Final.
• Annika Albrecht appeared in her 21st NCAA Tournament match at Nebraska, tying the school record. The only other Huskers to appear in 21 NCAA Tournament matches are Jordan Larson and Rachel Schwartz (2005-08).
• Albrecht ended her Husker career with 139 service aces, the sixth-highest total in program history.
• Libero Kenzie Maloney had a career-high two kills in the match. Entering the night, Malone had totaled just one kill in her first 104 career matches combined
• Maloney added one service ace, her 13th of the NCAA Tournament and fifth at the 2017 NCAA Championship (semifinal and final). The 13 aces are a Nebraska record for a single NCAA Tournament and the five aces in the NCAA Championship rank second in NCAA history in the 25-point scoring era (since 2008), trailing only Penn State’s Micha Hancock (6 aces at the 2013 NCAA Championship).
Source: Nebraska Athletics