in sweep of Iowa.
 Mancuso |  Broekhuis |  Cook |
Iowa City, Iowa. —
The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team (16-2, 8-1) made quick work of Iowa on Wednesday night, sweeping the Hawkeyes 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-9) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. After grinding out a first-set win, the Huskers won the final two sets by more than 10 points with the help of a season-high seven service aces.
Gina Mancuso led the Huskers on the night with 12 kills and .300 hitting percentage, as Morgan Broekhuis recorded 10 kills, behind a .375 hitting percentage and added five block assists. Lauren Cook notched 35 assists and Hannah Werth led the Huskers defensively with 16 digs, while Lara Dykstra had 14. Hayley Thramer led the Nebraska block with six total, along with six kills on the night.
The Huskers hit .316 in the match, while Iowa was held to a .094 hitting percentage. Nebraska out-blocked the Hawkeyes 10-5 and out-dug Iowa 50-40.
The Huskers took a 5-4 lead in the first set on a kill by Thramer, but the Hawkeyes edged ahead as they went up 10-8 and forced Nebraska to use a timeout. A kill by Werth made it 17-14, Iowa, but the Hawkeyes increased their lead to 19-14 as the Huskers used another timeout. NU went on a 4-0 run with the help of a double-stuff block by Mancuso and Allison McNeal and a service ace by Paige Hubl to tie the set at 20-20. A kill by Mancuso and a pair of errors by the Hawkeyes gave NU a 23-21 lead, as part of a 9-1 run for the Huskers. Nebraska went on to take the first set 25-22.
Mancuso led NU in the first set with five kills, while Werth notched three and Cook tabbed 10 assists. The Huskers hit .143 in the set, while Iowa hit .170. Both teams had two team blocks.
Nebraska will turn around to travel to Illinois for a showdown with the Fighting Illini on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m.
The match will be televised live on ESPN2.
The Huskers went up 7-3 in the first set on a kill by Werth, while a kill from Broekhuis gave NU an 11-6 lead. A service ace from Dykstra put NU ahead 15-8, as Iowa called a timeout. A 6-0 run by the Huskers, which included a block from Haggerty and Werth and an ace from Broekhuis, put NU up 21-9. Mancuso then gave Nebraska a 23-12 advantage; while the Huskers went on to win the second set 25-14.
Mancuso posted five kills in the second set, while Broekhuis, Thramer and Werth all had three. Cook notched 14 assists, guiding NU to a .483 hitting percentage. The Hawkeyes notched a .179 hitting percentage and were out-blocked by NU 3-1.
The Huskers' sixth ace of the match, this time by Cook, gave Nebraska a 2-0 lead to open the third set. A kill by Werth made it 7-2, NU, while a kill from Mancuso put Nebraska up 15-8. Back-to-back kills from Broekhuis and a huge block from Thramer gave the Huskers a 21-8 lead, as the Huskers posted a 25-9 third-set win.
Broekhuis recorded six kills in the third set, while Werth had three. Cook tabbed 11 assists, guiding the Huskers to a .407 hitting percentage. Iowa was held to a -.097 hitting percentage for the set.
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1 2 3
Iowa 22 14 9
Nebraska (4) 25 25 25
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