December 5, 2015

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                    1   2   3 
Wichita State  19  19  14 
NEBRASKA       25  25  25 
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Lincoln, Neb. — Strong serving and an outstanding night from Mikaela Foecke powered the fourth-seeded Nebraska volleyball team into the Sweet 16, as the Huskers swept the Wichita State Shockers in a second-round NCAA Tournament match Saturday night in a front of sellout crowd of 8,132 at the Devaney Center.

The Huskers trailed for a total of only five rallies in the match, cruising to a 25-19, 25-19, 25-14 win for their 12th consecutive victory. With the win, Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional for the 21st time in the past 22 seasons. Nebraska will face either No. 13 BYU or Western Kentucky next Friday in Lexington, Ky. Game time for that match will be either 4 or 6:30 p.m. (Central) and the match will be carried on ESPN3.

Foecke had a match-high 12 kills without an error to post a .600 attack percentage. Foecke connected on 11 of her first 14 swings and added one of Nebraska�s six aces. All three of the Huskers� primary outside hitters tallied double-digit kills, as Kelsey Fien registered 10 kills and Kadie Rolfzen had 11 kills and only one error on 26 swings. Rolfzen also added a team-high 13 digs to post her seventh straight double-double in postseason play. Setter Kelly Hunter dished out 38 assists and added four kills of her own while directing a Husker offense that hit .347 on the night.

Wichita State was led by its middles, as Abbie Lehman and Katie Reilly combined for 22 kills on 33 swings with only one error. Lehman produced 10 kills on 15 error-free swings, while Reilly had 11 kills and hit .556. Their efforts were not enough, however, as Wichita State ended its season with a 27-9 record.

Set One: The teams traded leads three times early in set one before Nebraska scored five straight points to take a 10-6 advantage. The Huskers continued to lead by at least two and tried to pull away by winning four consecutive points to take a 21-14 lead. But the Shockers fought back, scoring four straight points to pull within 23-18 and force Nebraska to use its first timeout. Three rallies later, the Huskers closed out a six-point win on Kadie Rolfzen�s third kill. Nebraska hit .417 in the opening set, fueled by freshman Mikaela Foecke, who had six kills on eight error-free swings. Wichita State also attacked well, hitting at a .364 clip.

Set Two: Nebraska never trailed in set two and was tied for only one rally after Wichita State scored four straight points to pull even at 8-8. The Huskers answered the Shockers� run by winning seven of the next nine rallies to take a 15-10 lead into the media timeout. Nebraska stretched its lead to as many as seven before Kelly Hunter scored on a setter dump to cap the Huskers� second straight 25-19 win. Foecke continued to dominate, tallying five kills on 10 swings in the second set, giving her 11 kills on 18 error-free swings through the first two sets. Kelsey Fien added four kills for Nebraska, while Abbie Lehman had four kills on seven swings for the Shockers.

Set Three: The Huskers scored four straight points to jump out to a 5-2 lead in set three. Nebraska maintained its three-point advantage at 11-8 before the Huskers won 14 of the final 20 rallies. Senior Meghan Haggerty ended the match with her final swing at the Devaney Center, putting down her second kill of the set on the Huskers� first match point. Nebraska hit .389 in the final set, fueled by five kills from Kadie Rolfzen on seven swings. The Huskers also totaled two blocks in the third set to hold Wichita State to a .118 attack percentage.