The Nebraska volleyball team has several players new to playing matches in the Big Ten Conference. But the Huskers also have Mikaela Foecke, who is not new, and during her career always seems to thrive in the biggest moments.
Third-ranked Nebraska and No. 18 Michigan were tied after two sets on Friday in the first match of the Big Ten season for both teams. From there, Foecke helped pull the Huskers along to a 25-19, 25-27, 25-17, 25-12 victory and the Huskers’ 10th consecutive win. Michigan lost for the first time this season, and now, Nebraska has won seven consecutive matches against Michigan dating to 2014.
Foecke had a match-high 21 kills, with 13 coming in the final two sets. She had just three hitting errors on 46 attempts for a .391 hitting percentage. And fittingly, she had the kill on match point, with her blast hitting off the Michigan libero and flying off the court for a walk off.
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Nebraska coach John Cook felt like the Huskers had some nerves for the first conference match and are still adjusting to the new rotations since Lexi Sun started playing last week, but said Foecke was steady for the Huskers’ over the final two sets.
“Mikaela is one that we can rely on, and of course attacking and blocking, she started killing the ball and moving it around and did a really nice job,†Cook said.
Sun added 14 kills while playing in just in her third match, and Jazz Sweet had 11. Lauren Stivrins had seven kills.
Setter Nicklin Hames had 44 assists, three kills, three ace serves and 10 digs. She helped the Huskers win several big points at the net, sending a charge through her teammates and the 8,392 fans at the Devaney Sports Center.
“That girl is a gamer, for sure,†said Stivrins of the Huskers’ freshman setter.
Nebraska’s passing had some breakdowns when Michigan won the second set, and Michigan outside hitter Carly Skjodt had eight of her team-high 13 kills during that set.
After the second set, the Huskers talked about having better communication, and also trusting their training. They’d done a lot of work on serve receive this week, and it was time to put that into action.
“We went in the locker room and we talked about what we needed to fix and we came out and executed, and honestly I couldn’t be more proud of my team,†Foecke said. “I think that everything we talked about we did, and it obviously showed.â€
In the matchup of the No. 1 and 2 defenses in the country entering the match, the Huskers’ defense was better.
Nebraska finished with 14 blocks while Michigan had six. Nebraska out hit Michigan .314 to .135.
Nebraska had 19 more kills than Michigan, and did so on four fewer attempts.
The Huskers’ block and defense was really on Michigan, Cook said. Libero Kenzie Maloney had 16 digs to lead the Huskers to a 67-56 advantage in that category.
“They had to make a couple of great swings just to get kills,†he said.
Freshman middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach had eight blocks, and Foecke and Stivrins six apiece. Sun had four.
Jaylen Reyes, the assistant coach who helps coordinate the Huskers’ defensive game plans, and Cook had the players really well prepared, Stivrins said, so they knew what each Michigan attacker likes to do.
“They pretty much knew every shot that their hitters were going to do,†Stivrins said.
Briefly
* There were sisters playing against each other in the match. Brooke Smith is a senior for Nebraska, and her younger sister plays for Michigan. They were each in the match at the same time at the end of the first set when Nebraska used its double sub with Anezka Szabo and Brooke Smith. Natalie Smith had eight digs.
* Former Nebraska volleyball players Jordan Larson and Kelsey Robinson were two of the 14 players selected to the United States women’s national volleyball team that will represent the U.S. at the FIVB World Championship Sept. 29 to Oct. 20 in Japan. Robinson is a libero.