It seems that the K-State volleyball team plays best against the top teams, as was evidenced Wednesday night. Playing in Lincoln, Neb., the No. 5 University of Nebraska (23-2, 15-1 Big 12 Conference) swept K-State (10-16, 4-11). Echoing the match between the teams in Manhattan a few weeks ago, the Wildcats played exceptionally well and pulled out some big moves to play with the Cornhuskers, but the last meeting the team will have for some time ended in favor of the home team.
K-State started out in the dumps and improved with a huge curve from then on. The first game went to Nebraska 25-9 by a considerable margin. In game two, the Wildcats refocused and pushed it into extra points, but they ultimately lost 25-27, and a late drive in game three was not enough to settle on top as they lost again 23-25.
The Player of the Match was freshman outside hitter Lilla Porubek. Coming off the bench, she had the most attacks last night and put away nine with a .148 hitting percentage.
The Big Red easily sauntered out to a hefty 7-0 lead in the first game after K-State hit five errors to dole out points. The massive assault carried on through the rest of the game as Nebraska continued to march over the Wildcats. K-State did put a few points — mostly from freshman middle blocker Kaitlynn Pelger — but the Cornhuskers proved unstoppable, finally ending the madness by one of K-State’s worse margins, 25-9.
Apparently seeing the urgency of their predicament, the Wildcats drove in the opening of game two to enact a small bit of revenge. Some big plays by senior outside hitter JuliAnne Chisholm — who really woke up in this game — paired nicely with the numerous forced errors on Nebraska. K-State pulled ahead 8-7, and a string of four straight points boosted the lead even higher. The Cornhuskers quickly re-enacted the tie; a serious battle issued points to both teams but neglected to remove the tie. At 23-all, Nebraska hit a kill to move to game point, but K-State took two for its own game point. The Cornhuskers saw the direness of the situation and shifted into high gear, taking three straight to just eke out the win, 27-25.
With the Wildcats moving increasingly closer, Nebraska had to work harder at parrying down the pressure from the other side of the court. After a slow start in game three, the team did just that, taking little leaps ahead to move over K-State 17-12. The Cornhusker front row had some high and low swings that moved the game along at a steady rate, but K-State pulled closer to 20-22, forcing Nebraska to call a timeout.
A long rally put the crowd onto its feet a few points later, but K-State had a double hit, ending the match in favor of Nebraska, 25-23.
The Wildcats return to action at 7 p.m. Saturday with a home match against the Baylor Bears.to 20-22, forcing Nebraska to call a timeout.
The Cornhuskers grabbed two for match point. Chisholm killed one and blocked another with Pelger to keep her team in it, and Pelger sent the game to 23-24 with her own kill. A long rally put the crowd onto its feet, but K-State had a double hit, ending the match in favor of Nebraska, 25-23.
The Wildcats return to action at 7 p.m. this Saturday with a home match against the Baylor Bears.