The Huskers are looking for their sixth ever national title, after advancing to the championship following a season full of adversity.
We will see an abundance of talent Saturday night with so many super seniors looking for a fairytale ending to their collegiate careers.
10 Nebraska Huskers are headed to the national championship, and we have an all Big Ten final on Saturday night.
This Nebraska team went through so much adversity this season, lineup changes, then some more changes, loss after loss, and now they are amongst the top two teams in the NCAA with three freshman in their rotation.
The Huskers put up 10 blocks and six service aces, and applied pressure on the Panthers all night long from the service line.
Lindsay Krause ended up having a great night with nine kills at a .368 clip and then Stivrins, the heart of this team, posted nine on .529 hitting and six blocks.
Nebraska controlled most of the fourth set, but Pitt was able to tie it up at 20.
Nebraska kept the momentum going into the third set and took a 2-1 lead on the match with a 25-20 win in set three.
As a middle blocker we haven’t been used to seeing Stivrins serving, but she has been so successful in the tournament from the line.
Nebraska also amped up their blocking game in that last set, they are now up to eight blocks compared to Pitt’s five.
This time around, the Huskers hit .440 and held Pitt to a low .161 compared to their .483 clip in the first set.
Lauren Stivrins started heating up a bit early in the second set to give the Huskers a much needed spark, and she along with Kayla Caffey were able to get some things going out of the middle.
Chinaza Ndee came out swinging with four kills at a .800 clip and Leketor Member-Meneh already has four kills on .429 hitting.
Devyn Robinson played a big role towards the end of the match — she is always such a big spark for this Badgers team, and came up with a monumental block in the fifth.
She was all over the court — digging, setting, passing, launching her body all over the floor to keep the ball alive.
Loberg hammered one down out of the timeout to get the Badgers within two, and then Aiko Jones sent one out of bounds to give Wisconsin match point.
Anna Stevenson was called for reaching over the net to tie the match up at 23, angering the Cardinals fanbase, but they came out fired up and notched two back-to-back to win the fourth.
There is not one particular stat line to point out here, because this is high-caliber volleyball in every aspect of the game.
After hitting a low .167 in the second set, the Badgers hit .375 in the third and held the Cards to .222.
Louisville is blocking really well, with nine blocks to Wisconsin’s six, but the Badgers are doing better and better hitting around the block as the match goes on.
The Cards started out the set hitting even better than the first, amped up their energy levels and took as much as a 16-8 lead before Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield decided to burn his first timeout.
Smrek is still having a great game for the Badgers with nine kills at a .900 clip, but she is missing some typical help from Rettke and Loberg who have a .083 and .067 hitting efficiency, respectively.
Both teams hit at .400 or above, and it was difficult for any team to get three or even two points in a row.
Anna Smrek stole the show as a freshman on the big stage with four kills on four swings for a 1.000 hitting percentage.
Coaching and adjustments are going to be big here with both teams performing at such a high level.
We have two powerful offensive teams, two incredibly strong blocking teams with Anna Stevenson and Amaya Tillman on Louisville’s side of the net and Dana Rettke and crew on Wisconsin’s side of the net.
Four teams remain in the hunt for the national title, including two first-time semifinalists in Louisville and Pittsburgh.
The Cardinals boast an impressive defense, ranking second in blocks per set and fifth in opponent hitting percentage across Division I.
Leketor Member-Meneh leads the Panthers in their first-ever semifinal trip, coming off a 21-kill performance against Purdue.
Louisville, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin and Nebraska are headed to the semifinals after winning their regionals Saturday.