Nebraska 3 vs USC 0 – 25-18, 25-22, 25-16

Ally Batenhorst was a Husker this time last season. She transferred to USC to play her final year of eligibility. Tonight she returned to the Bob Devaney Center for the first time since her transfer. She received a standing ovation that brought tears to Ally’s eyes. Well done Devaney Center fans, well done.

Batenhorst played well for the Trojans tonight. She had 13 kills and nine digs. She was the hitter for her team. Harper Murray and Merritt Beason played the “go to” role for the Huskers. Murray had 12 kills and Beason 11.

Defensively, Lexi Rodriguez led all players with 13 digs. The digs Rodriguez makes aren’t easy roll shots to her arms. She lunges, flies and runs towards the ball to make something very close to magic happen.

Around 18-18 of the second set, Nebraska started playing a higher level of volleyball. There was a Rodriguez dig and a Murray swing that breaks the other team’s spirit. Opponents’ thoughts: “If Nebraska can make plays like that, how can we kill a ball?”

Nebraska held USC to a .137 hitting percentage, compared to the Trojans’ normal .220. That defensive effort is always a combination of the block and floor defense, but tonight had a lot more to do with the floor defense. Nebraska dropped some tips during set one and in set two, but kept the hard-driven balls from hitting the ground.

Nebraska has a high ability to play ad lib, when the ball falls outside the normal system. This skill came in handy against USC. There was a play in the third set when Beason hit a ball from the back row, got blocked and dug her own blocked ball high enough for Bergen Reilly to push the ball down for a kill.

The team has never practiced this sequence specifically, but they certainly practice being ready to play any ball and when you play that ball they practice where to send it to have a quality attack. This out-of-system play is a special skill. All teams practice it, but Nebraska excels in this aspect of the game.

There are plenty of drills that force a team to work on balancing the playing field. This means that when a player clears a space on the floor, the player next to her shifts slightly to fill some of the space she left behind. You have six people to cover the 900 square meters of field. It’s impressive to see Nebraska move and shift to keep the playing field even.

They have excellent spatial awareness. They move fluidly and seemingly as one whole. As one player shifts, the other five adjust based on her direction and distance. They must all be very good at geometry!

Nebraska travels to Illinois for a game on Thursday, October 3. The match kicks off at 6:00 PM CT and will air on FS1. Illinois is 8-5 on the season. They lost both conference matches in three sets this weekend, first to Oregon and then to Washington.

Saturday:
#10 Purdue defeated #16 Minnesota 3-2
#7 Wisconsin prevailed 3-0 against Northwestern
#11 Oregon defeated Indiana 3-1
Iowa outlasted Maryland 3-2
Washington beat Illinois 3-0

Sunday:
#2 Nebraska has complete control over #20 USC 3-0
#4 Penn State defeated Michigan State 3-1
UCLA defeated Ohio State 3-1
Michigan defeated Rutgers 3-2 in reverse
#5 Louisville dominated #3 Stanford 3-0
#1 Pitt destroyed #13 Georgia Tech 3-0
#12 Kentucky outlasted #15 Florida 3-1