LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mikaela Foecke had 18 kills and Annika Albrecht had 14 as fifth-seeded Nebraska topped fourth-seeded Kentucky 25-19, 25-22, 25-27, 25-22 on Saturday night in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament at Memorial Coliseum. With the win, Nebraska advances to the 2017 Final Four.
Briana Holman and Jazz Sweet each added 11 kills for Nebraska, while setter Kelly Hunter had a double-double with 46 assists and 11 digs.
Kentucky was led by sophomore Leah Edmond, who had a match-high 20 kills. Kaz Brown and Emily Franklin each had 11 kills for the Wildcats, while Avery Skinner added 10. Freshman setter Madison Lilley had 52 assists for Kentucky, while senior Ashley Dusek had 19 digs.
Nebraska started the match quickly, scoring four straight points to take a 5-1 lead. Kenzie Maloney had back-to-back service aces within the run. The Huskers would increase the lead to 12-7 after consecutive kills from Foecke and Albrecht.
After a Kentucky timeout, the Huskers continued their run, scoring five of the next six points in the set to lead 17-8. The Wildcats would get as close as 22-17, but Nebraska would win the set 25-19. Foecke had seven kills in the set for the Huskers, and Hunter had 11 assists.
In set two, Nebraska jumped out to a 7-3 lead behind a pair of kills from Sweet. Kentucky was able to cut the lead to 11-10 on a kill by Edmond, but the Huskers responded by scoring five of the set’s next six points, taking a 16-11 lead in the process.
Nebraska would extend the lead to six on three occasions, including at 23-17, but Kentucky would score three straight to cut the lead to 23-20. But the Huskers would hold on to win the set 25-22 to take a 2-0 advantage. Albrecht had five kills in the set and Sweet added four. Hunter had 15 assists on Nebraska’s 17 kills in the set.
In the third set, it was Kentucky jumping to an early 5-2 advantage. Kentucky would extend its lead to 15-10 later in the set before Nebraska made its run. The Huskers used a 5-2 stretch to cut the lead to 17-15 on a kill by Albrecht. After a Kentucky kill by Brooke Morgan, Nebraska scored six in a row to take a 21-18 lead.
Kentucky would not go away quietly, as the Wildcats scored the next two points to make it 21-20 Huskers. The teams battled back and forth, as the set was tied at 24-24 and 25-25 before Kentucky won the last two points to win the set 27-25. Edmond had five kills in the set for UK and Brown added four. Lilley had 15 assists in the set for the Wildcats.
Set four began with Nebraska racing to a 5-1 lead, a run that included a service ace from Hunter. Kentucky would cut the lead to 9-8 on a kill by Franklin. But the Wildcats were unable to catch up until they tied the score at 18-18 on a Nebraska error. The score would be tied again at 19-19 before the Huskers scored four of the next five points to lead 23-20. Nebraska would go on to win the set 25-22 to win the match 3-1.
Nebraska advances to next week’s NCAA Final Four at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., where they will face either Florida or Southern California.
