The No. 6 Nebraska volleyball team (6-1) plays its final non-conference road match of the regular season this Tuesday, Sept. 14, visiting No. 16 Stanford. First serve in the Huskers’ third straight top-20 matchup is set for 7 p.m. CT at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. The match will be televised on Pac-12 Networks with Greg Mescall and Don Shaw on the call.
This week’s action will be carried on Huskers Radio Network with the NU radio team of John Baylor and Lauren Cook West. Baylor is in his 28th season handling play-by-play duties for the Husker volleyball program, and West, a former All-America setter at NU, will provide color commentary for the sixth straight year.
Huskers Radio Network will carry the matches on HRN radio affiliates, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and AM 590 in Omaha. A live audio stream will be available at Huskers.com and on the Huskers app.
Quick Hits
• After a midweek sweep of No. 19 Creighton last Wednesday, Nebraska saw its six-match win streak snapped Saturday night in a 3-2 loss to No. 20 Utah.
• The Huskers will have played four straight top-20 opponents in an 11-day span by the end of this week with No. 19 Creighton (Sept. 8), No. 20 Utah (Sept. 11), No. 16 Stanford (Sept. 14) and No. 5 Louisville (Sept. 18).
• Nebraska (2015, 2017), Stanford (2016, 2018, 2019) and Kentucky (2020) have claimed the last six national championships.
• Last Wednesday’s Nebraska-Creighton match was played in front of 11,279 fans at the CHI Health Center Omaha, marking the NCAA’s largest regular-season crowd this season and the 10th-largest regular-season, volleyball-only crowd in NCAA history.
• Nebraska has held its opponents to .120 hitting this season, the third-best mark in the Big Ten.
• Five of NU’s six freshmen have seen the court so far this year.
Scouting the Stanford Cardinal
Stanford is 4-2 on the season after splitting a pair of matches in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Eugene, Ore., last weekend. The Cardinal fell 3-1 to No. 13 Minnesota on Friday, then outlasted No. 18 Penn State 3-2 on Saturday. Stanford’s only other loss of the season was a 3-0 sweep at No. 1 Texas on Sept. 5.
Starting with Tuesday night’s Nebraska match, Stanford plays five of its next six matches at home.
Stanford finished 2-8 in a Pac-12-only schedule and missed the postseason for the first time in program history last spring, snapping a streak of 39 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Caitie Baird was named All-Pac-12 and earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, and Elena Oglivie was recognized with All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
Kevin Hambly is in his fifth season at the helm with a record of 100-19 at Stanford and a career mark of 278-105 over 13 years as a head coach.
Noting the Husker-Cardinal Series
In the rich history of Stanford and Nebraska matchups, the Cardinal leads the all-time series 10-6, including 4-4 in the John Cook era. Stanford has won the last three meetings.
The most recent Nebraska-Stanford contest was Sept. 18, 2019 at the Ameritas Players Challenge in Lincoln. It was a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2, as the top-ranked Huskers fell 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 17-25, 16-25). Madi Kubik had 14 kills to lead NU, and Lexi Sun and Lauren Stivrins added nine kills apiece. Sun and Kenzie Knuckles each posted 15 digs, and Nicklin Hames registered a double-double on 40 assists and 16 digs.
Other notables in the series:
• Nebraska’s last win over Stanford was Aug. 29, 2008 at the Runza/AVCA Showcase in Omaha, Neb., where the Huskers swept 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 26-24).
• The Huskers’ only other trip to Stanford was Oct. 12, 1990. The Cardinal won 3-0 (15-8, 15-10, 15-8).
Up Next
Nebraska takes on its final non-conference challenge on Saturday, Sept. 18, welcoming No. 5 Louisville. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at the Devaney Center, and the match will be televised on BTN. John Baylor and Lauren Cook West will have the radio call on Huskers Radio Network.
