Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LINCOLN, Neb. — The No. 20 Utah volleyball team battled back from a 2-0 deficit to No. 11 Nebraska, but the Cornhuskers (22-9) managed to overcome the back-to-back losses in sets three and four to defeat the Utes (20-13) in five sets (23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17, 11-15) in second round action of the 2014 Women's Volleyball Championship Saturday evening at Devaney Center in Lincoln.
The Utes played perhaps some of the best volleyball it has all season, beating the Huskers in a majority of statistical categories, but the service line between the two teams was the difference in the match, and it helped Nebraska advance to next week's regional semifinal that will take place in Seattle, Wash.
"I am proud of our effort tonight," said Utah head coach Beth Launiere. "I thought we played very well. There was one area that got us into a lot of trouble, especially early on. The serve got us into trouble. We won just about every category except the serve and that was unfortunate. I am not sure what else we could have done. We put it all on the line and I am very happy about what this group accomplished."
Freshman Adora Anae paced the Utah offense with a career-high 20 kills, which ranks tied for second-most in school history in a NCAA Tournament match, and Utah outhit the Huskers in kills (69-61), hitting percentage (.289-.201) and assists (65-56).
The Utes managed to collect more digs (62-53) than Nebraska and outblock the Huskers as well, 12.0 to 8.0. The only category that Nebraska would win was the service aces line (6-2) and Utah had more service errors than the Huskers (11-3).
I am proud of our effort tonight. I thought we played very well. There was one area that got us into a lot of trouble, especially early on. The serve got us into trouble. We won just about every category except the serve and that was unfortunate. I am not sure what else we could have done. We put it all on the line and I am very happy about what this group accomplished.
–Beth Launiere
Utah opened the match with a 4-1 run, which promptly had Nebraska head coach John Cook calling a quick timeout. The Cornhuskers then went on a 4-0 run following the timeout and later went up 11-8 with a kill from Mary Pollmiller. Utah came back with a 4-1 run to tie the set at 12-12, but a 5-1 run forced Utah to call a timeout, trailing 17-13. The Utes won five of the next points to pull within two points of the home team and later went on a 4-1 run to pull within a point, forcing Nebraska to call a timeout up 23-22. Utah tied the set with an errant kill shot from the Cornhuskers, but Nebraska came back to win the next two points and take the set 25-23.
Schofield-Olsen tallied three kills in a 5-0 run that gave the Utes a 6-2 advantage, but Nebraska countered with runs of 5-1 and 6-1 to take a 13-9 lead. Utah then went on a 5-1 run to tie the set at 14-14, but the Huskers managed to win six of the next eight points to go up 20-16. Utah would come back to get within a point of the home team, down 23-22, but Nebraska won the next two points and took the set 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead heading into intermission.
After both teams traded points to open the third set, Utah caught fire and went on a 6-1 run to take a 13-11 lead. Another 6-1 run put the Utes up 20-14, but the Huskers would manage to come all the way back to pull within a point of the Utes, 24-23. With Nebraska on the serve, both teams rallied until Kadie Rolfzen's attempt was wide left to give Utah the point and the set, 25-23.
With the fourth set tied early, 4-4, Makenzie Moea'i recorded a cross-court kill to open a 4-0 run and force Nebraska to call a timeout trailing 8-4. The Huskers would win the next two points, but an 8-1 run helped Utah put the set away early and the Utes would end up tying the match at 2-2 with a 25-17 win in set four.
Nebraska opened the final set with a 4-0 run and it was more than enough, as Utah would only manage to get within two points on a couple different occasions throughout the set. Trailing 12-8, Anae recorded her 20th kill to start a 2-0 run, but the Huskers won three of the last four points to take the set 15-11.
Senior Shelby Dalton tied a season-high with 18 kills and she led Utah with a .424 hitting efficiency. Schofield-Olsen added 12 kills and she tied a career-high with 21 digs to record the 43rd double-double of her career in her final match as a Ute. Senior Kalee Kirby recorded 34 assists and three Utah players, Carly Trueman, Bailey Bateman and Schofield-Olsen, finished with a match-high five blocks.
The Utes closed the season winning eight of its last 10 matches and Utah is now 12-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches.
