No. 18 Wildcats Fall 3-0 to No. 3 Huskers

Lincoln, Neb. - Kansas State took Nebraska deep into games one and two before the Huskers pulled away in game three as the No. 18 Wildcats fell to No. 3 Nebraska, 27-30, 24-30, 13-30, Saturday night before 4,154 fans at the Nebraska Coliseum. With the loss, Kansas State fell to 15-8 overall and 9-5 in Big 12 play, while Nebraska improved to 21-1 and 15-0.

Nebraska out-hit K-State, .291 to .089, out-blockd the Wildcats, 14-4.5, and also collected seven service aces in the three-game sweep. Agata Rezende led K-State with nine kills, seven of which were in game one, while Angie Lastra collected a team-high 13 digs. Setter Gabby Guerre added seven kills, eight digs and 21 assists for Kansas State.

K-State grabbed an early lead in game one as Rezende put down three kills as the Wildcats took an 8-7 lead. Freshman Rita Liliom and Rezende followed with a block and Rezende put down another kill as K-State took an 11-8 lead. But, Nebraska answered with six straight to take a 14-11 lead until the ‘Cats clawed back to tie the game at 14. Neither team took a lead larger than three as both traded points until the game’s end. After a Hejjas kill late closed the Husker lead to 28-27, Nebraska answered with two straight to take game one, 30-27. Rezende led K-State with seven kills for the game.

Game two opened much like game one as both teams traded kills early as neither team took a lead larger than two points. But, after a Guerre kill closed the Husker lead to 16-15, Nebraska scored three straight to take a 19-15 lead. K-State answered with a 4-0 run to tie the game at 19 after a Hejjas kill and a Liliom/Rezende block. But, Nebraska went on an 11-5 run to close out the game at 30-24. K-State hit .182 for the game while Nebraska hit .283.

The Huskers, behind a late 11-1 run, took control of game three at 19-7 after holding on to an 8-6 lead. Kansas State could not get it going in game three as Nebraska hit .517 in game three, while holding K-State to a -.065 mark, and capitalized on three service aces and six blocks en route to a 30-13 win.

Kansas State returns to action on Wednesday at home as Colorado visits Ahearn Field House in a match that will be televised regionally by Fox Sports Midwest on a tape-delay basis.

No. 18 Kansas State 27 24 13
No. 3 Nebraska  30 30 30

–KSU–