Both matches were expected to go to a thrilling five sets.
No. 5 Nebraska not only swept No. 2 Stanford earlier this week, but the Huskers rode into Kentucky and toppled No. 4 Louisville in a decisive sweep, 25-16, 25-17, 25-20, to give Nebraska its fifth win over a ranked opponent during the nonconference slate.
Both matches this week were statement wins. Not necessarily 鈥渢urning points,鈥 but massive moments for the Huskers to continue to show that they are, once again, contenders for the national championship that will be played in Louisville in December.
My thoughts on Nebraska鈥檚 victory over Louisville:
WHAT I LOVED
Tough serving
Any volleyball coach will tell you that nothing happens without having a strong serve-and-pass game.
And for Nebraska, three aces in the first set helped set the tone.
That continued into set two, thanks to senior outside Lindsay Krause.
Three straight service aces. Three! That was half of Nebraska's output at that point in the match.
Nebraska finished the match with seven service aces 鈥 doing a phenomenal job of exploiting the weaknesses in Louisville鈥檚 receiving game.
Krause鈥檚 four aces were a career-high, while Harper Murray, Merritt Beason and Lexi Rodriguez all added one apiece.
Because of Nebraska鈥檚 tough serving, Louisville was out of sorts. In between sets two and three, Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly told ABC that Louisville鈥檚 鈥減assing has been atrocious.鈥
Can't win without good passing.
Match on ABC
For the first time ever, a regular season match for women鈥檚 volleyball was on ABC.
That means something. Yes, it鈥檚 on an NFL Sunday, but I cannot wait to see the viewership numbers.
Getting more eyes on volleyball is integral for growing the sport. Hopefully matches like these can continue.
Noteworthy, though, is that ABC isn鈥檛 an option for Nebraska during conference play due to the Big Ten鈥檚 TV deal with NBC, Fox and CBS.聽
WHAT I LIKED
Balanced attack
Feels like an observation in every match, but once again, setter Bergen Reilly did a great job at giving Nebraska鈥檚 hitters plenty of opportunities to create offense.
Murray led Nebraska with 11 kills on 31 swings for .290. Beason had nine kills on 22 swings for .364. Krause had five kills on 21 swings for .048. Andi Jackson had six kills on an errorless 11 swings for .545.
When you have multiple options you can go to, it鈥檚 hard to stop. It鈥檚 like volleyball鈥檚 version of Whack-A-Mole.
The block
Nebraska鈥檚 block was dominant on Sunday.
They 鈥 with middle Rebekah Allick leading the way 鈥 had nine team blocks, including four in the third set.
Not only did Nebraska鈥檚 block make a statement on the stat sheet, Louisville was hitting to avoid Nebraska鈥檚 block, which led to a litany of hitting errors for the Cardinals.
Tough schedule
The Nebraska-Louisville match was the 17th match this season thus far that featured two Top 10 teams.
The tough nonconference for so many teams will better prepare the Final Four contenders for the postseason.
I don't know what the future will look like for nonconference scheduling, but I hope it continues to feature matches such as this one.
WHAT I WAS LET DOWN BY
Louisville鈥檚 sloppy start
Louisville is a dominant team. The Cardinals were ranked No. 4 for a reason.
And yet, the Cardinals could not get out of their own way.
Louisville had 10 hitting errors in the first set compared to 14 kills, giving Louisville a set-one hitting percentage of .105. Only three of those hitting errors were into Nebraska鈥檚 block. Pair that with three service errors; at least two were into the net, rather than going long.
In total, Louisville had 25 errors with only nine of them going into Nebraska鈥檚 block.
Not anywhere near the caliber that Louisville is capable of.
I do expect them to bounce back and be a contender for a Final Four run, but Nebraska exposed plenty of their flaws on Sunday.
WHAT I LOATHED
The 鈥渓ift鈥 calls
That 鈥渓ift鈥 call on Louisville鈥檚 Phekran Kong in the first set was not a lift.
That 鈥渓ift鈥 call on Krause in the third set was not a lift.
Of course, those calls are subjective, but they were鈥 interesting.
PARTING THOUGHTS
Future Nebraska-Louisville matches
I hope Nebraska and Louisville play each other again soon, whether that鈥檚 in the NCAA Tournament or in a nonconference match next year.
Maybe schedule the Cardinals for a match in Pinnacle Bank Arena? Just a suggestion.
I love what former Husker Dani Busboom Kelly is building at Louisville. Her teams are normally very fun to watch.