The Husker volleyball team (11-3, 5-0) was up to the test in its 3-1 road win over Penn State. The NU offense hit .218 in the four sets, which finished 25-16, 22-25, 25-23 and 25-17 in order.
The defense put a hold on the dangerous Nittany Lion offense as well, holding the PSU offense to a sub-.200 hitting percentage.
Here are my three takes from this top-15 matchup.
More impressive defense
The Huskers forced plenty of long rallies in the last win against Michigan State, which is something John Cook has focused on. Once again, the NU defense came to play and forced Penn State to hit around them, but the Big Red held strong.
The defense forced Penn State to just 61 kills on 205 attempts. The Nittany Lions were also forced to 24 errors.
Freshman libero Lexi Rodriguez led the defense with 22 digs, but was closely followed by Kenzie Knuckles (17) and Madi Kubik (16). In the four sets, Nebraska dug the ball 92 times, opposed to Penn State's 74.
The defense was not only strong in the back row, but up front the Huskers recorded 22 blocks. Middle blocker Kayla Caffey accounted for 10 blocks, and led the way for NU.
The Big Red defense held strong in its biggest conference test this season, and with more Big Ten games to play, it will need to hold strong.
Freshman Standouts
Lexi Rodriguez was huge for the Huskers defensively with her 22 digs, but more freshman stood out on the other side of the ball.
Freshmen Ally Batenhorst and Lindsay Krause combined for 36 kills on 86 attempts, and had the two best hitting percentages of the outside hitters. Batenhorst had moments where she took over and would get kill after kill, which tallied her up to 19 on the afternoon. Krause followed closely with 17.
With plenty of attacking talent, the two freshman have started to settle in as some of the go-to outside hitters.
Leading the Big Ten
The teams in this matchup were the two undefeated teams left in the conference, but with a Husker win in this one, NU now tops the conference at 5-0. The Big Red not only took down a dangerous Penn State team, but did so in convincing fashion.
Nebraska has Rutgers and Indiana up next, two teams who sit in the bottom half of the conference, so they will look to extend their conference lead.
