Three takes: No. 11 Nebraska Volleyball takes down Maryland in three sets

No. 11 Nebraska Volleyball (18-6, 12-3) swept Maryland (18-9, 6-9) 25-11, 26-24, 25-18.

The Huskers started the first set slow and didn't earn a point until middle blocker Lauren Stivrins and outside hitter Lindsay Krause got a block to go up 6-3. Stivrins got the team's first kill to advance to 8-5. The other points to begin the match were scored on Maryland errors.

Husker Head Coach John Cook said Nebraska's players were "rattled" by something yelled in the crowd during the Star-Spangled Banner directed to Maryland players that were kneeling.

Cook said in the first timeout of the match, he noticed a couple of Huskers crying and others were really upset. He said Nebraska players apologized to Maryland after the match.

The Big Ten broadcast showed Stivrins getting the attention of Maryland middle blocker Rainelle Jones. Stivrins, setter Nicklin Hames and outside hitter Madi Kubik all spoke to Jones from across the net.

"I just don't think that's our fans' place to say things during a match," Cook said. "It's putting judgment on the other team. It is just a volleyball match, we're not here to do that. I'm a little disappointed that happened. There are other ways to express people's opinions, but not right after the Star-Spangled Banner and introductions."

Cook said Nebraska practiced really well this week and he was shocked when the team didn't come out playing sharp. Nebraska eventually found a rhythm in set one and did a good job of keeping it up.

Here are my three takes from Nebraska's victory over Maryland:

The Huskers' floor and block defense helped make up for their pour hitting. Nebraska hit .170 on the match.

"It wasn't the prettiest match, but our floor defense or blocking or serving did a nice job," Cook said. "Our offense wasn't very good tonight, except for our middles, just making too many errors."

Nebraska's 78 digs set a school record for digs in a three-set match during the rally-scoring era.

Libero Lexi Rodriguez had 22 digs and Hames had 21. Defensive specialists Keonilei Akana and Kenzie Knuckles had 11 and 10 digs, respectfully.

Cook and Hames both said they thought it was part of Maryland's game plan to tip to Hames to get Nebraska out-of-system. In the first set, Hames had seven digs and six assists. She had 13 assists and five digs in the second set. Hames had 12 assists and nine digs in set three.

When Hames has to dig the ball, Rodriguez becomes the setter on the play. Cook said tipping to Hames made NU send over a few free balls until Rodriguez started setting better.

"That worked for a little bit at the beginning till (Rodriguez) started putting the ball on the money and then we started taking some good swings and they weren't getting easy balls," Cook said.

As for blocking, Nebraska out-blocked the best blocking team in the Big Ten 11 to nine and held the best blocker in the country, Jones, to four block assists.

While walking out of the post-game press conference Cook said "78 digs, that tells you how good we were killing balls."

It's good for Nebraska to get some confidence in their block and defense but need to get the hitters more involved.

Outside hitter Lindsay Krause has hit under .100 in the last three matches. She hit .143 in set one with two kills and one block assist.

Krause started the second set but was taken out after her second hitting error of the night. Freshman hitter Whitney Lauenstein, who played a lot during the preseason, took her spot.

Lauenstein had six kills and five errors on 23 swings. She hit .043, not much better than Krause.

However, Lauenstein stepped up in several key moments including a kill to help tie the Huskers 24-24 in the second set and a huge block with Stivrins to go up 25-24.

"One thing about Whitney is she's gonna take rips on the ball and that's what we love about her," Hames said. "I thought she did a great job coming in, she got a couple of huge blocks in that second set and took a couple of good swings."

Cook said after the match that Nebraska needs to get more production out of their right-side hitters and he showed against Maryland that he is willing to give Lauenstein a shot.

The Huskers scored five unanswered points to rally late and win set two 26-24.

"It was weird because I don't think at any point anyone was nervous about the score or even cared what the score was," Stivrins said. "We were just out there playing our game and we did a really good job of being disciplined towards the end."

Nebraska lost two two-point sets against Ohio State and two against Wisconsin.

Stivrins said it felt good to finally win a two-point set.

"We've been losing a lot of games by two points, recently so to have that one felt really good," she said.

Nebraska still has "room to grow," as Cook said, but it was good for them to prove they could battle and win a two-point game.

"I think that just shows that this team is slowly making their way and figuring it out," Stivrins said. "I think that we are in a lot of high-pressure situations like that in practice, and to see it finally translate into a game was really cool for us."

The Huskers have five more matches and three of the teams are currently ranked. There will likely be more two-point sets in their future and buckling down on winning those could change the outcome of the season.