LINCOLN, Neb. - The Lipscomb women's volleyball team dropped their second match in Nebraska, this time against No. 5 Nebraska on their home floor Saturday afternoon, 25-10, 25-21, 25-16. With the loss, Lipscomb fell to 0-2, and the Huskers improved to 2-0 on the season. 

Nebraska controlled the first set, not allowing the Bisons to get into a rhythm. The Bisons had as much as a six-point lead over Nebraska in set two, but the Huskers rallied, closing out the second frame with eight straight points to take set two 25-21. Lipscomb continued to battle in the third set early, but the No. 5 team in the country proved too much for the Bisons to handle on Saturday. 

LUV ended with a .091 hitting percentage, while Nebraska swung at a solid .366 percent clip with 44 kills compared to just 22 for Coach Rosenthal's group. Lipscomb had some difficulty again at the service line, with 15 service errors in the outing.

Sophomore Outside hitter Courtney Jones had a solid outing, leading the Bisons with seven kills and three digs. Sophia Hudepohl finished with 20 assists, two kills, and two aces, while Delaney Smith recorded 12 digs in their second day of action in Lincoln. Meg Mersman and Cora ter Kuile each earned four blocks on the day. 

Set 1:

Jada DiVita opened the contest with a kill to give LUV an early lead, but Nebraska quickly took control with a six-point run, giving the home team an 11-3 advantage. The Bisons couldn't battle back after the run and fell 25-10 in the first set. 

Set 2: 

After the Huskers scored the first two points of the second set, Lipscomb shifted the momentum their way. Caroline Stogner had three early kills to help keep pace with the Huskers. Then, a Jade Zaleski service ace gave the Bisons their first lead of the frame (7-6). Courtney Jones took over for LUV with five kills in the set, helping her squad take as much as a six-point advantage (19-13). Unfortunately, the Huskers regained momentum, closing the set on a 12-2 run, including eight straight to close out the second frame with a 25-21 edge. 

Set 3:

Lipscomb responded well to start set three, trailing by just one point after an ace from Hudepohl (9-10). Nebraska responded with three straight points on kills. From there, the Huskers stretched their lead to as much as nine, swinging the ball efficiently as seven of their last ten points came on completed attacks. The third set ended with a 25-16 final.

BRANDON ROSENTHAL POSTGAME:

"Truly an amazing experience. It's awesome to be a part of a venue where you've got a sold-out crowd of 10,000 knowledgeable volleyball fans. Many times as a coach, you travel to these different environments, and you wonder if it's going to live up to the hype, and it 100% did. Nebraska is a first-class organization, and being a part of it was unique. We appreciate the invitation to come and the opportunity to play."

"The match itself was a lot of fun to be a part of. After yesterday, I was interested to see how we would respond. It was slow to start, but I thought the fight was there, which I thought was the biggest piece missing from Friday. As we switched from set one to two, we started to see some things come together. We earned some opportunities and have to learn how to finish those. It's a challenge each year as new people come in and sometimes it's just how they all gel. Ultimately, when we start to dial in our serve, we will continue to add pressure, leading to good things at net blocking and then transition offense. All night, our blocks did a nice job setting the blocks and then getting blocks. They are a bigger team than we are, and having the numbers block-wise that we did against them was great to see."

"I thought defensively, Delaney Smith played lights out, an impressive showing by her, which spearheaded our defensive effort. She was the catalyst that drove the pressure, but everybody else stepped up. Connelly did a nice job defensively, and then in serve receive, I thought Jade did some nice stuff along with Courtney. When you combine these things, match to match, we'll see some fun things evolve. We have to play a little cleaner. We were tentative, especially in the first set, but Courtney came in, gave us a spark, and had phenomenal plays throughout the match. Stogs (Caroline Stogner) did a great job. It was one of those things where you must settle into the game's rhythm. At times, she did a super job on some tough plays but let off the gas a little bit. We'll get to that, but her middle play was good overall."

"We got to execute some of the information we've been giving through timeouts and in breaks, but that's just part of the game. Our focus has to be sharper. We're close to it, but that will be the difference, especially against good teams. Moving into this next match against Utah State, they make few errors, which will be challenging for us. We must stay mentally engaged and focused on the information we give and how to execute things. All in all, it was just an awesome experience. I would have liked to see us extend the match through set two, but we must continue challenging ourselves to make way, not wait for ways. I loved the spirit of the team and the fight that I saw. We are taking some great steps forward."

Up Next:
The Bisons will play their final Ameritas Players Challenge match against Utah State at 11:00 a.m. CT on Sunday.