Husker volleyball loses to Penn State in heartbreaking 5-game thriller

A silent Qwest Center emptied late Thursday night after Nebraska's volleyball team stretched what seemed like a perfect Penn State team to the limit before losing 15-11 in the fifth and final set of one of the most improbable matches in the history of NU volleyball.


Top-ranked Penn State hadn't lost a set of volleyball this season and appeared prepared to dominate its way into Saturday's championship game against a Stanford team that won its own five-set thriller against a powerful Texas team earlier on Thursday.


But NU's three seniors led a No. 4-ranked squad depleted by injury and illness to heart-pounding victories in the match's third and fourth sets.


Jordan Larson led the team with 17 kills in the match, Tara Mueller logged 15 kills and Lindsey Licht added 13 of her own.


But it wasn't enough as PSU rolled to 25-17 and 25-18 victories in the first two sets.


Nebraska fought back to dominate the third set 25-15 and scraped past a Penn State rally to secure a 25-22 win in the fourth set. The partisan crowd inside the arena put up a din as it stood on its feet from the middle of the fourth set through the match's end.


Despite having never played anything other than three-set games this entire season, Penn State managed to maintain a sense of momentum and converted a .320 hitting percentage in the fifth set into nine kills.


Nebraska led 10-8 in the final set before Penn State team emerged from a timeout and strung together six consecutive points for the win.


As the match point hit the floor, 17,430 voices fell silent as NU's players collapsed into tears on the floor.


It was the Nittany Lions' NCAA-record 64th straight victory, which improved the team's record to 37-0 and moved them within one victory of becoming only the sixth women's volleyball program in NCAA Division I history to repeat as national champions.


Penn State, which features six All-Americans in its lineup, hit .305 on the night, while Nebraska attacked at a .247 clip.

Read more coverage from the Daily Collegian, Penn State's student newspaper.