Husker volleyball’s ineffective attacks lead to defeat by UCLA

Total attacks aren't the most exciting statistic in volleyball. But how a player attacks can be the difference between winning and losing a match.

Nebraska's loss to UCLA on Sunday may have had something to do with the Huskers ineffective attack down the stretch.

NU (7-2) aggressively attacked the Bruins' left side and found success during the first three games.

Brooke Delano and Lindsey Licht – Nebraska's primary right outside hitters – combined for 16 kills and only one error during those first three games.

Licht's production severely decreased in the final two games as the normally powerful hitter started rolling balls over the net, leading to zero kills and three errors.

NU coach John Cook said he wasn't pleased with how "soft" his team played.

"Lindsey Licht's roll shot sent a huge message to UCLA: ‘Here it is'," Cook said. "And you just cannot do that in game five."

The Huskers dropped that fifth game, hitting an .042 percentage compared to UCLA's .391 hitting percentage.

Knowing which attacking shot to make comes with experience, and the Huskers' two All-Americans were able to do that this weekend.

Tara Mueller shined on Thursday night against Virginia as she totaled 14 kills while not committing any errors.

More impressively, she didn't do it with just power hitting. She used a finesse shot as well to dump it over the blockers and reach the floor.

Setter Sydney Anderson had a career high seven kills on Friday night against BYU.

"They weren't committing on me. They weren't jumping," Anderson said of BYU's defense. "Setters would love to have that, so I saw that and I took advantage of it. Until they changed, I was going to keep going for it."

Cook said he was surprised at how effective Anderson was, but said she did a good job at using what the defense gave her.

"You got to do it until they make you stop it," Cook said.

Taking what the defense is giving is something that the Huskers' two freshmen in the regular rotation – Hannah Werth and Gina Mancuso – will learn with experience.

Cook said that Mancuso is the team's best back row attacker, adding that both freshmen are too good to have one sit out.

Werth played well on Sunday tallying 14 kills, but Anderson knows there is work still to do.

"She wants to get up and she wants to kill a ball," Anderson said. "She is going to go out and go hard, which is great. But at this level, if you go hard, there is going to be big hands up there. She is seeing that she is going to get blocked a few times. So I think, just the experience on the court, she is just going to get more comfortable. I think she is improving a lot."

Cook said he is hoping that this weekend was a learning experience for the team that will ultimately need production from its freshmen.