Husker volleyball team slams Missouri State, 3-1

Five Cornhuskers saw their first volleyball action inside the NU Coliseum Saturday night.

Hannah Werth enrolled in January and looked strong during the exhibition match with Missouri State. She had 12 kills, eight digs and two serving aces to help the Huskers beat the Bears, 3-1.

Werth described the atmosphere as "unreal." The freshman struggled in her first performance, recording ten errors with only a .062 hit percentage, but Werth didn't want to take this match lightly.

"Everything counts in my book," she said. "If I'm playing and we have the jersey on, we better go for the win."

Nebraska had four players with double-digit kills. All-American Tara Mueller tallied a match-high 14 kills and assisted two blocks.

Sophomores Jordan Wilberger and Brooke Delano had 10 and 12 kills, respectively.

NU coach John Cook said his team had some good moments out there but almost got ahead of itself after going up 2-0.

"We got some great teaching moments out of this match tonight, too," he said. "They kind of started thinking they were pretty good there for awhile and forgot how to play."

The Bears weren't frazzled after trailing two games. They came out in the third frame and quieted the crowd, eventually winning, 25-20.

Nebraska had to regather itself and come out ready to put it away in the fourth game. Cook decided to put in redshirt freshman Kaitlynn James, who has been dealing with a shoulder injury.

James provided a spark for the Huskers.

NU was down 9-7 in the fourth game, and James smacked a couple kills to give Nebraska the lead. She didn't play much but recorded three kills and had a match-high .750 hitting percentage.

Cook said James is not ready to play four games like that, but this was a good step for her.

"He told me between the second and third games to make sure I was warm and to get ready," James said. "I was trying to relax because I knew if I amped myself up too much before I went in there, I would just get really excited. I wanted to be able to focus."

Although James didn't go 100 percent on every hit Saturday, she hopes to be playing at full force this summer.

Redshirt freshman Allison McNeal also got her first taste of playing at home. She notched five kills on nine attempts and had seven assisted blocks.

Cook said at times his team showed a great ability to pass and serve, but now it's about putting it all together and being consistent.

He said because the Huskers are so young, he tried to exercise some patience watching his team.

"As I told them, I was working on everything possible to be patient tonight," Cook said. "But there are some things I just can't keep my patience; when we're letting balls drop and hitting balls in the luxury seats."

Nebraska had a total of 32 errors on the night, but it's still the spring season.

McNeal said she hopes to eventually earn a starting spot this fall.

For now, she's just glad to put on the Husker jersey.

"It's a great experience for me," she said. "Each time it's getting better and better."

jeffstraub@dailynebraskan.com