LINCOLN, Neb. -- Freshman Gillian Asque led Western Michigan with 10 kills, while fellow freshman Lena Oliver contributed 14 digs, but No. 7 Nebraska prevailed, 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-11), in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,111 at the NU Coliseum in the Ameritas Players Challenge.
Junior setter Sam Viox added 28 assists, while sophomore Jessica Brown had seven kills and three blocks.
The Huskers (7-1) held the Broncos (6-3) to .102 hitting with 29 kills, while NU hit .391 with 47 kills. The Broncos tallied four blocks, while the Huskers rejected 11 shots and also had 13 more digs (45-32).
"We were up against extremely athletic players and we're learning how to adjust mid-game to plays that don't go our way," head coach Colleen Munson said. "Nebraska is a physical team who took us out of everything we wanted to do and then some. We had a bright spot tonight in serve receive, but we couldn't seem to find our way offensively and defensively. We'll only improve by getting back on the court again tomorrow. This entire experience is going to be very good for our program."
Western Michigan hung close early in set one, 8-7, after a kill by Asque. The Huskers went on a 7-1 run to take control, 15-8, but Western Michigan countered with four points in a row, 15-12. NU scored four more in a row of their own to go up seven, 19-12, and force WMU into a timeout. The Broncos couldn't make a run as Nebraska took the opening set, 25-17.
The Broncos connected on 11 kills in the opening set with three by Asque, Brown and freshman Ali Gossen, but Nebraska hit .324 with 17 kills.
Nebraska built a 9-3 lead to open set two before Western Michigan called timeout. The Broncos scored three in a row on an Asque kill, Viox and Brown block and Doyle ace in the middle of the set, but Nebraska kept the distance to close out the set, 25-17.
WMU had 11 more kills in the second set with five by Asque, but Nebraska hit .355 and collected 15 kills to prevail.
Nebraska scored the first 11 points of the set and didn't look back. The Broncos used a 6-2 run to pull closer, 13-6, after a kill by freshman Emily Harris, but never threatened. Nebraska ended the match with its 47th kill to win, 25-11.
Nebraska took over in the third set with 15 kills and .542 hitting, while WMU had seven kills and seven errors in the third set.
Western Michigan finishes the tournament tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. against No. 20 Dayton (5-3).
