by OMAHA, Neb. – Kansas’ list of never-before accomplishments finally stopped growing Thursday night with a 3-1 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the NCAA Championship Semifinals at CenturyLink Center, leaving unfinished work for another season.
The Jayhawks achieved the unprecedented during a magical 2015 season – including advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year, the program’s second NCAA Sweet 16 in three years, a first-ever Elite Eight and bouncing the No. 1 overall seed for 30 wins and a reservation in Omaha for Thursday night’s Final Four showdown with Nebraska.
Instead of a first-ever win over the Huskers and a third shot at Texas, who defeated Minnesota in four sets earlier in the evening, in an all-Big 12 title match, Nebraska jumped out jumped out to 2-0 lead in front of an NCAA-record setting 17,551 fans – the vast majority wearing red shirts – then pushed past a Kansas challenge to claim their 15th straight victory and seventh NCAA title berth.
Kansas’ Kelsie Payne, named to the AVCA All-America First Team on Wednesday, led all players with 22 kills and just three errors, but the Jayhawks couldn’t muster much else in the way of a consistent attack while hitting .159 for the match. There were spurts when the offense, block and serve clicked, including during a 25-20 win in the third set and early in the fourth, but the hole was too big to climb out of.
The first point foreshadowed a less than sparkling performance as Tiana Dockery (Navajo Nation) mishandled a tough serve to give the opening tally to the Huskers. Throughout the first two sets, Kansas committed seven service errors without recording a service ace and the No. 4 team in the tournament took full advantage.
Still Kansas played close in the first, trailing just 19-18, before a service error – KU’s fourth of the opening set – a block and a kill on an over ball by Mikaela Foecke gave Nebraska three straight points. The Huskers took the first set 25-20.
In the second set, both teams traded jabs through the first 12 points before Nebraska surged ahead 8-6. A joust at the net won by KU’s Ainise Havili, also named an AVCA First Team All-American Wednesday, gave the Jayhawks a little spark, but the Nebraska block and more errors from Kansas saw the advantage creep to six by 18-12. KU was hitting just .094 at that point, despite just two blocks from the Huskers. Kansas made a run, benefitting from another joust win from Havili against two Huskers, and pulled as close as 24-21 before Nebraska finally claimed set point on a smash by Kadie Rolfzen.
The late surge and the break between sets seemed to give Kansas new life in the third set. Again both teams traded early blows and were tied at 10-10, before Kansas scrambled on a rally of bad balls that eventually ended with a Dockery kill and a 15-13 KU advantage. It was ugly, but the type of effort the Jayhawks needed and the senior yelled to her teammates, “That’s how we play,” in the huddle at the timeout.
In the first set, Kansas had been caught off guard by a free ball kept alive on a cross court shot wrapped around the antenna, but in the third set caught Nebraska sleeping, saving the rally with two diving attempts then an over before Janae Hall flushed a solo block to make it 18-16. Madison Rigdon followed with a block to make it 19-16 and KU benefitted from its first, and only ace of the set, by Anna Church to lead 22-18. Nebraska pulled within three before Dockery whiffed on two attacks then joined Soucie for a set clinching block, 25-20.
Prior to the fourth set, a chant of “Go Big Red” filled the arena and the Huskers snagged the first two points. Kansas used another ugly scramble to pull even at 7-7 and tied it again at 8-8 on a set attack from Havili, part of an eight kill effort from the sophomore.
That’s when the last set started to unravel. An eighth KU service error was followed by a Nebraska block, then a third straight point forced KU to take a timeout down 11-8. Payne fired back with a pair of kills wrapped around a KU net violation and a ninth service error and Nebraska charged forward to a six-point advantage at 18-12.
Kansas rattled off four straight points to pull within two but that would be the last significant surge. After trading points, Nebraska closed the set and match on a seven point run, including several from Cecilia Hall, who finished with 10 kills.
A combined block from Hall and Kelsey Fien ended the match and prompted a Nebraska dog pile near mid court. The Huskers and Longhorns will meet Saturday at 6:30 p.m. inside CenturyLink Center to determine this year’s NCAA Champion.
Soucie and Hall joined Havili with eight kills for Kansas in the loss, with Havili adding 38 assists and Hall five blocks. Cassie wait had a game-high 23 digs.
Kadie Rolfzen led Nebraska with 14 kills and was joined in double figures by Foecke (12) and Hall (10). Hall added seven blocks and Kelly Hunter paced the Huskers with 47 assists.
POST-MATCH NOTES
• Tonight’s attendance was 17,551, which set an NCAA volleyball national semifinal and final record. The previous semifinal mark was 17,430 which was set in 2008 (Nebraska was the host). The highest championship attendance is 17,209 which was set in 2006 (Nebraska was the host)
• Kansas ends its season with a 30-3 record, with all three losses coming against the teams to play in Saturday’s final. The 30 wins are the most since the 1978 team finished 31-24-2. The .909 winning percentage is a school record, surpassing the .788 mark set by the 26-7 team in 2012.
• The Kansas starting line-up of Ainise Havili, Tiana Dockery, Madison Rigdon, Kelsie Payne,Tayler Soucie, Janae Hall and libero Cassie Wait started together for the 31st time in 33 matches this season.
• Tiana Dockery surpassed the 900 kill milestone in her career with a putaway to make it 6-4 in the first set.
• Kansas finished the season 10-2 in the fourth set of matches this season. The Jayhawks won their first 10 such contests before dropping the fourth set last Saturday vs. USC and tonight’s fourth set vs. Nebraska.
