SAN DIEGO - The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team began the SDSU/USD Invitational with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-14, 17-25, 25-17) win over Arizona on Friday evening at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The Huskers, who improved to 3-0 on the season, had three players with double-digit kills.
Lexi Sun, who grew up 45 minutes up the road in Encinitas, had 15 kills with a .353 hitting percentage.
Madi Kubik added a career-high 13 kills and 13 digs, and
Jazz Sweet had 11 kills with a .320 hitting percentage.
The Huskers got off to a fast start with decisive wins in the first two sets. After hitting .373 through two sets, NU cooled off in set three, hitting -.081 as Arizona (2-2) won the set. The Huskers rebounded in set four to finish off the match. Although NU struggled offensively in the final two sets, they picked up their play defensively, holding Arizona to .091 and .056 hitting over the final two frames. For the match, NU out-hit Arizona .214 to .111. The Huskers had 12 more kills (52-40) and digs (69-57).
NU had a season-high nine blocks, led by four from
Riley Zuhn. The true freshman appeared in her first career match after
Callie Schwarzenbach went out in the first set with an injury. Zuhn paired three kills with her four blocks. The Huskers were also without
Capri Davis, who is recovering from an injury.
Libero
Kenzie Knuckles had a match-high 19 digs, and
Nicklin Hames had 40 assists, 14 digs and three aces. Sun had three blocks to go with her 15 kills, and
Lauren Stivrins added six kills and three blocks.