MINNEAPOLIS, Min. (KMTV) — The Nebraska volleyball team rallied from two sets down to beat Illinois on Thursday at the Final Four to advance to the national championship match. NU eliminated the Illini 22-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-11. The 7th seeded Huskers will play the top seed Stanford (33-1) at 8 p.m. on Saturday in Minneapolis on ESPN. This marks the Big Red's 9th ever appearance in the championship match & if NU wins, it'll be the program's sixth title in program history.
"I knew this was going to be a five-gamer. This is the Big Ten, baby," head coach John Cook said.
What a night. 🎉#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/maN37TwD9E
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 14, 2018
"We wanted to fight," said senior Mikaela Foecke. "We didn't want this to be our last game."
Resiliency. 💪 pic.twitter.com/KvB7pBKXxQ
— Husker Volleyball (@Huskervball) December 14, 2018
Mikaela Foecke & Lexi Sun both had 19 kills to lead the Big Red. Nebraska (29-6) will now go for back-to-back national championships & its 3rd in four years. Foecke, along with fellow senior Kenzie Maloney, are now 21-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Down 0-2?
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 14, 2018
IT AIN'T NO THANG FOR @HUSKERVBALL!!#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/wyzaNlK7mF
After the win over the Illini, former Husker volleyball coach Terry Pettit chimed in on Twitter.
That was a program win. Nebraska hung around until Illinois felt the pressure. Hames got more comfortable. Quade fatigued. Sun made some good decisions and Foecke was Foecke. Tradition and conditioning get the assists.
— Terry Pettit (@TerryPettit1) December 14, 2018
