The Nebraska volleyball team opens the 2017 NCAA Tournament against the Stony Brook Seawolves on Friday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. (MT) at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The other first-round match in Lincoln pits the Washington State Cougars against the Florida State Seminoles at 3:30 p.m. Friday’s winners will play in the second round on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Husker Notebook
• The Huskers, ranked fifth in the AVCA Coaches Poll and seeded fifth in the NCAA Tournament, enter the postseason at 26-4 overall and are riding a 13-match win streak, their longest of the season.
• The Huskers were co-Big Ten Champions with Penn State, as both teams finished 19-1. Nebraska beat Penn State in the only match-up between the teams this season and earned the Big Ten’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Since joining the conference in 2011, the Huskers have now claimed three Big Ten titles (2011, 2016 and 2017).
• Nebraska has reached at least 25 wins in a season for the 17th time in head coach John Cook’s 18-year tenure at Nebraska.
• The Huskers are making their 36th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and will host the first and second rounds for the 14th straight year. Nebraska ranks second in NCAA Division I history in all-time NCAA Tournament wins (102), trailing only Stanford (115).
• Nebraska has been to the NCAA Semifinals each of the past two years, winning the NCAA Championship in 2015 and falling in the semifinals in 2016. The Husker volleyball program has never had three straight final four appearances.
NU-Stony Brook Series History
• Nebraska will be playing Stony Brook for the first time.
• Nebraska is 2-1 all-time against Florida State. The Seminoles beat the Huskers, 3-1, on Aug. 29, 2014 in Lincoln. Nebraska’s last win over FSU was in 1982.
• Nebraska is 1-0 all-time against Washington State. The lone match was a Husker sweep on Sept. 9, 1988.
Scouting Stony Brook
• Stony Brook qualified for its first-ever NCAA Tournament by winning the America East title game with a 3-0 sweep of Binghamton.
• The Seawolves went 18-12 in the regular season and 6-6 in the America East before upsetting top-seeded Albany, 3-0, in the conference semifinals.
• McKyla Brooks was the most outstanding player of the America East Championship and a first-team all-conference selection, as she leads the team with 2.69 kills per set on .328 hitting, which led all America East players this season. Brooks also leads the team in blocks with 0.83 per set.
• Stony Brook ranks 29th nationally in digs per set at 17.23.
Scouting Washington State
• Washington State returns to the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time overall and the second straight year with a 17-15 overall record and 6-14 mark in the Pac-12.
• The Cougars earned key wins at Oregon (3-1) and at home against Colorado (3-1) and UCLA (3-2) this season.
• Taylor Mims leads the team offensively with 4.10 kills per set, and she has taken 1,408 swings this season, 16th-most in the nation and second-most in the Pac-12.
• Jocelyn Urias ranks eighth in the nation in total blocks (164) and averages 1.38 per set.
• Washington State ranks 12th in the nation in blocks per set (2.91).
Scouting Florida State
• Florida State enters its 20th all-time NCAA Tournament on a six-match win streak to finish the regular season at 18-10 and 12-8 in the ACC. The Seminoles have qualified for nine straight NCAA Tournaments.
• Senior right-side hitter Milica Kubura was an All-ACC first-team selection for the second straight year after leading the Seminoles with 3.61 kills per set on a .305 hitting percentage. She also added 1.08 blocks per set.
• Taryn Knuth, the ACC Freshman of the Year, averages 1.98 kills per set and an ACC-best 1.50 blocks per set with a .311 hitting percentage.
• Florida State ranks 21st nationally in blocks per set (2.70).