LINCOLN — In Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook's mind, most matches come down to how his team serves and passes.

On Saturday, NU thrived in both areas and found a powerful, consistent attack in its three-set sweep of the Wildcats before a crowd of 4,063 at the Coliseum.

Led by Gina Manuco, NU showed a marked improvement from its season-long serving slump in its 25-13, 25-19, 25-18 win. The freshman from Papillion-La Vista produced four aces and no service errors on the night despite entering the match with six career aces.

“It's huge for Gina to have a match like that,” Cook said. “She has the best serve on the team, and we need her to believe that and be able to do that every time. If you can get four aces in Big 12 volleyball, that's a heck of a night in serving.”

NU put up a season-high eight aces with only two errors, marking the first time all year the Huskers have finished with a positive ace-to-error ratio.

Setter Sydney Anderson said team's quality serving against KSU can be attributed to a new mentality on the back line that Cook has been pushing for his players.

“Coach brought up a good saying that pressure is a privilege,” Anderson said. “You should be honored and appreciate that moment of you, the ball and the team.”

Anderson gave NU's hitters plenty of opportunities to enjoy the night as well, assisting on 35 of NU's 42 kills. Five NU players had at least seven kills as the Huskers hit at a .319 clip, their best percentage in conference play. Junior Tara Mueller and freshman Hannah Werth led NU with 10 kills each.

Players have said this season they're looking to reach a higher level of consistency with each set, and senior middle blocker Kori Cooper said NU was able to do that against Kansas State.

When the Wildcats went on brief runs to keep things close in the second and third sets, NU stepped up. They went on a five-point run after KSU took a brief lead in the second set and a 6-1 run after KSU pulled into a 14-14 tie in the third set.

“We had a sense of urgency and a next-play mentality, and I think we were able to pull ourselves out of that,” Cooper said. “I think that's reminiscent of what we've seen in past years.”

Cook was also pleased by his team's season-low 19 total errors, and said NU's ability to limit mistakes is a promising improvement from the start of the year.

“Against Texas, we were in the 60s, and that's the key to volleyball — playing at a high level with low errors,” he said.

The No. 9 Huskers improved to 12-4 and are on a three-game winning streak. Cook said the successful week was important as NU prepares to play four of its next six matches on the road, starting Wednesday at No. 17 Baylor.

“I think this was a good week for us to build momentum, because we've got some very tough matches coming up,” he said. “This was a good week for us to regroup and get some confidence, and now we have to find a way to take it up a notch.”

Kansas State (6-10, 0-6)............13 19 18

Nebraska (12-4, 5-2)..................25 25 25

Kansas State (kills-aces-blocks): Ludwig 5-0-2, Fay 0-0-0, Pacheco 1-0-3, Muff 1-0-2, Chisholm 8-0-0, Chipman 6-1-4, Donahue 0-0-0, Mathewson 0-0-0, Murray 11-1-0, Kelican 0-0-0, Grot 1-0-1, Allison 0-0-0

Nebraska (kills-aces-blocks): Anderson 1-1-2, Licht 7-0-6, Delano 7-0-5, Cooper 7-0-4, Mueller 10-1-2, Werth 10-1-1, Banwarth 0-1-0, Mancuso 0-4-0, McNeal 0-0-1

Set assists: Kansas State 33 (Pacheco 18, Kelican 10); Nebraska 39 (Anderson 35, Werth 2, Banwarth 2). A: 4,063.

Contact the writer:

444-1201, sports@owh.com

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