LINCOLN — It didn't take Nebraska coach John Cook long to pinpoint what went wrong for his second-ranked Huskers Friday night in a stunning home loss to unranked Kansas State.

"It was a high error night for us," he said. "We didn't pass well, and our first contact was inconsistent."

Serving was a problem for NU, which finished with two aces and 11 service errors. Nebraska also hit .238 in the final set while the Wildcats hit .357 to close the match in five.

"We had way too many out-of-system swings," Cook said. "The match was hyped up, but we were the team that made the errors."

Cook added that he saw some of the same mistakes he had witnessed in last Saturday's loss to unranked Northwestern, the Huskers' final match of the regular season.

"The Northwestern match was shaky, and last night (a first-round tourney win over lightly regarded Jackson State) was not a good test for us," he said. "But all the credit goes to K-State because they totally outworked us."

Jitters? What jitters?

Despite a roster without one senior, Kansas State appeared composed throughout the match.

"The girls that have played here, we talked to the rest of the team about it," Wildcats junior Caitlyn Donahue said. "We knew this was a tough gym and we knew what to expect, so I think that helped us."

Gutting it out

It probably wasn't easy, but Huskers Gina Mancuso and Brooke Delano faced reporters at the post-match press conference. It was obvious the two had been crying before entering the interview room.

"It seemed like every ball we sent over the net, they worked hard and got it right to their setter," Delano said. "They played lights out tonight."

While senior Delano had just played in her final NU match, junior hitter Mancuso — who had a match-high 25 kills — said she already was thinking about next season.

"Next year we're going to come out fighting," she said. "Kansas State played great tonight. Obviously they wanted it more than we did."

A strange start

Perhaps it was a bad omen when public-address announcer Steve Johnsen was unable to announce the starting lineups because of a faulty microphone.

After a brief delay and awkward silence, the teams shook hands and started the match. Johnsen wasn't to be denied announcing those lineups. He did it before the third set with the match tied 1-1.

Marathon set

The third set, won by Kansas State 31-29, proved to be pivotal.

Nebraska had chances to win while holding leads of 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26. But the Wildcats responded with a kill each time to stay alive. A kill by KSU's Courtney Traxson put her team up 30-29, and a kill by Kaitlynn Pilger that caromed off Jordan Wilberger out of bounds ended it.

The band played on

The group numbered only 15, but the Kansas State pep band maintained its enthusiasm to the end.

That was bad news for longtime season-ticket holders Kay and Fred Luthans of Lincoln, who were sitting in the row right in front of the KSU saxophones.

"We didn't know we were in for this," Kay Luthans said. "It's really loud, but they're not being obnoxious."

Familiar faces

Nebraska natives Taylor Johnson and Courtney Cook play for Kansas State.

Johnson, a redshirt freshman from Grand Island Northwest, entered the match briefly. Cook, a 6-2 sophomore from Fremont Bergan, did not play.

— Mike Patterson

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