No. 1 Nebraska displayed each ability that’s made it a powerhouse program — the offense attacked each a part of the courtroom, protection by no means gave up on the ball and the followers confirmed up on the Galen Middle.
In entrance of a sellout crowd of 9,072, USC’s nine-match win streak got here to an finish with a straight-set loss to Nebraska (26-0, 16-0 Huge Ten).
“I simply felt like the sport was a bit too quick for us right now,” USC coach Brad Keller stated. “I believed it was gradual for them and quick for us.”
The No. 17 Trojans by no means led and had been restricted to a 20% level scoring proportion all through the match. USC (20-6, 11-5) led in assaults, however its 16 errors had been pricey through the 25-13, 25-16, 25-20 loss to the Cornhuskers.
“Nebraska is the actual deal,” Keller stated. “They’re actually, actually good they usually confirmed that right now from level one to the very finish. They’re hitting .400 they usually held us right down to .156, that type of reveals you lots of the place they had been.
“Go Huge Pink Nation deserves credit score they usually deserve the truth that they journey they usually assist their workforce.”
USC outdoors hitters London Wijay, with 10 kills, and Adonia Faumuina, with 9 kills, saved the Trojans in as a lot as doable all through the three units. After a break, the Trojans got here out with some additional gusto to make issues a bit fascinating for the Cornhuskers.
“We actually had nothing to lose,” Faumuina stated.
Through the match, Nebraska made 10 errors, with 5 unfold throughout the primary two units. The Huskers moved the ball rapidly across the courtroom and in the event that they made a mistake, the workforce rapidly adjusted. Within the third set, a ball bounced within the air near the ground seats. Nebraska saved the ball and it later led to a kill by Virginia Adrian that put the Huskers three factors from closing out the sport.
Nebraska saved USC guessing, whereas exploiting the weaker USC again courtroom and capitalizing on attacking errors. All through the match, they saved hitting the ball to the again, often leading to some extent for them.
“There have been some performs they made that I haven’t seen shortly and that was regular for them,” Keller stated.
Because the Trojans sit up for their subsequent match towards Oregon on Wednesday, Keller doesn’t have a silver lining take-away from the loss.
“I really like my workforce, I don’t care what their age is,” Keller stated. “There must be a typical and we have to execute and if we don’t execute, we return to the drafting board, we work on these issues, we get higher and we execute.”
Wijay stated the loss uncovered how a lot more durable the Trojans should work to realize their targets.
“I don’t need to brush off this loss,” Wijay stated. “I feel it’s good to make use of as gasoline for the following recreation. It was a superb take a look at to see how far we’re to get to that stage. And I really feel just like the silver lining is to guarantee that we’re all gonna be within the gymnasium working even more durable to guarantee that we pursue the balls.”
“I feel it made me extra hungry to need to win,” Wijay added.
