Anna Schrad had 22 kills to lead undefeated Nebraska to a 30-25, 30-26, 28-30, 30-15 win over host Illinois State as the No. 8-ranked Huskers clinched the championship of the Barker GMC Classic at Redbird Arena.
Laura Doornbos led the Redbirds (1-2) with 17 kills in the match. She led the tournament with 62 kills.
The Huskers (3-0) dominated at the net with 15 team blocks to 6 for Illinois State. Tournament MVP Melissa Elmer led the blocking statistics with 11 total.
They (ISU) never stopped competing, Nebraska head coach John Cook said. We lost our focus a little bit, but our execution level went up in game 4.
In the first match of the evening, Illinois (2-1) downed Clemson (0-3) 30-17, 28-30, 30-24, 30-26 behind Lisa Argabrights 18 kills and Kathleen Bazzettas 17 digs. Leslie Finn had 17 kills for the Tigers, who came from 10 points down to win the second game.
In front of a crowd of 1,461, the Redbirds battled and scrapped from a 17-12 deficit to lead 18-17 thanks to a 6-0 run punctuated by two of six first-game kills by Doornbos, but Nebraska scored the next three points including a Elmer service ace to regain the lead.
ISU stayed tight through the second game, trailing 22-21 in Emily Kabbes kill, but the Huskers got going with a kill by Anna Schrad and went on a 6-1 run to take control. Early Redbird hitting woes in game three got the Huskers out to an early four-point lead, but the Bird battled back to a 21-21 tie on three Kabbes service points. NU had the answer, though, with Elmer collecting two blocks and a kill to put NU ahead 24-21.
Illinois State wasnt ready to go out just yet. A tape-climbing kill by Paige White and a floor-slammer by Laura Doornbos keyed an 8-4 swing to get the Birds to game point 29-28. Kabbes serve resulted in an NU hitting error for game point.
We played very hard, ISU head coach Sharon Dingman said. I think we outworked them (Nebraska) in game 3.
With 8 kills in their first 18 attempts and three service aces, Nebraska took a 17-6 lead mid-way through game four.
The All-Tournament team included Illinois Jessica Belter and Erin Virtue, Clemsons Lori Aston, Illinois States Doornbos and Kelly Rikli, plus Nebraskas Schrad and Elmer.
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