For the first time in a decade, No. 2 Nebraska fell to an unranked team 3-0 as the SMU Mustangs outscored the Huskers in every phase on Tuesday night.
The Mustangs, who split their season-opening games in Hawaii over the weekend, defeated Nebraska 25-23, 25-21 and 25-18 in front of a record crowd at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.
“SMU played a great game tonight,” coach John Cook said in his postgame interview on the Huskers Radio Network. “Everything went in their favor. We got punched in the face and we kept letting them beat us, so I’m pretty disappointed in how we responded tonight. But to be honest, this all started Saturday night. We talked about frustration and they didn’t fix it tonight. We had a great practice on Monday, but, man, we couldn’t compete tonight. That was pretty disappointing.”
The Huskers’ problems began at the service line, where they managed just one ace — the first of her career by Andi Jackson — and missed 11 shots. SMU also made 10 errors, but managed seven aces and some difficult serves that kept Nebraska out of sorts for most of the night. This came after the passing game played a key role in Nebraska’s 3-1 win over TCU on Saturday, as the Huskers didn’t allow a single ace in that game.
“You know serving is just you and the ball, so we’re working on that,” Cook said. “We’ve been serving great. We’ve been serving great up until tonight. Not only were we serving cupcakes, but we missed a lot of them and we weren’t hitting the zones we were supposed to be hitting. I’ll be honest with you, that started with Merritt (Beason), started with Lexi (Rodriguez). Those guys were missing serves in the beginning and when your two first-team All-Americans are making mistakes like that, what do you think that does to everybody else? So those guys have to step up and take the lead.”
Beason committed two service errors and one receiving error. Rodriguez, arguably the best passer in the country, committed one service error and two receiving errors.
Lindsay Krause was Nebraska’s most effective pinner with a .250 batting average and five kills. She didn’t even start the match as Cook gave Taylor Landfair her first start as a Husker. However, after two kills and two errors on seven attempts for the Minnesota transfer in the first set, Cook went back to Krause in the second. Merritt Beason got off to a fast start before the errors began to pile up, finishing with nine kills on a .107 batting average. Harper Murray managed just six kills on a .045 batting average.
Andi Jackson was the only Huskers attacker who had a good night, hitting 12 clean shots and scoring eight kills. However, the Huskers didn’t give the midfielders a chance to attack throughout the entire second set.
Bergen Reilly recorded her fourth consecutive double-double with 31 assists and 11 digs, but the Huskers hit a season-low .171 and allowed a season-high .242 to the Mustangs.
“Very uncharacteristic,” Cook said. “We probably have a .200 batting average this year and that’s disappointing. They have to improve. Part of it is because we think we’re Nebraska, we’re going to come out here and destroy teams. And this team played very inspired tonight. They played great. Let’s put it that way. So that’s attitude and effort.”
The first set featured 12 ties and six lead changes in the first 24 rallies before Nebraska went on a 4-0 run to put some distance between them. The Huskers extended the lead to five before SMU countered with a 6-0 run to take the lead and close the game out from there.
The Mustangs won nine of their last twelve rallies, with five of those points coming from errors by Nebraska (four attacks, one serve).
“We were just out of sync and not communicating with the setter to be in rhythm,” Cook said. “We were deflecting way too many balls. I’m standing there telling them, ‘Guys, you’ve got to hit the ball.’ I don’t know. Like I said, we had a great practice last night, so I felt good coming in tonight. But we should have won the first game. We gave SMU a lot of hope.”
After a close first set, the Huskers trailed the entire second set and never found a way to get over the hump. Nebraska trailed 20-19 late, missing a serve and then a charge, giving the Mustangs too big a lead to catch up.
The third set featured 12 ties and three lead changes, but once again SMU hit Nebraska with a big run and the Huskers had no answer. Nebraska led 14-13 but missed another serve, sparking an 11-2 run that gave the Mustangs match point. The Huskers extended the match for a few more rallies before Naya Shime’s ninth kill tied it for the Mustangs.
Nebraska has just one day to reflect on the loss and look for answers before they return to the court at the Devaney Center on Thursday for the start of the Husker Invitational. Nebraska will face The Citadel at 6 p.m. CT, 30 minutes after the game between fellow tournament participants Denver and Montana State ends.
