By Lincoln Arneal
Left side? Right side? Doesn’t matter for Lindsay Krause.
The sophomore outside hitter has hit from both pins during the last few matches and the results have been the same. Since falling to Wisconsin, Krause has amassed 29 kills in the three matches with just four errors and a .423 hitting percentage. Her play has highlighted the No. 4 Nebraska’s ability to fight through adversity.
Krause said even when they drop sets or get bad bounces, they keep their composure and make plays.
“I feel like I’ve gotten into a groove here and I feel like overall as a team, we’ve gotten into a bit of a groove,” Krause said. “I feel like there are some games where we feel like we’re not playing our best volleyball, not necessarily playing Nebraska volleyball, but we’re all very mentally engaged. We’re able to work through that and keep our composure through those games, and we’re able to overall get the job done, which is what’s most important.”
Krause’s recent three-match run is her best of the season. Only the final three nonconference matches against Long Beach State, Stanford and Kentucky exceed the kill total (31), but she took 34 more swings and terminated at a rate more than 200 points lower.
Krause’s streak started against Maryland when she racked up seven kills on 13 attacks, with just one error.
After Ally Batenhorst struggled in the first set against Indiana, Krause, who didn’t record a kill on her first five attempts from the right pin in the match, switched to the left pin and recorded seven kills on 12 errorless swings.
She carried that forward the following match with a .379 hitting percentage with 14 kills, her second-best this season behind a 16-kill performance against Creighton. While her statistics have been improved, Krause said she’s more focused on the outcome.
“I feel like I’ve been a good teammate to be able to be very versatile and go back and forth,” she said. “Whatever our team and whatever coach needs. I feel like I’ve been doing well this year.”
John Cook said he hasn’t noticed anything different from Krause in the last few weeks. She’s maintained her steady approach and works hard every day trying to help the team in whatever way she can.
“She’s killing balls and not making errors. That’s how you get a high efficiency,” he said.
THE NEXT CLASS — Nebraska will sign the top-ranked class in the country on Wednesday with a group that includes five of the top 13 players as ranked by PrepVolleyball.com.
Outside hitter Harper Murray headlines the group as the second-ranked prospect in the country and has amassed more than 2,000 kills in her prep career. Bergen Reilly is No. 4 in the class. She plays outside hitter for O’Gorman Sioux Falls but played setter this fall with the US Senior National Team.
The Huskers added the fifth-ranked recruit to the class last week when libero Laney Choboy switched her commitment from Minnesota to Nebraska. Opposite Caroline Jurevicius is the seventh-ranked prospect and one of the top recruits to come out of Ohio. Andi Jackson was a late bloomer, but rose to No. 13 in the 2023 class, and plays for the club team of former Husker All-American Christina Houghtelling Hudson in Colorado.
Most of the group played together at the 2021 U19 PanAm Cup where Harper was named the best attacker, Reilly was the top setter and Choboy was the best receiver. Jackson was also on the roster and freshman Maggie Mendelson was selected as the team captain.
STRESS TEST — Krause said it was special to see her alma mater Omaha Skutt win its eighth-straight Class B championship on Saturday with a five-set win over Elkhorn North.
Krause enjoyed seeing some of the seniors on this year’s team, including Michigan commit Morgan Burke and Omaha-bound Ivy Lueck, lead the team to a title after she played with them two years ago.
Krause went to the semifinal match against Norris on Friday night and said the tension was almost too much for her, especially during the fourth set, which the Skyhawks won 33-31 to end the match.
“It was so much more stressful” watching than playing, Krause said. “I was talking to parents . I was just like, I know when we played it was never like this. They caused me so much stress and probably took 10 years off my life. But they won.”
INJURY UPDATE — Following a gruesome injury on Sunday, Northwestern coach Shane Davis tweeted out an update on Monday which said Sienna Noordermeer was released from the hospital and in stable condition.
The Northwestern setter Noordermeer crashed into the front row of the stands during the fifth set against Nebraska. After play stopped for almost 10 minutes, she was carted out on a stretcher from Welsh-Ryan Arena.
