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Volleyball heads south for matchup with No. 6 Nebraska

September 25, 2012
Junior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski serves the ball during the game against Purdue on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012. The Spartans lost 3-2, which was their first loss of the season. Julia Nagy/The State News
Junior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski serves the ball during the game against Purdue on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012. The Spartans lost 3-2, which was their first loss of the season. Julia Nagy/The State News —
Photo by Julia Nagy | and Julia Nagy The State News

When the MSU volleyball team heads south to play No. 6 Nebraska, they will be facing one of their toughest challenges yet.

The No. 24 Spartans (13-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) are coming off of their third-hottest start in program history, going 12-0 before dropping a nail-biter to Purdue in five sets. That sour taste of defeat, however, only gave the Spartans more motivation to improve.

“We had a tough game against Purdue, but I think that motivates us more because, every day, we are coming in here trying to get better to try to beat a team like that,” junior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski.

Head coach Cathy George said despite coming off of a loss over the weekend, the Spartans are well prepared to take on the Cornhuskers.

“We really need to do what we do well; I think that we are developing our system of play, and we just need to execute at a high level,” said George. “We don’t have to do anything we are not already doing.”

George also noted that a challenge with Nebraska will be dealing with the Cornhuskers’ height. Nebraska has nine players 6-foot-1-inch or taller on its roster, but the Spartans will look at their serving game to put points on the board.

“Last year when we played them, that was one of the things that the coaches said helped us out a lot, and we also have very good service pressure,” said junior middle blocker Alexis Mathews.

The Spartans take on Nebraska at 8 p.m. Wednesday on the Big Ten Network.

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