Lincoln, NE – Sophomore setter Hannah Klemm dished out a match-high 28 assists, junior libero Corrina Delgadillo picked up a match-high 16 digs and senior middle blocker Nuria Lopes da Silva tallied a team-best 10 kills, but it wasn't enough as the Hofstra Volleyball team dropped a three-set decision to No. 11 (AVCA) Nebraska (No. 14 seed overall) in the first round of the NCAA Championship on Friday evening at the Devaney Sports Center. 

Hofstra also got nine kills and four digs from sophomore middle blocker Veronika Kostova, eight kills and four digs from senior outside hitter Kelsie Wills and eight kills and five blocks from senior outside hitter Emily Burke.  

Kadie Rolfzen led Nebraska with 13 kills and 15 digs and Amber Rolfzen added 12 digs and 10 blocks. 

Set scores were 27-25, 25-23 and 25-16 in favor of the Huskers. Hofstra gave one of the nation's best programs all they could handle in front of a nearly sold-out crowd before dropping the hard-fought three-set match. 

Hofstra falls to 28-6 with the loss, ending one of the best seasons in program history. This year marked the eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history (all since 1995). Nebraska, the No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and ranked No. 11 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, improves to 21-9 with the win. The Huskers move on to the second round to face Utah, which defeated Kansas State in the opening first round match in Lincoln. 

Hofstra got off to a hot start in the first set as three early kills from Lopes da Silva would stake the Pride to a 6-2 advantage. Hofstra would continue to hold an advantage until a 5-0 Nebraska run would give the Cornhuskers a 10-9 lead. 

The Huskers would push the lead to 19-15 after a service ace, but Hofstra would close the gap to two at 19-17 later on in the set. 

The opening stanza would be quite entertaining with both squads playing at a high level. Nebraska would hold a late 21-18 lead before Hofstra would battle back and eventually knot the score at 23. Consecutive kills from Wills would even the score on two separate occasions, the last at 25-25, before Amber Rolfzen notched kills on back-to-back points to give Nebraska the first set. 

Hofstra would fall into a 9-2 deficit in the second set before once again showing their championship play and rallying to close the gap to 12-8 on the heels of four straight points, including kills from Wills, Kostova and Burke. The Huskers would answer after being forced to call a timeout and used a 6-2 run to make it 18-10 later on in the stanza. 

Trailing 22-13 in the second set, Hofstra would once again rally and give the Huskers a battle to the end as the Pride used a 10-2 run to close to within 24-23 on a Nebraska attack error. Burke was huge during the run as she contributed three kills. With the outcome of the set hanging in the balance, the Huskers would get a kill from Kelsey Fien to push their lead in the match to two sets to none. 

The third set saw Nebraska jump out to another early lead, as the Huskers opened up a 9-2 advantage following a kill from Melanie Keil. Hofstra would continue to fight in the match and got to within, 14-9, following a Kostova kill. The Huskers looked to be in position to close the match as they led 24-12 before Hofstra put a mini-run together and closed the gap to 24-16 and in the process forced Nebraska to call another timeout. Following the timeout the Huskers would put an end to the match and the Pride's season. 

Junior defensive specialist Kaitlyn Krause had a solid match for the Pride as she was second on the team with 11 digs, while senior middle blocker Adama Aja added four blocks. Lopes da Silva chipped in with three blocks for the Pride as well. 

Hofstra ended the match with more kills than the Huskers, 38-36, and also picked up 50 digs to Nebraska's 49. 

Mary Pollmiller tied Klemm for match-high honors with 28 assists for the Cornhuskers. 

The match marked the end of the career for the Pride's five seniors (Adama Aja, Kelsie Wills, Jordan Clingan, Nuria Lopes da Silva and Emily Burke). The class was part of two NCAA Tournament appearances and this year's squad won 28 matches, which ranked as the most since the 1989 team won 35 matches. In addition, Wills closes her storied career as the program's all-time leader in kills with 1,942.