Monday Morning Sports – UNK Football Rising to Playoffs, Loper Volleyball Sweeps Weekend, UNK Basketball Starts Season in Mixed Weekend, Husker Volleyball Downs Indiana

STARS’ SEASON ENDS IN SEMI FINAL HEARTBREAK

Kearney Catholic’s undefeated season fell short on Friday night, falling to #11 Columbus Lakeview in a heartbreaking 31-21 loss in the Class C1 semifinals. 

The Stars’ started off slow, unable to recover from an early deficit and three fumbles in the first half. Lakeview hit big plays, including a 62 yard touchdown toss as they led 24-7 entering the final quarter. 

Lakeview will take on #8 Pierce in the State Final at Memorial Stadium. 

LOPER FOOTBALL RISES TO PLAYOFFS

The Nebraska-Kearney football team has qualified for the 28-team NCAA Division II Playoffs for the first time in a decade and for the fifth time in program history.

The Lopers (9-2) are a sixth-seed and will take on former Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) rival Western Colorado (10-1). The game will kickoff at 2 p.m. Central from Gunnison, Colorado.

UNK previously reached the playoffs in 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2011. The last postseason win for UNK was the Mineral Water Bowl over Winona State in December 2019.

UNK VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS WEEKEND

The 12th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team hit .411 and got 12 kills apiece from sophomore outside Emersen Cyza and senior middle Anna Squiers to sweep Pittsburg State Saturday afternoon in Kansas.

This was the regular season finale for both. Winners of 11 straight matches, UNK (24-5, 15-5) will be the fourth seed in the eight-team MIAA Tournament.

#4 UNK will take on #5 Central Oklahoma on Tuesday night at the Health and Sports Center. First serve is set for 6 PM.

LOPER MEN WIN IN MINNESOTA

The Nebraska-Kearney men’s basketball team sunk 12 three pointers and had three starters score in double figures to fly past Minnesota-Crookston, 75-57, Saturday afternoon in Duluth, Minn.

The game was part of the “American Family Insurance Classic”, hosted by Minnesota-Duluth. UNK fell to UMD, 77-64, on Friday night.

There was little drama as UNK led for 31 minutes and by as many as 20 points.

UNK hosts Chadron State (Wed.) and nationally-ranked Colorado Mines (Sat.) this week.

UNK WOMEN’S BASKETBALL UPSET ON THE ROAD IN MIXED WEEKEND

Senior guard Meleah Reinhart scored 27 points and Southwest Minnesota State used a huge fourth quarter to rally past No. 15 Nebraska-Kearney, 76-66, Saturday night in Maryville, Mo.

After winning on Friday, UNK came out hot as it knocked down three treys and six free throws to lead 23-14 after the opening quarter.

But it was all Southwest over the final 10 minutes as they sunk 7 of 9 field goals and 15 of 16 free throws.

The Lopers host Peru State Wednesday night.

HUSKERS GET NATIONAL BROADCAST FOR WISCONSIN

The Big Ten Conference announced this morning that Saturday’s Nebraska at Wisconsin game will be televised on ABC.  The kickoff time had previously been announced as 2:30 p.m. CT.

HUSKER VOLLEYBALL BACK TO WINNING WAYS

The No. 11 Nebraska volleyball team rallied to put away Indiana Sunday afternoon, topping the Hoosiers 3-1 at Wilkinson Hall. The Huskers are now 19-6 (13-3 Big Ten) on the season.

Four Huskers had double-figure kill performances, and five had at least nine kills on th

Nebraska welcomes Penn State to the Devaney Center on Friday, Nov. 19, with first serve set for 8 p.m.

HUSKER WOMEN CONTINUE WINNING STREAK

Nebraska used a 25-0 run in the first quarter and an 18-0 run in the third quarter while playing outstanding defense from nearly start to finish on its way to an 88-33 women’s basketball victory over Alabama A&M on Sunday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The Huskers, who improved to 3-0 with their third consecutive win of more than 50 points, got a career-high 23 points from Isabelle Bourne.

Nebraska capped its opening week with three consecutive 50-plus point victories for the first time in school history and its 166-point total victory margin was the largest in any three-game span

Nebraska continues its five-game season-opening home stand on Wednesday by playing host to Creighton on Wednesday night. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Bluejays is set for 7 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena

STORM COMPLETE WEEKEND SWEEP

The Tri-City Storm completed a weekend sweep of the Waterloo Black Hawks Saturday night at the Viaero Center in a 5-1 win. Christian Fitzgerald recorded his first career USHL goal and his first career multi-goal game in the victory.

Tri-City hits the ice again on Friday, November 19th in a home game against the Des Moines Buccaneers. Puck drop for the game is scheduled for 7:05pm CT.

UNK WRESTLING DOMINANT IN DEBUT

The Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team had five placers at the annual Dakota Wesleyan Open Saturday in Mitchell, S.D.

UNK had 16 entries at DWU with 12 winning at least two matches.

UNK hosts the annual Younes Hospitality Open next Saturday at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds.

NEBRASKA BOWLING WINS

The Huskers won the SFA Ladyjack Motiv Classic title making it their third consecutive title. Nebraska went 10-2 with a total pinfall of 12,608. 

Nebraska will return to the lanes January 7-9 at the Storming Blue & Gold in Las Vegas, Nev.

STATE FOOTBALL FINALS SET

CLASS A: #5 Gretna v. #2 Omaha Westside – Tues. 11/23 7:15 PM @ Memorial Stadium

CLASS B: #1 Bennington v. #2 Aurora – Mon. 11/22 7:15 PM @ Memorial Stadium

CLASS C1: #9 Pierce v. #11 Columbus Lakeview – 11/23 Tues. 10:15 AM @ Memorial Stadium

CLASS C2: #1 Norfolk Catholic v. #2 Archbishop Bergan – 11/23 Tues. 2:45 PM @ Memorial Stadium

CLASS D1: #5 Howells Dodge v. #10 Cross County – 11/22 Mon. 10:15 AM @ Memorial Stadium

CLASS D2: #1 Sandhills-Thedford v. #7 Kenesaw – 11/22 Mon. 2:45 PM @ Memorial Stadium

6-Man Championship: #1 Potter-Dix v. #2 Cody-Kilgore – 11/19 Fri. 7 PM @ Cope Stadium

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

SATURDAY:

• UNK:
  • WRESTLING: @ Dakota Wesleyan Open
  • FOOTBALL: v. Northeastern State @ Ron and Carol Cope Stadium
    • UNK 56-10
  • VOLLEYBALL: @ Pittsburg State
    • UNK 3-0
  • MEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Minnesota-Crookston
    • UNK 75-57
  • WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. SW Minnesota St.
    • SW Minnesota St. 76-66

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • MEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Bethany College
    • HC 76-74
  • FOOTBALL: v. Concordia @ Lloyd Wilson Field
    • Concordia 17-7

MONDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • BOWLING: Triangular @ Big Apple – 4 PM

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • N/a

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a

TUESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • VOLLEYBALL: MIAA Tournament
    • #4 UNK v. #5 UCO @ Health and Sports Center – 6 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a

WEDNESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Chadron State @ Health and Sports Center – 5 PM
  • MEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Chadron State @ Health and Sports Center – 7 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: @ Doane – 6 PM
  • MEN’S BASKETBALL: @ Doane – 7:45 PM

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • N/a

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • VOLLEYBALL: TBA – MIAA Semifinal

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: NAIA Nationals – Vancouver, WA

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • VOLLEYBALL: TBA – MIAA Finals
  • MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: NCAA Championships
  • WRESTLING: UNK Open – 9 AM
  • MEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Colorado Mines @ Health and Sports Center – 12 PM
  • WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Colorado Mines @ Health and Sports Center –  2 PM
  • FOOTBALL: NCAA D2 PlayoffsUNK @ Western Colorado (Gunnison, CO) – 2 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • WRESTLING: UNK Open – 9 AM
  • WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Mount Marty @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 2 PM
  • MEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Mount Marty @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 3:45 PM