Monday Morning Sports – Squiers’ Celebrate Big Saturday Night, UNK Football Dominates, High School Volleyball and Football Postseason Begin, Local Sports Schedule

SQUIER’S FAMILY CELEBRATES A BIG NIGHT SATURDAY

Anna Squiers reached 1,000 career kills and Rick Squiers won his 1,000 match as No. 16 Nebraska-Kearney swept Newman Saturday night at the Health & Sports Center.

Squiers is in his 32nd year of coaching volleyball with stops at UNK, Hastings College, Seward (Kan.) C.C. and Remsen St. Mary (Ia.) High School. He has amassed a gaudy 693-94 record since taking over the Lopers in 1999. Note the 1,000-career win total doesn’t factor in the 16-3 “non-countable” 2021 spring season.

Anna Squiers (Kearney Catholic) is now up to 1,002 kills to rank 31st in school history with Breanna Jones (1,098) and senior libero Lindsay Nottlemann (1,065) recently reaching the 1,000-career dig milestone.

No. 21 UNK FOOTBALL DOMINATES LINCOLN, AWAITS NORTHWEST

Six different players reached the end zone, junior quarterback TJ Davis threw two more touchdown passes and the defense recorded its second shut out of the season as No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney rolled past Lincoln University, 56-0, Saturday afternoon at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium.

UNK (7-1) wins at home for a fifth straight time and sets up a de facto MIAA Championship game next Saturday at No. 10 Northwest Missouri State (6-1).

Regional rankings for post-season play will be released on Monday afternoon. 

UNK VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS NEWMAN

No. 16 Nebraska-Kearney swept Newman Saturday night at the Health & Sports Center.

UNK (18-5, 9-5) wins for a fifth straight time while the Jets, from Wichita, fall to 8-12 (4-1).

The Lopers head to Missouri Western and nationally-ranked Northwest Missouri next weekend.

NEBRASKA FOOTBALL OPENS AS SEVEN POINT FAVORITE OVER PURDUE

The Boilermakers (4-3, 2-2) opened as a 7-point road underdog against Nebraska (3-5, 1-4) at Circa Sports. The total for the game opened at 57.5.

Nebraska was idle on Saturday for the first time this season.

Since 2018, the Huskers are 2-5 against the spread with a rest advantage, which it will have against Purdue on Saturday, and 3-4 straight up. Nebraska is 7-8 against the spread as a home favorite, 10-5 straight up, under Frost.

KEARNEY HIGH & STARS EARN PLAYOFF BIDS:

Both Kearney High and Kearney Catholic earned playoff bids after their regular seasons concluded on Friday night. 

Kearney Catholic finished 9-0 and earned a #2 playoff seeding, meaning they will likely host all playoff contests heading into the State Final. The Stars take on 6-3 and #15 Boys Town on Friday at 6 PM.

The Bearcats earned a #13 seed after punching their ticket in on Friday’s win over Omaha Northwest. Kearney will face a familiar foe in Elkhorn South, this time on the road in a contest starting at 8 PM on Friday. 

KEARNEY CATHOLIC VB STORY BEGINS SUB-DISTRICT VOLLEYBALL

The Kearney Catholic Stars ended the regular season at 28-4, one of the top overall teams in Class C1. 

The Stars earned a #1 seed in the C1-11 Sub-District Volleyball tournament, allowing the Stars the chance to host their own tournament. 

Kearney Catholic awaits the winner of Minden and Cozad tonight and will take on the winner at 7:30 PM tonight. Gothenburg and Broken Bow will play at 6:15. The sub-district final will conclude the tournament on Tuesday at 7 PM.

STORM DROP HOME GAME, ON LOSING SKID

The Tri-City Storm dropped a home game to the Sioux Falls Stampede Saturday night at the Viaero Center by a final score of 3-2. The Storm fell to 5-2-0-0 on the season in the loss. 

Tri-City’s next home game at the Viaero Center will be played on Saturday, October 30th against the Omaha Lancers. Puck drop for the game is scheduled for 7:05pm CT. 

HUSKER VOLLEYBALL OVERCOMES PURDUE SATURDAY

The No. 9 Nebraska volleyball team’s win streak extended to 10 matches Saturday night, as the Huskers took down No. 7 Purdue, 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-21) at the Devaney Center.

Nicklin Hames surpassed 4,000 career assists in the match, becoming the third Husker in program history to reach the milestone.

Nebraska has another top-10 matchup ahead, welcoming No. 3 Wisconsin to the Devaney Center on Wednesday, First serve is set for 8 PM.

UNK WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY WIN MIAA IN KEARNEY, MEN FOURTH

The Nebraska-Kearney cross country teams placed first (women) and fourth (men) at the 2021 MIAA Championships Saturday at Kearney Country Club.

This was just the second time since 1990 UNK and KCC hast hosted a conference championship meet.

All teams that competed at the MIAA championship will run at the NCAA Central Regional meet Nov. 6 in Joplin, Mo.

HASTINGS COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL FALLS TO NORTHWESTERN:

The Hastings College volleyball team fell to No. 14 Northwestern 3-0 on Saturday afternoon inside Lynn Farrell Arena.

Hastings falls to 14-12 (5-9) on the year and will be back in action Saturdayday Oct. 30 hitting the road to take on Morningside with first serve set for 3:00 pm in Sioux City, IA.

HUSKER BOWLING CLAIMS TOURNAMENT TITLE

The Nebraska bowling team swept on Sunday to take home the tournament title at the Bearcat Hammer Open. The Huskers finished 9-4 with a total pinfall of 12,943.

The Huskers will return to the lanes November 5th-7th at the Track Kat Klash in Houston, TX.

UNK SOCCER FALL IN OKLAHOMA, RETURN TO HOME THIS WEEK

The Rogers State Hillcats scored in the 14th and 64th minutes to down Nebraska-Kearney, 2-0, Sunday afternoon 

The Lopers close out the 2021 season by hosting Fort Hays State and nationally-ranked Emporia State next weekend. The Friday game will start at 6 p.m.

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

SATURDAY:

• UNK:
  • MEN’S & WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: @ MIAA Championships, Kearney
    • WOMEN = 1st overall
    • MEN = 4th overall
  • FOOTBALL: v. Lincoln
    • UNK 56-0
  • VOLLEYBALL: v. Newman
    • UNK 3-0

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:

• • MEN’S & WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
    • WOMEN = 2nd place finish
  • MEN’S SOCCER: @ No. 21 Northwestern College
    • HC 1-0
  • WOMEN’S SOCCER: @ Northwestern College
    • HC 3-2

MONDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • VOLLEYBALL: C1-11 Sub-district tournament
    • Await winner of Minden/Cozad – 7 PM

• UNK:
  • N/a

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:

• • N/a

TUESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • VOLLEYBALL: District A-7 tournament @ Fremont; #3 Kearney @ #2 Fremont – 6 PM

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • VOLLEYBALL: C1-11 Subdistrict Championship

• UNK:
  • JV VOLLEYBALL v. Hastings College – 6 PM @ Health and Sports Center

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:

• • JV VOLLEYBALL @ UNK – 6 PM

WEDNESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • VOLLEYBALL: A-7 District Championship TBA

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • N/a

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:

• • N/a

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • N/a

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:

• • JV WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: @ Southeast Community College, Beatrice

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • FOOTBALL: NSAA Round 1 Class A Playoffs: #13 Kearney @ #4 Elkhorn South – 8 PM

• • • KGFW Pregame Coverage @ 7:30 PM

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • FOOTBALL: NSAA Round 1 Class C1 Playoffs: #15 Boys Town @ #2 Kearney Catholic – 7 PM

• UNK:
  • VOLLEYBALL: @ Missouri Western St. – 5 PM
  • WOMEN’S SOCCER: v. Fort Hays State; Ron and Carol Cope Stadium – 6 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:

• • WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Presentation College, Lynn Farrell Arena
    • C3 Tip-off Classic
  • MEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Presentation College, Lynn Farrell Arena
    • C3 Tip-off Classic

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • VOLLEYBALL: District Final TBA

• UNK:
  • FOOTBALL: @ No. 10 Northwest Missouri State (MIAA Championship Game) – 2 PM
  • VOLLEYBALL: @ Northwest Missouri State – 6 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:

• • WRESTLING: @ York Open
  • FOOTBALL: @ Mount Marty University, Yankton, SD
  • VOLLEYBALL: @ Morningside University
  • WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Haskell Indian Nations University, Lynn Farrell Arena – 4 PM
    • C3 Tip-off Classic
  • WOMEN’S SOCCER: v. Dordt University – 5 PM, Lloyd Wilson Field
  • MEN’S BASKETBALL: v. Friends University, Lynn Farrell Arena – 6 PM
    • C3 Tip-off Classic
  • MEN’S SOCCER: v. Dordt University – 8 PM, Lloyd Wilson Field