No. 5 St. Cloud State Volleyball Upsets No. 2 Nebraska Kearney on Their Home Floor, Advances to Second Straight NCAA Central Region Championship

Friday, December 5

Health & Sports Center • Kearney, Neb.

7 p.m.

St. Cloud State

28-6,18-2NSIC

(1) #2 Nebraska Kearney

30-4,13-3Mid-America Intercollegiate

St. Cloud St.

Neb.-Kearney

Abby Wachal @ Nebraska Kearney NCAA Round of 32/Central Region Semifinals 12-5-25

Photo by: Travianna Tighe/UNK Athletics

No. 5 St. Cloud State Volleyball Upsets No. 2 Nebraska Kearney on Their Home Floor, Advances to Second Straight NCAA Central Region Championship

12/6/2025 12:55:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score NCAA Central Region Homepage

No. 4 seeded Huskies take down No. 1 seed Lopers in four sets, will play (2) No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul in the championship match at 5 p.m. Saturday

KEARNEY, Neb. – No. 5 St. Cloud State Volleyball (28-6, 18-2 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) upset No. 2 Nebraska Kearney (30-4, 13-3 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) in the NCAA Round of 32/Central Region Semifinals on their home floor at the Health & Sports Center in Kearney, Nebraska. The No. 4 seeded Huskies took down the No. 1 seed Lopers, 25-12, 25-19, 25-27, 25-19 to advance to their second consecutive NCAA Central Region Championship.

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TOP HUSKIES

Sophomore setter Braya LaPlant (Grand Rapids, Minn.) – 48-assist, 18 dig double-double with six kills (.667 hitting percentage) and four block assists
Sophomore libero Laurin Hamann (Manitowoc, Wis.) – 23 digs, six assists and two aces
Graduate opposite Sam Zimmerman (Moorhead, Minn.) – 16 kills (.342 hitting percentage) and five digs
Redshirt senior middle blocker Ella Thompson (Lakeville, Minn.) – 15 kills (.412 hitting percentage) and five block assists
Senior middle blocker Emilie Planert (De Pere, Wis.) – 11 kills (.625 hitting percentage) and three block assists

PRESS CONFERENCE – St. Cloud State head coach Chad Braegelmann, redshirt senior middle blocker Ella Thompson (Lakeville, Minn.) and sophomore setter Braya LaPlant (Grand Rapids, Minn.)

NOTABLES

SCSU earned its first ever win over Nebraska Kearney, moving to 1-6 all-time against the Lopers, 1-2 against UNK in Kearney and 1-0 against them in NCAA Tournament play
The Huskies moved to 8-10 (.444) all-time in NCAA Tournament matches, 3-0 (.364) in second round matches and 2-1 in NCAA Tournament matches in Kearney. Under Braegelmann, SCSU has made six straight NCAA Tournaments and owns an 6-5 (.545) record in tournament play.
SCSU improved to 13-5 against teams ranked/receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) DII National Poll this season, 11-4 in road matches and 6-3 in four set matches.
The loss was the second for UNK at home this season and the just the 26^th in the last 26 seasons.
The Huskies led the match in points (81-64), kills (67-55), hitting percentage (.340 - .199), aces (6-5), blocks (8-5), assists (63-55) and digs (74-64).
SCSU's 67 kills were the second most in a four set match this season (fifth most of any match), its 63 assists were the second most in any four set match (tied for fifth in any match), its 74 digs were the third most in a four set match and its.340 team hitting percentage was the eighth best mark of the season.
LaPlant posted her 10^th double-double of the season. Her 18 digs were the second most in any match of her career. LaPlant's six kills were a new single match career high while her 48 assists were the third most among all Huskies in a four set match this season.
Hamann recorded 20+ digs for the eighth time this season and second consecutive match. Her 23 digs were tied for the second most in any four set match this season (fifth most in any match) and her six assists tied her single match career high.
Zimmerman sent down 10+ kills for the 10^th time this season and for the fourth consecutive match. Her 16 kills were tied for the fifth most of any Husky in a four set match this season.
Thompson posted 15+ kills for the 10^th time this season and first time since Oct. 24.
Planert tallied double-digit kills for the fourth time this season and second straight match.
Junior outside hitter Shelby Kimm (North Liberty, Iowa) recorded 11 kills and eight digs. It was her 21^st match this season with 10+ kills.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Abby Wachal (Lincoln, Neb.) contributed eight kills, seven digs and two aces.
Senior defensive specialist Emily Kern (Belgrade, Minn.) tallied nine digs. It was her 11^th match this season with 9+ digs.

UP NEXT
The Huskies advanced to the NCAA Round of 16/Central Region Championship for the second consecutive season and will play, (2) No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul (28-5, 19-1 NSIC) for the fourth time this season at the Health & Sports Center in Kearney on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. Links to each coverage option will be available on the St. Cloud State Volleyball schedule page.

The Huskies are 1-2 against CSP this season and all-time in NCAA Tournament matches against the Golden Bears.

Information regarding the tournament can be found on the NCAA Central Region Homepage.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.