Omaha, Neb. - February 22, 2026 - A huge sigh of relief came from the whole state of Wisconsin as LOVB Madison breaks their losing streak with a five-set thriller against LOVB Nebraska (25-23, 16-25, 26-24, 23-26, 15-11)
“Wow,” started head coach Matt Fuerbringer, “I've been in a lot of really big matches and that's honestly one of my favorite matches I've ever won as a coach or a player. This league means a lot to all of us. And when that pressure starts to build like that and for us to respond this way just shows our character. We made no excuses. We came out, we battled, and now we got to build off of it. I'm just really proud of them. It could have gone so many ways and it didn't because our girls are fighters and they chose to stand up together.”
Madison secured the first-set win it needed to build momentum, powered once again by Temi Thomas-Ailara and Andrea Mitrovic on the outside and Gong Xiangyu on the right. The trio combined for 17 points in the opening set. Nebraska won the second set convincingly, but Madison rebounded to take the third in extra points, 26-24.
After dropping a nail-biter of a fourth set packed with long rallies, momentum swings and multiple lead changes, Madison refused to let the match slip away. Lauren Carlini delivered a masterclass in distribution, setting a new league record with 64 assists and orchestrating the team’s first five-set win of the season. She consistently found the hot hands of Thomas-Ailara and Mitrovic, guiding Madison to a hard-earned victory.
Named player of the match, Carlini finished with a league-record 64 assists, adding five kills, one ace, 17 digs and a .343 setting efficiency in a complete all-around performance. Thomas-Ailara led the offense with a career-high 24 kills, along with one ace, one block and 10 digs. Close behind was outside hitter Andrea Mitrovic, who delivered the offensive spark the team had been searching for all weekend. She totaled 19 kills on a .341 hitting percentage plus two aces, one block and 15 digs.
“We've been so focused, like one game at a time, truly, but just so proud of how this team came out and fought,” said setter Lauren Carlini, “And you could see, like, just feel it and see, like, we wanted this. We needed this. So just to, to come out on the other side and get a win, it feels really, really good.”
LOVB Madison earns a long break as they won’t see the court again until Wednesday, March 4th at home at the Alliant Energy Center. First serve is at 7 p.m. Central. Tickets are available for purchase and the game will be broadcast nationally on USA Network.
