As the Huskies pick themselves up from a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Nebraska in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament, the team can look forward to next season when it will return all but one of its players.

The loss, however, will be a tough one to get over.

“It’s a tough thing to deal with right now,” coach Jim McLaughlin said in a Seattle Times article. “And it will probably be tough for a while.”

The Huskies came out strong, taking the first two sets 25-14 and 25-23.

But, in the third set, Nebraska hit .324, which was too much for the Huskies to handle. The Cornhuskers took a quick 10-6 lead and never looked back on their way to a 25-17 win.

Set four was the biggest, which saw nine ties, three lead changes and went into extra points. It was the closest part of the match with the Huskies only a kill and an ace away from winning and moving on to the Final Four in Omaha, Neb.

The Huskies and Huskers tied at 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 9-9 before Nebraska went on runs of five and four to take a 18-11 lead.

Undeterred, the Huskies rallied. They went on a six-point run complete with four straight kills by Arial Salvo to bring the Huskies within one at 22-21.

The teams tied at 23-23 and 24-24 before Nebraska got a kill and an ace to take the set 26-24.

The decisive fifth set was also a wild one. The Huskies jumped out to an early 9-3 lead, but the Huskers rattled off nine unanswered points to take a 12-9 lead.

Back-to-back kills by Jill Collymore and Salvo put the Huskies within one. The Cornhuskers got a block and an error to bring the score to 13-12.

A block by Kindra Carelson and Jessica Swarbrick tied the score at 13-13, but that was the last time the Huskies would score this season.

A Husky attack error and a Nebraska ace ended the set and match 15-13.

Despite the disappointing loss, the team sees the season as a success.

“People may say this was a rebuilding season, but I think making it to regionals, I don’t know if you would consider that a rebuilding season,” Swarbrick told gohuskies.com. “I couldn’t have asked for more from the girls this year. They worked their tails off every day in practice. I told them in the locker room that I wouldn’t want any other teammates. People can say whatever they want, but we know what we have and what we’re capable of doing. I think we did it, for the most part.”

What’s more, three Huskies made the All-American teams. Swarbrick and junior Tamari Miyashiro made the second team while sophomore Jenna Hagglund made the third team. Hagglund and Miyashiro will be back next year.

Swarbrick will not be back. She ends her Husky career as one of the most successful UW players to play the game with a career .406 hitting percentage — the highest in Husky history — and 1,217 points — the fourth most in Husky history.

Despite this, the Dawgs will likely compete strong next season with everyone returning except Swarbrick.

Reach reporter Zach Ruby at sports@dailyuw.com.