No. 1 Nebraska volleyball sweeps No. 12 Purdue on the road
Nebraska volleyball (16-0, 6-0) continued its dominant start to conference play with a sweep (25-23, 25-16, 25-15) of Purdue (13-3, 4-2).
Harper Murray and Andi Jackson led the charge for the Huskers. The pair combined for 28 kills on 45 swings and gave the Boilermakers problems all day. Murray recorded 16 kills on an absurd .640 hitting percentage and added two solo blocks.
The junior duo’s efficient day helped Nebraska hit .349 as a team in the match. Setter Bergen Reilly had 44 assists and 10 digs, which was a career-high number of assists in a three-set match.
After a rough first set, the Huskers’ defense, which came into Sunday first in the country in opponent hitting percentage, put together another stellar match. Nebraska limited Purdue to a .186 hitting percentage.
The Huskers still have not dropped a set against Big Ten opponents. The last time the Scarlet and Cream lost a set was against Creighton on Sept. 16.
Set 1: Nebraska wins early battle
Nebraska may have taken the first set 25-23, but it didn’t come easy. Dani Busboom Kelly’s team found itself down for most of the set but found a way to pull out the opening set victory.
Murray and Jackson both quickly established themselves in the first set and were integral to the set win. The duo combined for 15 kills on 20 swings with no errors and a .752 hitting percentage.
The pair of juniors were the only ones on the roster to hit above .000 in the set. As a team, Nebraska hit .311 in the set.
The Huskers fell into an early 10-7 deficit after Purdue capitalized on two early service errors. Nebraska went on a 4-0 run to put itself back in the driver’s seat for a bit, but still found itself down 15-14 at the media timeout, in part due to three early service errors.
Purdue’s Kenna Wollard gave Nebraska’s defense problems. The outside hitter had eight kills on .353 hitting in the set. The Huskers’ defense uncharacteristically allowed the Boilermakers to hit a .289 hitting percentage in the set.
Coming out of the media timeout, the game continued to be neck-and-neck, but the Huskers cleaned up their act and made fewer unforced errors en route to the set win.
Set 2: Huskers keep foot on gas
Just like the first, Purdue paced Nebraska well early in the second set. However, the Huskers played a cleaner game and ended the set on a 6-0 run to win 25-16.
The Boilermakers had the game knotted up at 10 early. However, Nebraska pulled away from there, going on an 8-3 run to force Purdue to call its first timeout of the set. From there, it was all Huskers as they continued to pile it on the Boilermakers.
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The Huskers’ defense was much improved in the second set as they forced the Boilermakers to hit a .069 clip. Nebraska recorded four blocks in the set after only having one in the opening set. Wollard only had two kills in the set.
Rebekah Allick and Taylor Landfair helped supplement Murray and Jackson on offense. They both had three kills in the set as the Huskers recorded a .333 hitting percentage.
Set 3: Nebraska caps off the sweep
Nebraska gave Purdue no room to come back into this one. The Huskers closed out the match with their most dominant set on the way to a 25-15 win.
Busboom Kelly’s squad jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the third set. Murray continued her heroics and recorded back-to-back solo blocks, forcing the Boilermakers to call a timeout.
Purdue’s timeout did nothing to stop Nebraska as it continued its dominance. The Huskers limited the Boilermakers to a .167 hitting percentage in the set.
Nebraska’s offense also enjoyed another efficient set. The Huskers recorded a .412 clip in the set, their best of the match.
Opposite hitter Allie Sczech subbed in late in the second set and made her presence known in the third. The Baylor transfer had four kills on seven errorless swings in the third set and five kills overall.
Nebraska will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 17 against Michigan State at 6:00 p.m. CT in East Lansing, Mich. B1G+ will stream the match for the second straight game.
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