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Nebraska

No. 1 Nebraska defeats No. 3 Pittsburgh in season opener

by: Ben Beecham08/23/25BeechamBen
Harper Murray
Harper Murray (Photo by Husker Athletics)

Nebraska volleyball’s road back to the Final Four has begun.

In the first game of the Dani Busboom Kelly era, the top-ranked Huskers took on No. 3 Pittsburgh in the opener of the AVCA First Serve Showcase at Pinnacle Bank Arena.  

It took a bit for Nebraska to clean the dust off, but the Huskers still played well enough to defeat the Panthers in four sets (25-22, 25-11, 20-25, 25-23).

After a slow start, Nebraska put together a stellar hitting showcase, finishing with a .224 team hitting percentage. The Panthers only managed to hit .111.

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Harper Murray led Nebraska with 15 kills, hitting .278. Andi Jackson and Taylor Landfair both led the team with eight blocks apiece.

Jackson put together an all-around solid performance. The junior middle blocker had 10 kills on a .348 hitting percentage and was named the AVCA Player of the Match.

Pitt’s Olivia Babcock, the 2024 AVCA Player of the Year, had a game-high 21 kills, but only hit .121.

Huskers kick off dust

Although Nebraska took the first set, Pitt didn’t make it easy.

From the start, it was neck-and-neck, with both teams trading blows. Nebraska led 10-9 at the first media timeout, but the Panthers took advantage of the Huskers’ unforced errors and slowly took over. Nebraska hit .162 and had nine total hitting errors in the set.

Pitt controlled the lead late in the set, but Landfair took matters into her own hands. The senior outside hitter subbed in with the Huskers down 21-19 and promptly had an emphatic block and kill to give the Huskers the lead back. She finished with eight kills and hit .174.

Landfair’s electricity fired up the crowd and gave Nebraska enough momentum to go on a 7-1 run and win the set 25-22. The 2022 First Team All-American finished the set with a team-high four kills, two blocks and a .375 hitting percentage.

Nebraska erupts in second set

The Huskers’ momentum carried right into the second set. Nebraska opened up on a 5-1 run, prompting Pitt to call its sole timeout of the set.

However, that wasn’t enough to stop the hemorrhaging. 

The Huskers continued to pile it on, giving the Panthers no room to get back into the set. After shaky hitting in the first set, Nebraska cleaned it up, and Pitt struggled to answer. The Huskers hit .429 in the second set, their best of the match.

Dan Fisher’s team didn’t score more than two consecutive points in the set as Nebraska won 25-11 to take a 2-0 lead.

Pitt answers after blowout set

The Panthers answered their rough second set by taking the third 25-20.

Pitt jumped out to a 7-2 lead by taking advantage of a few Husker hitting errors. Nebraska cut the deficit to two, but the Panthers continued to play steady and keep control of their lead.

After their efficient second set, Pitt forced the Huskers’ attack to hit .079. The Panthers recorded a .262 clip and had 17 kills to Nebraska’s nine.

After having a .034 hitting percentage in the first two sets, Babcock had five kills in the third.

Back to business in final set

After a subpar third set, the Huskers returned to form in the fourth set.

Pitt hung around for a bit, but Nebraska had an answer for everything the Panthers threw at them.

After a block by Virginia Adriano and Rebekah Allick gave the Huskers an 18-15 lead, Pitt was forced to call a timeout.

However, Nebraska came out of the timeout firing. Murray and Landfair both added a couple of electric kills to get the Pinnacle Bank Arena’s crowd on its feet as the Huskers neared victory.

Babcock had a pair of aces to give Pitt one last breath of life, but Nebraska held on for a 25-23 win and the four-set victory.

The Huskers will be back in action against No. 6 Stanford on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

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