A balanced effort that saw fiveHuskers tally at least five kills led to No. 1 Nebraska (19-0, 10-0 B1G) rolling to its 10th straight sweep as the Cornhuskers defeated Northwestern 25-17, 25-13, 25-17, Friday night at John Cook Arena. Nebraska has won 31 straight sets, 26 during the run by five or more points.
Harper Murray paced the Huskers with nine kills while adding eight digs. Rebekah Allick added seven kills and three blocks. Teraya Sigler notched seven kills and four digs. Andi Jackson tallied six kills and a team-leading five blocks. Victoria Adriano contributed five kills and the match-ending ace. Bergen Reilly had 30 set assists and three blocks, while Laney Choboy led the team with 10 digs. Isabella Bullington led the Wildcats with seven kills on .125 hitting. Nebraska outhit Northwestern, .357-.099, outblocked them 10-1 and outserved them six aces to two.
The Wildcats took an early 3-2 lead in set one, before the Huskers scored four straight points to lead, 6-3. Northwestern scored five of the next six points to lead 8-7 and six of the next eight to build a 9-8 lead. But then a seven-point run with Teraya Sigler serving opened Nebraska’s lead to 15-9. After a Sigler service error, the Huskers ran five more points to lead 20-10. The Wildcats pulled to within six on two occasions, but got no closer in the set.
Northwestern and Nebraska were tied at six through twelve rallies in set two. But a four-point run with Andi Jackson serving grew the Huskers’ lead to 10-6. Nebraska won five of six points later in the set to build a 16-9 advantage. A Wildcats ace cut Nebraska’s lead to 16-12, but the Huskers won nine of the last 10 points of the set to clinch the second.
The teams split the first two points in set three. But then Nebraska scored six of the next eight to lead, 7-3. The Wildcats never got closer than two points before the Huskers ran five straight to build an 18-10 lead. Northwestern never seriously threatened from there, and Nebraska cruised to the sweep, its 15th of the year.
Nebraska is next in action Saturday night against Michigan State, who the Huskers swept last weekend in East Lansing. First serve is at 7:30 p.m., with pregame coverage at 6:30 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.
