No. 5 Nebraska volleyball administered a Big Red blasting of No. 2 Stanford Wednesday night at the Devaney Center, 25-17, 25-22, 25-14. The Huskers (9-1) dominated in all respects, outhitting the Cardinal (7-1).263-.100, outblocking them 9-4, and outserving them five aces to two, while Stanford committed 10 service errors to NU’s four.
The match ended with Lindsay Krause’s team-lead-tying ninth kill of the match. Andi Jackson paced Nebraska’s attack with nine kills and five blocks, while Merritt Beason added eight kills and three blocks. Bergen Reilly contributed 27 set assists, four kills, eight digs and two blocks. Stanford was led by Elia Rubin with 10 kills.
Much like the match against Creighton last week, Nebraska took control of the first set early, winning nine of the first 11 rallies to lead by seven, including five straight points. The Huskers maintained their lead thanks to five straight sideouts of Stanford. When the Cardinal took its second timeout, NU led 18-11. Three sideout kills by Lindsay Krause helped propel the Huskers to the dominant set one win, 25-17. Nebraska hit a healthy .406 while holding Stanford to .114 in set one.
Nebraska came out firing in the second set as well, building a 7-2 lead and forcing the Cardinal to take an early timeout. One more kill by Beason capped a five-point run by the Huskers. But Kami Miner won a joust at the net for Stanford, sparking a seven-point run for the Cardinal to give them a 10-8 lead before Nebraska was able to get sideout. Stanford built a 17-14 lead before Andi Jackson took over, tallying a block and two kills in five rallies to swing the second toward the Huskers, 19-18. From there, the Huskers were able to finish out the set and win by three.
Again in set three, Nebraska took control early, jumping out to an 8-4 lead and forcing the Cardinal to take a time out. The break only briefly paused the Huskers’ momentum, as Nebraska won 17 of 23 reallies to finish the match quickly.
The Huskers continue their challenging week with a match at No. 4 Louisville Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Pregame coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. on KLIN.