Nebraska coach John Cook earned his 700th win as Huskers’ head coach as No. 2 Nebraska defeated UCLA 25-22, 25-10, 23-25, 25-22. With the win, Cook became the third Big Ten coach win at least 700 wins at a Big Ten school.
Taylor Landfair led the Huskers (11-1) with a season-high 13 kills, adding four blocks. Andi Jackson matched Landfair with 13 kills while contributing six blocks. Merritt Beason and Harper Murray both had nine kills, while Bergen Reilly had 42 set assists and Lexi Rodriguez had 20 digs. Cheridyn Leverette led UCLA (6-4) with 17 kills, while Kiki Horne pitched in 11 kills and Grayce Olson added 10.
Set one was hotly contested, with neither team holding a lead larger than two until setpoint. The score was tied seven times with five lead changes. Nebraska edged ahead, outhitting the Bruins .317-.216. But the Huskers took over in set two, never trailing while hitting a blistering .617 with just one error while holding UCLA to (-.033).
Nebraska wasted no time taking control of set three, building a 9-4 lead in the first 13 rallies. The Huskers had the set well in control until UCLA ran 10 straight points to take a 24-22 lead. A net serve by the Bruins gave Nebraska the serve back, but Olson clinched the set for UCLA with a kill, capping an improbable comeback in which the Bruins won 11 of the last 12 rallies.
In the fourth set, UCLA ran four straight points to take a 7-5 lead. The Huskers bounced back to win the next three rallies to take an 8-7 lead, and after the Bruins won back-to-back points to move ahead 9-8, Nebraska scored four in a row to take a 12-9 lead and force UCLA to take timeout. But the Bruins fought back and evened the match at 18 before a service error and a Taylor Landfair kill gave NU a 20-18 lead. The Huskers led from there, and a Landfair and Jackson combo block finished off the match for Nebraska.
The Huskers will return to action Sunday against No. 20 USC at 6:30 p.m. at the Devaney Center. Pregame coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on KLIN and B107.3.