No. 2 Nebraska volleyball rolled to its 10th straight win, hammering Illinois 25-18, 25-22, 25-17 Thursday night in Champaign, Ill. The Huskers (13-1/3-0 Big Ten) had a balanced attack. Merritt Beason led NU with 10 kills, Harper Murray added nine and Taylor Landfair contributed eight.
But it was Nebraska’s block that was the most potent, with Rebekah Allick leading the effort with nine while Beason added seven. The Huskers dominated the blocking battle, 12-3. Nebraska was also much better serving, as the Huskers had five aces and one error compared to two aces and 11 errors for the Fighting Illini (8-5/0-3). NU outhit Illinois, .305 to .217. Bergen Reilly had 30 set assists, three kills and eight digs for Nebraska, against her sister, Raegen, who had five set assists and four digs for UI.
Illinois won the first four points, but Nebraska shook off a sluggish start to take control of the first set during a run where the Huskers won nine of 10 rallies to swing a 6-3 deficit to a 12-7 lead. Nebraska also finished the set with a flourish, taking eight of the last 11 rallies to lock down the set.
In the second set, the Huskers took an early 8-6 lead, but Illinois rebounded with a six-point run to give the Illini a 12-8 lead. Averie Hernandez led the charge for Illinois, getting four kills during the run. Nebraska swung the set back in its favor by winning seven of eight rallies to give the Huskers a 19-17 advantage. After four straight points by the Fighting Illini, the Huskers responded by winning three straight to take back a 22-21 lead and forcing Illinois to take its second timeout. A Leyla Blackwell and Bergen Reilly block made it four straight points for NU and a 23-21 edge. After Illinois cut Nebraska’s lead to one, a kill by Taylor Landfair set the stage for a Kennedi Orr ace to polish off the second.
The third set started bumpy for the Huskers, as a four-point scoring run gave the Fighting Illini a 9-7 lead and forced Nebraska to take timeout. After the teams traded points, the Huskers won five of six rallies to take a 13-11 lead and force Illinois to take timeout. Nebraska truly locked down the set during a stretch where it won seven of 11 points to build its lead to 20-15. After the Illini won back to back rallies, the Huskers won the last five rallies to close out the match.
The Huskers return to action Sunday against Iowa at the Devaney Center. First serve is slated for 2 p.m.