Long trip, short match. No. 2 Nebraska overcame the long trip to Eugene and swept No. 12 Oregon 25-12, 26-24, 25-18 to earn its 20th straight victory and remain in first place in the Big Ten. The Huskers (23-1, 13-0 B1G0 have swept 16 foes during the 20-match winning streak, and are now 9-0 against ranked opposition this season.
Harper Murray was deadly efficient in hitting .414 while turning a double-double performance, 14 kills with 10 digs. Taylor Landfair was similarly efficient, hitting .407 with 13 kills. Nebraska’s defense suffocated the Ducks to the tune of .133 hitting while registering six blocks.
The Huskers drastically outserved Oregon (17-5, 9-4 B1G), as well. Nebraska had four aces to the Ducks’ three, but while Oregon committed six service errors, the Huskers didn’t commit one for the first time since Sept. 16, 2017.
Lexi Rodriguez took sole possession of second in second in school history in career digs, passing Kayla Banwarth. Only Justine Wong-Orantes (1,890) has more career digs than Rodriguez at Nebraska, who ended the match with 1,720 career digs.
The first set was all Huskers, as NU held the Ducks to -.031 hitting while winning 19 of the last 25 rallies to take the set. Set two was more hotly contested. Though Nebraska led most of the set, Oregon stayed with a couple points of the Huskers throughout. But after a Ducks’ attack error gave Nebraska a 25-24 lead, Murray notched her ninth kill to finish the set in the Huskers’ favor. Then set three was tied at 11, but Nebraska took control from there. Six straight points built the Huskers’ lead to 17-11. After some life from the Ducks, five straight points keyed by three Murray kills pushed the advantage to 22-15. Landfair finished off the match with three straight kills.
Nebraska now prepares to play Washington (18-5, 8-5 B1G) on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. in Seattle. Pregame coverage starts at 8:30 p.m. on B-107.3. The Huskies upset 14th-ranked Minnesota in four in Minneapolis.