No. 2 Nebraska volleyball now has the inside track to the Big Ten volleyball championship. With the Huskers’ 25-17, 25-11, 25-21 victory at Washington Saturday, coupled with Penn State’s loss at Wisconsin earlier in the day, Nebraska takes over sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with six matches to go in the regular season.
The Huskers faced little resistance from the overmatched Huskies, outhitting them .375-.158, outblocking them 7-1 and outserving them five aces to one. Harper Murray led Nebraska with 12 kills while Taylor Landfair notched 10 kills on .471 hitting.
Washington started set one decently, building a 10-7 lead. But the Huskers stormed back, winning eight of the next 10 rallies to lead 15-12. After the teams split the next four points, Nebraska won eight of the last 11 rallies to clinch the set. The Huskers carried that dominance through to the second set, where the Huskers hustled out to a 10-3 lead. Nebraska locked down set two by winning the last six and 10 of the 12 last rallies to secure the set.
A 6-0 run early in set three built up an 8-3 lead for the Huskers. Nebraska eradicated any hope of a Washington comeback by winning eight of 10 rallies to hold a 23-15 lead. Washington won six of the next seven rallies to tight the Husker lead, but after the Huskies fought off four straight match points, a Rebekah Allick kill finished the match.
Nebraska now prepares to take on Minnesota Thursday at 6 p.m. Pregame coverage begins on KLIN and B-107.3 at 5 p.m. Thursday.