Second-ranked Nebraska rolled to a sweep in the first round of the NCAA Tournament over Florida A&M, 25-3, 25-9, 25-17, Friday night at the Devaney Center. The Huskers advance to the round of 32 to take on Miami, which swept South Dakota State earlier Friday. The Cornhuskers (30-2) and Hurricanes will match up Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Devaney Center.
Nebraska needed just 67 minutes to trounce the Rattlers, setting school records for fewest points allowed in a set (3) and match (29) in the rally scoring era. NU outhit FAMU, .391-(-.043), outblocked them 6-5 and outserved them six aces to one. Harper Murray led the Huskers’ attack with 12 kills on .440 hitting. Andi Jackson tallied eight kills on a blistering .538 hitting, while Merritt Beason and Leyla Blackwell added five kills each. Jackson and Beason led the team with three blocks each, while Olivia Mauch, playing in her first NCAA match, tallied four aces. Bergen Reilly had 32 assists and 12 digs, while Lexi Rodriguez had a team leading 15 digs.
The Huskers scored the first point in the first two sets and were never tied, let alone trailing Florida A&M. The first set saw Nebraska hit a red-hot .500 while running off the final 12 points of the set. NU wasn’t quite as dominant in set two but still led throughout. In the third set, the Rattlers won the first rally and held leads of 3-2 and 5-4 before Nebraska ran off five straight points to put a strangehold on the third set. With the win, Nebraska has now won its first-round NCAA match in 36 straight tournament appearances, after splitting their first two first-round matches.
The Huskers now advance to the round of 32 to face Miami. Pregame coverage begins at 6 p.m. on B-107.3.