Even for No. 1 Nebraska volleyball, it was a level of uncommon dominance.
The Cornhuskers rolled into Rec Hall in Happy Valley, home of the defending national champions, No. 16 Penn State, and dismissed the Nittany Lions 25-6, 25-15, 25-13.
The revenge was sweet for Nebraska (12-0, 3-0 B1G) after Penn State (7-6, 1-2 B1G) defeated the Huskers twice last season and ended Nebraska’s season and the coaching career of John Cook in the national semifinals in five sets. Nebraska utterly annihilated the Nittany Lions, outhitting them, .437-(-.114), outblocking them nine to five and outserving them four aces to three.
Rebekah Allick led the Huskers with nine kills and four blocks. Andi Jackson added six kills and four blocks. Virginia Adriano tallied eight kills and four digs. Harper Murray notched six kills, an ace and four digs. Bergen Reilly had 26 set assists for NU, while Olivia Mauch had a team-leading 10 digs. Kennedy Martin, coming off a 34-kill match against UCLA on Sunday, led PSU, but with only 11 kills.
The Nittany Lions scored the first two points of the match. It would be the last time they’d hold the lead at any point. Nebraska scored the next five points and 11 of the next 12 to lead 11-3 in set one. After PSU snapped a five-point run with Adriano serving, the Huskers won nine of the next 10 rallies to lead 20-5. After a Penn State point, Nebraska ran the last five points to wrap set one. Allick had two kills and a block in the final five-point fury to finish set one.
In set two, Nebraska darted out to a 4-1 lead. The advantage ballooned to 7-3 in the first 10 rallies. After a Nittany Lions point, the Huskers scored six of the next seven points to build a 13-5 lead midway through the second set. Penn State cut the lead to six twice, but four straight Nebraska points firmly placed the Huskers in the drivers seat of the set, leading 19-9. Nebraska won four of the final six rallies to clinch the second set.
The teams split the first two points of the set, giving PSU its first tie since 2-2 in set one. But the Huskers won seven of the next 10 rallied to build an 8-4 edge. After a Jackson service error cut the lead to 8-5, Nebraska ran eight straight points with Reilly serving, pushing the score to 16-5. Penn State won four of the next six rallies to cut into NU’s lead, 18-9, but four straight Husker points opened the advantage to 22-9. After the Nittany Lions scored four of the next five points, a Teraya Sigler kill and an attack error by PSU finished the match in 1 hour, 18 minutes.
Nebraska now prepares to face Rutgers Saturday night at 6 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 5 p.m. on B-107.3.