There was no letdown by the top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team after their thrashing of No. 16 Penn State, as the Cornhuskers went up to Rutgers and swept the Scarlet Knights 25-17, 25-15, 25-16, Saturday in Piscataway, N.J.
Nebraska (14-0, 4-0 B1G) was led by the 11 kills and three blocks of Harper Murray. Manaia Ogbechie added five kills and a team-leading eight blocks. Andi Jackson tallied two aces, while Bergen Reilly had 15 set assists while Campbell Flynn added 13. The Huskers outhit Rutgers (10-6, 1-3 B1G), .390 to .061 and outblocked them 14-3.
The first set started out close, with the score tied at five through 10 rallies. But Nebraska ran six straight points and nine of the next 11 to establish control of the set, leading 14-7. NU held the Knights at arm’s length from there and cruised to the set one win.
Set two was all Huskers. Nebraska won the first three points and never relinquished the lead. Rutgers stayed within a point of the Huskers, but could never tie the set. Nebraska broke the set open with a six-point run while Olivia Mauch was serving, building a 17-10 advantage. A four-point run took the Huskers to setpoint, and three rallies later, NU closed out the set.
In the third, Rutgers led 4-3 before Nebraska ran five straight points to take an 8-4 edge. The Scarlet Knights cut the lead to 8-7 before the Huskers won five of the next six and nine of the next 11 rallies to lead, 17-9. Rutgers cut it to 20-13, but the Huskers won five of the next eight rallies, with Murray finishing the match with a kill.
Nebraska is next in action Friday at home against Washington. First serve is slated for 8 p.m., with pregame at 7 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.