No Halloween hangover. No. 1 Nebraska volleyball swept its 13th straight match and ran its set-winning streak to 40 with a 25-21, 25-20, 25-12 thrashing of Oregon Sunday at John Cook Arena. The Cornhuskers strengthened their grip on the No. 1 spot in the AVCA poll as Nebraska (22-0, 12-0 Big Ten) won both its matches on the weekend while No. 2 Texas lost in five sets to Texas A&M Friday, then was swept by Kentucky Sunday.
Taylor Landfair led NU with 10 kills while hitting .400, Harper Murray added nine kills and nine digs. Virginia Adriano contributed eight kills and three blocks, while Rebekah Allick and Andi Jackson pitched in five kills each. Allick had five blocks while Jackson had three. Bergen Reilly had 26 set assists.
The Ducks (13-9, 4-8 Big Ten) jumped out to a 3-1 lead in set one, before the Huskers won eight of the next 10 rallies to lead, 9-5. But Oregon responded, winning eight of the next 12 points to lead, 15-14. The set was tied at 15, 16, 17 and 18, before Nebraska re-established control of the set by winning five of the next seven rallies to lead, 23-20. After an Oregon point, a Murray block and a Jackson kill finished off the first set.
The second set also started well contested. Through 33 rallies, neither the Huskers nor Ducks had led by more than two points, and Oregon had taken a 17-16 lead. But with Teraya Sigler serving, Nebraska ran off five straight points to take a 21-17 lead. Oregon drew no closer than three points, and the Huskers cruised in to win set two.
The third set was all Huskers. After the teams split the first two points, Nebraska ran the next four to build a 5-1 lead. Oregon cut the advantage to 5-3 and 7-4. From that point, the Ducks got no closer than four and NU pulled away. Five straight points with Reilly, including back-to-back tandem blocks by Allick and Adriano, boosted the lead to 22-11 and all but finished the match.
The Huskers are next in action Thursday against Illinois. First serve is slated for 7 p.m., with pregame coverage at 6 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.