No. 1 Nebraska volleyball swept its 15th straight match with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 sweep over No. 22 Minnesota Saturday in Minneapolis. The Cornhuskers (24-0, 14-0 Big Ten) have won their last 46 sets. The sweep was Nebraska’s first of the Golden Gophers since the best-of-five format began in 1982.
Andi Jackson continued her blistering hot week with a season-high 15 kills. She had kills on her first five attacks, giving her kills on 14 straight attacks dating back to Thursday’s match against Illinois. Taylor Landfair added 11 kills with no errors to hit .550 against her former team. Rebekah Allick was surgical, hitting for .714 with 10 kills, while Harper Murray tallied seven kills, 12 digs and three aces, becoming the seventh Husker in the rally-scoring era with 100 career aces. Julia Hanson led Minnesota with 13 kills.
The Huskers wasted no time taking control of set one, leading 4-0. Another four-point run by Nebraska boosted the NU lead to 11-5. A five-point run late in the set including two kills by Landfair pushed the Huskers’ advantage to 23-13, and Nebraska cruised to the set one win.
Nebraska never trailed in set two either. A seven-point run pushed the Huskers’ early lead to 11-3. The Golden Gophers fought back into the set, winning seven of eight points to cut the NU lead to 18-14. A three-point run by Minnesota later in the set cut the Huskers’ advantage to 22-19. But the teams alternated points the final five rallies and a Jackson kill finished off the second set.
The Gophers led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 to begin the third set, the only times Minnesota led in the match. But the Huskers won seven of the next eight rallies to build a 9-4 lead. Another NU four-point run pushed Nebraska’s edge to 13-5. The Gophers ran five straight points to shrink the Huskers’ lead to 16-13, but a four-point Nebraska run pushed the advantage back to a comfortable 20-13. Leading 23-18, an Allick kill brought up matchpoint, and after a Minnesota point, Allick terminated again to finish off the match.
Nebraska is next in action at UCLA Friday at 8 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.