After dropping a set Friday, the No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team got back to its dominant ways Sunday, sweeping No. 17 USC 25-13, 25-16, 25-20, in Los Angeles. The sweep is the Cornhuskers’ 21st in 26 victories this season, and NU’s 16th in the last 17 matches.
Nebraska (26-0, 16-0 Big Ten) rode a balanced attack, with five Huskers tallying eight kills or more. Virginia Adriano, Harper Murray and Taylor Landfair all notched 10 kills, while Rebekah Allick added nine kills and Andi Jackson notched eight with a team-leading five blocks. Bergen Reilly registered 42 set assists and a team-leading 14 digs. The Trojans (20-6, 11-5 Big Ten) were led by 10 kills by London Wijay. Nebraska outhit USC, .412-.156, outblocked them eight to five, outdug them 54-29 and outserved them one ace to none.
USC led briefly in the first set, 4-3. But the Huskers ran five straight points to build an 8-4 lead. After a Trojans point, Nebraska won five of the next six rallies to open the lead to 13-6. The Huskers continued to pull away as the set wore on, as NU won six of the final eight points to finish set one in dominant fashion.
Nebraska wasted no time taking control of the second set. The Huskers won the first three points, six of the first seven and 11 of the first 14 to build an 11-3 lead. A four-point run later in the set built the lead to 18-9, Huskers. NU kept USC at arm’s length from there, with Long Beach, Calif., native Manaia Ogbechie terminating the last point of the set.
Nebraska started the third set hot, rebounding after losing the first rally of the third set to win seven straight points to build a 7-1 lead. The Trojans chipped away at the Huskers’ lead to 10-8, 11-9 and 16-14, but USC was never able to pull even with the Huskers. Kills by Teraya Sigler and Jackson finished off the match.
Nebraska leads the BIg Ten race by three games over second place Purdue and WIsconsin with four matches to go. A win by the Huskers in their next match, Thursday at home against Iowa, would clinch the regular season Big Ten championship for Nebraska. Pregame coverage begins at 6 p.m., with first serve at 7 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.