Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
No. 1 Nebraska volleyball swept rival No. 16 Penn State 25-20, 25-17, 25-18 Thursday at University Park, Pa. Since the Nittany Lions (9-4, 1-2 Big Ten) swept the Cornhuskers (14-0, 3-0) in the 2024 NCAA Semifinals in John Cook’s final match as NU head coach, Nebraska has swept Penn State three times, including twice in Happy Valley.
The Huskers put on a clinic, both offensively (outhitting PSU .440-.267), and defensively (out blocking the Lions, 10-2). Nebraska outserved Penn State as well, five aces to two.
Harper Murray led the Huskers with 13 kills while hitting .414. Andi Jackson added 11 kills on a blistering .625, while registering a team-leading seven blocks. Murray and Bergen Reilly both had two aces, while Reilly tallied 34 set assists.
With the sweep, head coach Dani Busboom Kelly picked up her 250th career win and became the fourth-fastest coach to reach 250 all-time Division I wins in women’s college volleyball history. Busboom Kelly recorded win no. 250 in her 295th career match, trailing only Heather Olmstead (292 matches), Dave Shoji (293 matches) and Andy Banachowski (293 matches).
Nebraska bolted out to a 7-1 lead in set one and never looked back. Penn State pulled to within one of the Huskers twice, but a flurry of five points in six rallies finished off set one.
Then in set two, the Nittany Lions scored the first three points of the set and led 4-2 before Nebraska ran four points to build a 6-4 lead. Penn State tied the set at six, seven, nine and 10. But the Huskers ran three points to take a 13-10 edge. After a PSU point, three more Nebraska points in a row opened a 16-11 lead. Later in the second set, four straight NU points opened a 22-14 lead. A kill and a block by Manaia Ogbechie completed the set two win.
Penn State led set three 3-1 before four straight Nebraska points opened a 5-3 NU lead. The Nittany Lions pulled the set tied at 12, but four straight Nebraska points opened a 16-12 lead. The Huskers scored six points in seven rallies to push their lead to 24-17. After one PSU point, Ryan Hunter’s first kill of the night finished off the Lions.
Nebraska now prepares to take on Maryland in College Park, Md., Saturday. Pregame coverage begins at 5 p.m., with first serve at 6 p.m., on B-107.3.