No. 1 Nebraska volleyball swept Kansas State 25-17, 25-21, 25-16 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Volleyball championship. The Cornhuskers (32-0) advanced on their 27th sweep of the season and have won 66 of their last 67 sets.
Andi Jackson paced Nebraska with 10 kills and three blocks while hitting .533. Harper Murray also notched 10 kills and six digs. Taylor Landfair tallied eight kills while Virginia Adriano added seven. Bergen Reilly had 34 set assists for NU. Aniya Clinton led the Wildcats (18-10) with seven kills, while Brenna Schmidt had five blocks. Nebraska outhit K-State, .253-.118 and outserved it seven aces to two.
The Huskers bolted out to a 7-2 lead in set one. A four-point Nebraska run pushed the lead to 14-7, before KSU responded with their own four-point run to cut the lead to 15-12. The Wildcats scored two of the next three points to pull to within 16-14, before Nebraska cranked up to win eight of the next nine points to almost finish the set, leading 24-15. Three points later, NU clinched set one.
K-State started the second set hot, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. The Huskers bounced back to win five of the next six points to take a 6-5 lead. The Wildcats eventually took leads of 9-8 and 10-9 before Nebraska ran four straight points to lead 13-10. The Huskers gradually pulled away in the set, leading 22-17, before K-State mounted one last push, scoring four straight points to cut the Nebraska lead to 22-21. But an Allie Sczech kill stopped the slide and started a three-point NU run that clinched set two.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 5-3 lead early in set three. After the Huskers returned fire, K-State built a 9-8 lead before Nebraska won eight of the next nine points to seize control of the set, leading 16-10. Another five-point run by the Huskers grew the lead to 22-12, and Nebraska cruised from there to clinch the match.
The Huskers advance to the regional semifinal round, where they’ll take on Kansas at 8:30 p.m. Friday night at John Cook Arena. Pregame coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3. The winner of that match will take on the winner of Texas A&M/Louisville, which will start at 6 p.m. Friday night. The regional final match between the two winners will take place Sunday at John Cook Arena.