Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
No. 1 Nebraska volleyball set a Bob Devaney Center/John Cook Arena record with 13 aces as the Cornhuskers (8-0) defeated No. 25 North Carolina Friday, 25-14, 20-25, 25-21, 25-10. Nebraska’s 13 aces are the most since the Huskers had 14 against Alabama A&M in 2005.
Harper Murray led Nebraska with 12 kills while hitting a healthy .346. Andi Jackson added 10 kills on .571 hitting, while Manaia Ogbechie returned from a one-game absence due to illness to notch seven kills. Laney Choboy, Olivia Mauch and Teraya Sigler all served three aces each, while Murray and Jackson both added a pair.
The Huskers rolled in set one. After it was tied at one, Nebraska scored six of the next eight points to open a 7-3 lead. The Tar Heels (4-3) scored to cut the lead to three before a five-point run by the Huskers opened a 12-4 lead. North Carolina scored three straight points to cut NU’s lead to 12-7, but the Huskers took over from there and never again led in the set by fewer than five points.
The second set was more hotly contested, with neither holding larger than a two-point lead until the Tar Heels scored five in a row to open a 22-18 advantage. North Carolina scored three of the final five points of the set to hand Nebraska its second set loss of the season.
The Tar Heels seemed to carry that momentum into the third set, starting with a 12-8 lead. The Huskers stormed back to tie the set at 12, After North Carolina briefly took back the lead, 13-12, Nebraska scored seven of the next 10 points to build a 19-16 lead. The Huskers held UNC at arm’s length from there to finish off the third.
In the fourth set, Nebraska bolted out to a 12-1 lead and never looked back, never leading the set thereafter by fewer than eight points.
The Huskers now prepare to take on Florida Gulf Coast Sunday at noon at John Cook Arena. Pregame coverage begins at 11 a.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.