The Big Ten’s best volleyball match of the year on paper was a rout on Terraflex.
No. 1 Nebraska swept No. 7 Wisconsin 25-23, 25-14, 25-20, Saturday at John Cook Arena, giving the Cornhuskers (17-0, 4-0 Big Ten) a straight-sets victory over the top challenger in the conference. The sweep made it 22 straight sets won by the Huskers, and second-year head coach Dani Busboom Kelly is yet to suffer a regular season loss as Nebraska’s head coach.
Harper Murray’s recent hot streak continued, as she led the Huskers with 20 kills on a blistering .471 hitting, while tallying three blocks. Andi Jackson added two blocks and 11 kills for the Huskers. Manaia Ogbechie led NU with seven blocks while adding three kills. Bergen Reilly dished out 39 set assists for Nebraska, while Laney Choboy led the Huskers with 13 digs.
The first set was closely fought, with neither team building a two-point lead until the Huskers pushed ahead, 16-13. The Badgers (11-5, 5-1) ran three points to edge ahead, 18-17, before four straight points by Nebraska gave NU a 21-18 advantage. The Huskers led 24-20 before Wisconsin fought off three straight set points to cut Nebraska’s led to one, but a Murray kill finished off the Badgers in set one. The second set was also closely fought, until a 10-1 Nebraska run built a 21-11 lead and firmly swung the second set in the Huskers’ control. After back-to-back Wisconsin points, Nebraska scored four of the last five to close the second set.
The third set started close, with the Badgers tying NU at 14, 15 and 16, but three straight Huskers points gave NU a 19-16 lead and Wisconsin never again came closer than two points. Reilly finished the match with her 20th kill of the night.
The sweep was Nebraska’s seventh in a row. The Huskers have won 22 consecutive sets.
Nebraska now prepares to head to Northwestern on Thursday for a 7 p.m. first serve. Pregame coverage begins at 6 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.