Huskers Win Thriller at No. 17 Purdue, 3-2

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team survived on the road at No. 17 Purdue, 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 15-12) on Friday night in a sold-out Holloway Gymnasium. 

Harper Murray had a career-high 21 kills with 10 digs, and Merritt Beason had 19 kills and nine digs and hit .368.

Both Husker middle blockers had season highs in kills. Jackson finished with 12 kills and added seven blocks. Allick had nine kills (.500) with a career-high eight blocks, four of them solo. 

Lindsay Krause provided eight kills (.412), and Bergen Reilly notched a career-high 54 assists, 12 digs and five kills. Reilly set the Huskers (12-0, 3-0 Big Ten) to a .311 hitting percentage, while the Boilermakers (8-4, 2-1 Big Ten) hit .229. 

Laney Choboy had 14 digs to lead the back row. 

Nebraska had 74 kills to 60 for Purdue and a 55-47 advantage in digs and 15-12 edge in blocks. The Huskers committed 12 service errors, while the Boilermakers had just four. Purdue had three aces, and NU had two. 

Eva Hudson had 19 kills for Purdue, and Chloe Chicoine had 18. 

Set 1: Purdue held a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. After the break, Beason posted a pair of kills, but Purdue answered with four kills to go up 19-14, and the Huskers used a timeout. Murray and Krause struck for kills to cut it to 22-19, and a Purdue service error and hitting error made it 23-21. Jackson then tipped a kill to the floor to get within one, 23-22, and Purdue took a timeout. A service error gave Purdue set point, 24-22, but a kill by Krause kept NU alive, 24-23. Chicoine ended the set with a kill for a 25-23 Purdue win, the first time the Huskers have dropped a first set this season. 

Set 2: Nebraska led 6-5 after a kill by Krause, but Purdue scored four in a row to go up 9-6. A kill by Murray helped cut the lead to 9-8, but kills by Chicoine and Hudson and an ace by Chicoine made it 12-8 Boilermakers. Purdue pushed the lead to five, 15-10, but a kill by Murray and back-to-back blocks by Beason and Jackson pulled the Huskers within 15-13. Back-to-back errors by the Big Red put Purdue up, 19-15. Murray got a kill, Reilly and Allick had a block, and Purdue hit into the net to get the Huskers within one, 19-18. After a Purdue timeout, the Boilermakers went back up 21-18. Allick won a battle at the net to make it 21-19, and a block by Allick and Beason preceded a Murray kill that tied the score at 21-21. The Huskers won another long rally via a block by Murray and Beason, and then Allick sent down an overpass for a 23-31 Husker lead. Purdue hit long for a Husker set point, 24-21, but Reilly's service run ended with an error to make it 24-22. Murray finished off the set, 25-22, as NU outscored Purdue 7-1 down the stretch to even the match. 

Set 3: Purdue went up 8-5 after back-to-back kills by Chicoine. Jackson and Beason answered with kills, and Rodriguez set Reilly for a kill before Murray swung her 11th kill for a 10-9 Husker lead. The Boilermakers responded with two kills to go back in front, but Beason and Murray put down three straight kills to make it 14-12 Huskers. Allick then blocked a Chicoine attack for a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. Two Purdue kills cut NU's lead to one, 15-14, but the Huskers sided out with an Allick kill. Krause and Beason then added kills for an 18-14 lead. After a Purdue timeout, the Boilermakers made two straight errors to make it 20-14 Big Red. Allick then made her fourth solo block of the match for a 21-14 Husker advantage after a 6-0 run served by Murray. After Purdue scored two in a row to get within 21-16, Allick posted a kill before Jackson and Beason teamed up for a block and a 23-16 lead. The Huskers closed out the set, 25-18, with a block by Jackson and Krause and a kill by Krause. 

Set 4: The teams battled back and forth early in set four. Purdue led 11-10 when Allick and Murray tallied three straight kills to put Nebraska on top, 13-11, and the Huskers led 15-14 at the media timeout after another Allick kill. Jackson and Krause combined for a block to make it 16-14, and Jackson put down an overpass for a 17-14 advantage. Jackson recorded two more kills to make it 19-16, but Purdue went on a 9-0 run to win the set, 25-19. 

Set 5: Purdue killed the first two rallies before Murray got the Huskers on the board. Beason then put down two kills, and Purdue misfired on an attack for a 4-2 Husker lead. With the score 5-4, Beason terminated again and the Huskers blocked back-to-back Purdue attacks for an 8-4 advantage. Hudson terminated through the Husker block to cut it to 8-5, and then the Boilermakers stuffed a Husker attack to cut it to 8-6. Krause sided out for the Big Red and a 9-6 lead, but Purdue answered with a kill and a block to get within 9-8. Reilly dumped a kill and then rolled a kill off a bump set from Murray to make it 11-8 Huskers. Purdue got a sideout kill and a block to get back within one, 11-10, and the Huskers took a timeout. Murray connected for a kill to make it 12-10, and a big dig by Kennedi Orr led to a Murray kill that made it 13-10. Chicoine got a kill for Purdue, but Murray answered for the Big Red to get match point, 14-11. She put away the final point on her 21st kill.   

Up Next: The Huskers head to Bloomington, Ind., to face Indiana on Saturday at 6 p.m. (CT) on BTN.