LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team claimed a 3-1 (25-9, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20) win over No. 16 Creighton on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 8,656, a Bob Devaney Sports Center record crowd since the arena was reconfigured for volleyball in 2013.
Merritt Beason had a team-high 17 kills with seven digs and three blocks, and Lindsay Krause finished with 12 kills on .478 hitting with three blocks. The Huskers (6-0) hit .305 for the match and held the Bluejays (5-2) to .109 on the night.
NU had a 52-42 advantage in kills and 10-3 advantage in blocks. The Huskers also served four more aces (6-2) and made four fewer errors.
Harper Murray totaled 10 kills, and Bekka Allick had seven kills on .600 hitting. Andi Jackson chipped in five kills and six blocks.
Bergen Reilly tallied 42 assists with 11 digs and a pair of aces. Lexi Rodriguez had a match-high 14 digs, and Laney Choboy had 10 digs and three aces.
Creighton's Destiny Ndam-Simpson had 13 kills stepping in for 2022 Big East Player of the Year Norah Sis, who was out with an injury.
Set 1: Leading 6-5, the Huskers outscored the Bluejays 19-4 the rest of the way to win 25-9. Krause started the run with a kill, and three Creighton errors followed by a Choboy ace made it 12-5 NU. Beason added a kill before an ace by Maisie Boesiger, and a kill by Murray and ace by Reilly increased the Huskers' lead to 19-7. NU scored the final four points of the set with a kill by Krause and blocks by Jackson and Beason and Jackson and Krause. NU held CU to -.290 hitting in the opening frame.
Set 2: The Huskers scored the first four points if the second set with two kills by Beason. Creighton got within one, but Nebraska gained some separation with kills by Allick and Jackson to go up 8-5. Jackson tacked on two more kills, and Murray and Beason followed to make it 12-8 Huskers. Allick smacked three straight kills, and the Huskers took a 15-9 lead into the media timeout. Krause and Jackson posted three more kills as the Husker lead went to eight, 20-12. Choboy served her second ace, Murray had two kills and Jackson and Reilly posted NU's seventh block as the Huskers finished the set off, 25-13. Nebraska hit .429 in set two, while Creighton hit .121.
Set 3: Creighton came out fighting in set three and held a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. Krause terminated out of the break, but the Jays went up 17-15 after a kill and an out-of-rotation call on the Big Red. Murray put down a kill, but Creighton got a kill and a Husker hitting error to build the lead to three, 19-16. The Bluejays went up four, 22-18, but a service error and a block by Krause and Jackson cut the lead in half. Another pair of kills by Krause cut it to 23-22, but Kendra Wait dumped a ball to the floor for set point, 24-22. Krause came up big for the Huskers once again with her 10th kill to make it 24-23, but Ava Martin put the set away for the Jays, 25-23. It was the Huskers' first dropped set of the season. NU was the last NCAA Division I team to lose a set this season.
Set 4: Beason, Allick and Krause began the set with kills to help NU to a 4-1 lead. Creighton rallied to get even at 8-8, but the next three points went to the Huskers with Beason tallying a kill, and Murray and Allick combining for a block. Murray added another kill, and Reilly served an ace to put the Huskers up 14-10. After a timeout, Murray sent a free ball over that fell to the floor for a 15-10 lead. Two more kills by Beason pushed the lead to six, 17-11, and her 17th kill of the match made it 21-15. The Huskers closed out the match with a 25-20 victory.
Up Next: Nebraska hosts Long Beach State at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.