LINCOLN, Neb. - For the second time in eight days, the No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-12, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15) win over Michigan State in front of 8,539 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Friday night.
Merritt Beason had a match-high 13 kills while hitting .423 to go with eight digs and three blocks for the Huskers (16-0, 7-0 Big Ten). Andi Jackson also had a career-best 13 kills on .524 hitting with six blocks. Lindsay Krause added eight kills, while Harper Murray chipped in seven kills and seven digs. Ally Batenhorst and Bekka Allick each had five kills and hit .455 and .375, respectively. Allick added three blocks as well, as the Huskers outblocked the Spartans, 11-6.
Nebraska hit .302 for the match and held Michigan State to .097. The Huskers had advantages in kills (57-36) and digs (59-49). Both teams served two aces and committed 14 errors from the service line.
Bergen Reilly had 38 assists and a career-high 16 digs, while Lexi Rodriguez also had 16 digs to go with seven assists.
Michigan State (11-7, 3-4 Big Ten) was led by 10 kills from Aliyah Moore.
Set 1: The Huskers came out firing, scoring the first six points of the set with four kills on six swings to force a Michigan State timeout. Michigan State pulled within 7-3, but Krause and Jackson posted kills and Reilly and Jackson teamed up for a block as the Huskers went up 14-4. A kill by Murray and ace by Kennedi Orr put the Huskers up 19-7. Nebraska finished off the first set, 25-12, hitting .393 while holding the Spartans to .030.
Set 2: The two teams battled back and forth early in the second set. Michigan State held a 12-11 lead when a service error sparked a 3-0 Husker spurt. Jackson had a kill and a block with Beason to lift the Big Red to a 14-12 advantage. The Huskers made it a 7-1 run after another kill and block by Jackson and an ace by Beason, building an 18-13 lead. Krause, Reilly, Hayden Kubik and Beason registered kills to put the Huskers up 23-17, and NU won 25-19, hitting .414 and holding Michigan State to .059.
Set 3: The Huskers fell into a 6-1 hole to start the set and had to work their way back into the set. Jackson had a kill and two blocks as part of a 4-0 run that brought the Huskers within 8-7. Michigan State answered after a timeout with two kills to go up 10-7. Nebraska got within one again at 11-10, but again the Spartans had an answer, this time increasing the lead back to five at 18-13. Nebraska clawed back to within 23-22 after two kills by Batenhorst and one by Beason, but the Spartans held on for a 25-22 win to take set three.
Set 4: Nebraska separated from a 7-7 tie with a 4-0 run to go up 11-7 thanks to kills by Allick and Beason and a block by Murray and Allick. A service error ended NU's run, but the Spartans followed with a service error of their own, and Batenhorst added a kill before a block by Allick and Beason made it 14-8 Huskers. Allick, Jackson and Batenhorst followed with three more kills for a 17-9 lead, and a solo block by Jackson and kills by Batenhorst and Murray helped increase the lead to double digits, 22-12. Murray tacked on a couple more kills as the Huskers closed out the match, 25-15. NU hit .593 in the final set.
Up Next: Nebraska hosts No. 13 Penn State on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.