ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team remained perfect on the season, sweeping Michigan (29-27, 25-17, 25-14) Saturday night. The Huskers improved to 15-0 with their ninth sweep of the year.
Lindsay Krause had a big night for the Big Red, which moved to 6-0 in conference play. Krause had a season-high 15 kills, one kill shy of her career high of 16 which came in a pair of five-set matches against Creighton and Oregon last season. Krause produced her 15 kills on only 27 swings with just one error, hitting a career-high .519. She also tied her career high with two service aces and tied her season high with five digs.
Harper Murray had a successful homecoming in her return to her hometown, producing a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. She hit .423 and added three blocks and a pair of aces while recording at least 10 kills for the 10th straight match. Merritt Beason also had double-figure kills, finishing with 10 kills on 25 swings.
Bergen Reilly directed a balanced Husker offense with 40 assists. She helped Nebraska hit .343 for the match, the Huskers' highest attack percentage in a Big Ten match this season. Nebraska had 18 more kills than Michigan (48-30), and the Huskers also finished with more digs (46-37), blocks (6-5) and ser-vice aces (6-4). Michigan (3-12, 1-5) hit .173 for the match and was led by eight kills from Valentina Vau-let.
Set 1: Michigan got off to a fast start in set one, building a 9-4 lead to force an early Husker timeout. The Huskers were able to pull to within two on several occasions but could get no closer until a Murray ace cut the Michigan lead to 21-20, marking the closest Nebraska had been since 2-1. Consecutive Husker errors gave the Wolverines a 23-20 advantage and Nebraska had to fight off five set points. Murray had a kill on Michigan’s fifth set point to tie the set at 27-27 before a Beason kill gave the Huskers their first lead of the set at 28-27. Allick then won the set with a kill on Nebraska’s first set point. NU had seven more kills than Michigan (19-12) in the opening set, but the Wolverines hit .286 to Nebraska’s .250. Krause led Nebraska with seven kills in the first set.
Set 2: It was Nebraska with the fast start in set two, jumping out to a 6-1 lead. The Huskers had five kills on their first six swings and Michigan called an early timeout with the Big Red on top, 8-2. The Wolverines won four of the next five points to cut the lead to 9-6. A 3-0 run then pulled Michigan within 14-12, forcing Nebraska to call a timeout. Following three straight sideouts, the Huskers won four straight rallies to take a 19-13 lead as Michigan used its final timeout. The Wolverines won the first three points after the timeout but the Huskers pulled away, winning the final five points to claim a 25-17 victory. Nebraska hit .324 in the second set while limiting Michigan to a .026 attack percentage.
Set 3: Neither team led by more than one until the 12th rally of set three. With the score tied, Nebraska won five straight rallies to take command of the set with a 10-5 lead. The Huskers continued to pull away, building a 16-8 advantage on Beason's ninth kill of the match. Nebraska earned a match point on a Murray ace and closed out the win on Krause's 15th kill of the match.
.@lindsaykrause_ calls it to complete the sweep in Ann Arbor! 🧹 pic.twitter.com/V4xIV7JQ9o
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) October 8, 2023
Up Next: Following four straight road matches, Nebraska returns home to host Michigan State on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Devaney Center.