Huskers Cruise Into Regional Final

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team cruised into the NCAA Regional Finals with a 25-12, 25-11, 25-12 sweep of No. 16 Kansas on Friday night in front of a crowd of 8,800 at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. 

The Huskers (33-0) were dominant from start to finish, never trailing in the match. NU hit .450 - its third-highest attack percentage of the year - and stifled the Jayhawks (24-11) to a season-low .029 hitting percentage. Nebraska also out-blocked Kansas, 10-1, out-dug the Jayhawks 48-30 and had six services aces and only three errors while KU had one ace and six errors.

Nebraska's middles were dominant, combining for 21 kills on 28 error-free swings (.750 attack percentage) while adding eight blocks. Rebekah Allick had nine kills on nine swings to hit 1.000, and she added three blocks. Andi Jackson also had nine kills on .600 hitting with five blocks. Manaia Ogbechie produced three kills on four swings in the third set.

Harper Murray added seven kills and had a match-high 10 digs. Bergen Reilly dished out 30 assists while Olivia Mauch had a season-high three aces.

Three players led Kansas with six kills.

Set 1: NU got off to a 4-0 start on Choboy's serve with a kill by Allick and two blocks by Jackson, one with Adriano and one with Murray. After Kansas got on the board, NU scored a 6-0 run with Mauch serving a pair of aces to go up 10-1. Jackson's fourth block - with Reilly - and a kill by the junior middle blocker made it 13-3 Big Red. The Jayhawks scored three in a row to cut it to 13-6, but four kills by Allick put NU ahead 18-7. Landfair set Allick for her sixth kill on six swings, and a solo block by the senior middle blocker made it 21-8. Jackson and Landfair tacked on kills for a 25-12 win.      
 
Set 2: Adriano had an early kill and an ace, and Murray and Jackson each posted a kill and a block together as the Huskers built a 7-3 lead. KU pulled within 9-7, but a Murray kill started a 5-0 run with Allick providing two kills and a block with Adriano. The lead grew to 10 at 19-9 after a block by Allick and Adriano and a kill by Murray. An Adriano kill made it 20-9, and Jackson and Murray teamed up for a block and a 22-11 lead. The Huskers closed out a 25-11 win on a Choboy ace. 

Set 3: Sigler had two kills, and Landfair and Jackson pounded away for a 9-4 NU lead. Landfair tacked on another kill before one by Manaia Ogbechie put NU ahead 13-6. Ogbechie, Murray and Jackson added kills, and Murray served an ace to help the Huskers go up 20-9. NU went on to finish the sweep, 25-12. 

Up Next: Nebraska will take on No. 6 Texas A&M in Sunday's NCAA Regional Final at 2 p.m. on ABC. The Aggies beat No. 9 Louisville, 3-2 in a reverse sweep, in the first match on Friday. 

Nebraska Post-Match Notes

• With the win, Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional Final for the 34th time in program history. The Huskers’ 34 regional final appearances are the most in NCAA history. Nebraska has made an NCAA Regional Final in 13 of the past 14 seasons.
• The Huskers played their 175th NCAA Tournament match tonight. Nebraska and Stanford are the only two programs to play 175 NCAA Tournament matches.
• With the win, Nebraska improved to 137-38 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in postseason wins and winning percentage (.783).
• The win was Nebraska’s 33rd consecutive victory. The Huskers are 33-0 this season, marking the third straight season Nebraska has won 33 matches. The 33 wins tie for the second-most victories in a season by a Husker team in the NCAA era (1981-present).
• Nebraska improved to 34-7 all-time in NCAA Regional Semifinal matches, including a 17-1 record in matches played in Lincoln.
• The Huskers improved to 90-7 all-time in home NCAA Tournament matches, including a 35-2 record at the Devaney Center.
• Nebraska has won 90 home matches in the NCAA Tournament while only four other schools have 90 or more total victories in the NCAA Tournament.
• NU has won 29 consecutive home matches in the NCAA Tournament, a school record.
• Overall, Nebraska has won 63 consecutive home matches dating back to Dec. 1, 2022. That ties for the fifth-longest streak in NCAA Division I history and ties for the second-longest streak in Husker history.
• With the win, Nebraska improved to 13-0 against ranked opponents this season. The 13 victories against ranked opponents are tied for second in school history, one shy of the school record (14 in 1998).
• Nebraska won the first two sets and is now 106-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament when taking a 2-0 lead.
• Nebraska was the first to 20 points in each of the three sets. The Huskers are now 95-0 this season in sets when reaching 20 points first.
• The Huskers held Kansas to fewer than 15 points in all three sets. That marked the second time this season that Nebraska has held its opponents to fewer than 15 points in every set, with both occurrences coming against top-25 teams (also against No. 25 Penn State on Nov. 28).
• Nebraska won the first set, 25-12. That marked the Huskers’ 46th consecutive set won at home this season. That is a school record for consecutive sets won at home in one season, eclipsing the 45 consecutive home sets won by the 2004 team.
• Overall, Nebraska has now won 48 consecutive sets at home which ties for the second-longest streak in school history, trailing only the 52 consecutive home sets won spanning the 2001-02 seasons.
• Nebraska stuffed four of Kansas’ first 11 swings of the night, recording four blocks in the first eight rallies. The Huskers had as many blocks in the match’s first 15 rallies (5) as they did in their second-round sweep of Kansas State last Saturday.
• Fueled by the block, Nebraska won 13 of the first 16 rallies of the match to take a 13-3 lead.
• Nebraska finished with 10 blocks in the match, tying for its highest block total in 13 matches.
• The Huskers hit .450 in the match, its third-highest attack percentage this season. Two of Nebraska’s three matches this season hitting .450 or better have come in the NCAA Tournament.
• Nebraska has now hit above .400 in nine matches this season, the most in a single season in the rally-scoring era (2001-present).
• The Huskers played three middle blockers in the match in Rebekah Allick, Andi Jackson and Manaia Ogbechie. The middles combined for 21 kills on 28 error-free swings. Allick had a kill on each of her nine swings.
• Allick also had three blocks in the match, increasing her career total to 539 blocks and moving into 10th place on Nebraska’s all-time blocks list.
• Harper Murray had seven kills in the match, increasing her career total to 1,156. She passed Lexi Sun and moved into 10th place on Nebraska’s career kills list in the rally-scoring era.
• Olivia Mauch had a season-high three aces in the match.
• Nebraska limited Kansas to a season-low .029 attack percentage. The Jayhawks' previous low was a .104 hitting percentage against Kansas State on Oct. 24.
• The Huskers have held 15 opponents under a .100 hitting percentage this season.
• Kansas did not have a block until the 31st rally of the third set. The Jayhawks finished with one block, marking the third time this season a Husker opponent has totaled only one block.