Huskers Sweep Wildcats to Advance to NCAA Regional

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team advanced to an NCAA Regional for the 14th year in a row with a 25-17, 25-21, 25-16 win over Kansas State on Saturday in front of a crowd of 8,601 at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. 

Andi Jackson and Harper Murray tied for match-high honors with 10 kills apiece, as the Huskers improved to 32-0 on the season. Aniya Clinton led Kansas State with seven kills, as the Wildcats ended their season with an 18-10 record.

Nebraska hit .253 in the match and held Kansas State to a .118 attack percentage, the seventh straight match the Huskers out-hit their opponent by at least .100. Nebraska had a 43-27 advantage in kills and a 48-32 edge in digs, while the Wildcats out-blocked the Huskers, 8-5.

Jackson hit .533 in the match, producing her 10 kills on just 15 swings. Taylor Landfair (8 kills), Virginia Adriano (7) and Rebekah Allick (6) all had more than five kills, as Bergen Reilly dished out 34 assists. Defensively, Olivia Mauch had 13 digs and Laney Choboy added 12 digs. Both players also had two aces apiece, as Nebraska served up seven aces while allowing only two aces.

Set 1: Early aces by Choboy and Adriano and two kills by Allick helped the Huskers to a 7-2 advantage. The Wildcats pulled within 9-7 before a pair of Landfair kills and a solo block by Adriano helped NU to a 14-7 lead after a 5-0 run served by Reilly. Kansas State cut it to 16-14, but Murray tooled a block and Jackson tacked on a kill to make it 18-14 Big Red. Sigler made an unbelievable one-handed save over the net to keep a rally alive that resulted in another Murray kill. Jackson and Reilly swatted a Wildcat attack, and Murray added a kill to make it 21-14 after Mauch's 5-0 service run. Kills by Murray and Landfair made it 23-15, and the Big Red won 25-17. 

Set 2: The Huskers fell into a 4-1 hole to begin the set, but two kills by Murray around an ace by Mauch erased the deficit. Landfair put the Huskers on top 6-5 with a kill. KSU regained a 10-9 lead, but a service error by the Wildcats, an ace by Choboy and a block by Jackson and Adriano led to NU going up 13-10. A pair of kills by Jackson had NU ahead 15-13 at the media break. A Landfair kill and ace by Reilly pushed NU's lead to four, 19-15, and Landfair and Murray tacked on kills to make it 21-16. NU led 22-17 when Kansas State went on a 4-0 run to cut it to 22-21. Allie Sczech posted a key sideout kill, and K-State hit wide for set point. Murray and Jackson ended the set, 25-21, with a block.

Set 3: The Huskers came out swinging with kills by Allick and Adriano, and three in a row by Jackson helped NU take a 7-6 lead. A decisive 8-1 run put the Huskers up 16-10. Landfair and Adriano had kills, and Sigler served an ace. Adriano's fourth kill of the set made it 18-12, and Mauch served an ace before a Jackson kill increased NU's lead to 20-12. Murray tacked on two kills to extend the run to 5-0. The Huskers finished off the sweep, 25-16.

Up Next: The Huskers will play No. 16 Kansas in a regional semifinal on Friday night on ESPN2. No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 9 Louisville are also headed to Lincoln and will play in the first regional semifinal at 6 p.m. (CT) on Friday. Nebraska and Kansas will begin 30 minutes following the conclusion of the Texas A&M-Louisville match.

The regional final will be played on Sunday with the time to be determined on Friday night.  

Nebraska Post-Match Notes

• With the win, Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional for the 14th consecutive season and for the 41st time in program history. The Huskers’ 41 regional appearances are the most in NCAA history, while Nebraska’s 14 consecutive regional appearances rank second nationally.
• With the win, Nebraska improved to 136-38 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in postseason wins and winning percentage (.782).
• The win was Nebraska’s 32nd consecutive victory, which ties for the third-longest winning streak in school history.
• Nebraska improved to 31-2 all-time in second-round NCAA Tournament matches.
• The Huskers improved to 89-7 all-time in home NCAA Tournament matches, including a 34-2 record at the Devaney Center.
• Nebraska has won 28 consecutive home matches in the NCAA Tournament, a school record.
• Overall, Nebraska has won 62 consecutive home matches dating back to Dec. 1, 2022. That ranks as the sixth-longest streak in NCAA Division I history and the third-longest streak in Husker history.
• The Huskers improved to 64-1 all-time against unranked opponents in the NCAA.
• Nebraska was the first to 20 points in each of the three sets. The Huskers are now 92-0 this season in sets when reaching 20 points first.
• Nebraska took a 2-0 lead in the match, and the Huskers are now 105-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament when taking a 2-0 lead.
• With the sweep, the Huskers have won 45 consecutive sets at home. On the season, Nebraska has a 51-1 set record at home.
• Kansas State scored the first two points of set two, marking the first time Nebraska had trailed in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers did not trail in their first four sets of the postseason.
• Nebraska limited Kansas State to 27 kills, marking the 13th time this season the Huskers have allowed fewer than 30 kills.
• Andi Jackson had 10 kills on 15 swings against Kansas State. In two matches on the weekend, Jackson had 20 kills on 27 swings, hitting .667.