No. 1 Huskers Sweep Rutgers in Big Ten Opener

No. 1 Nebraska volleyball opened Big Ten play with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday evening in front of 10,497 fans at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Nebraska (12-0, 1-0 Big Ten) won its 14th consecutive Big Ten opener, hitting .320 and holding Rutgers (9-4, 0-1 Big Ten) to .137.

Harper Murray and Andi Jackson each tallied season-highs in kills to power the Big Red offense. Murray finished with 15 kills and hit .323, while Jackson hit a blistering .632, with 14 kills on 19 swings with just two errors. Bergen Reilly posted 39 assists to go with two blocks and two kills for the Huskers. 

Defensively, Laney Choboy recorded a season-high 15 digs, and Jackson led the Big Red with four blocks.

Set 1: Nebraska took the opening set 25-21 over Rutgers behind .412 hitting from the Huskers, which is the 14th set this season the NU offense has hit over .400. The Huskers broke a 2-2 deadlock with a 5-0 run on Choboy’s serving that included her own ace and a pair of Murray kills. The Big Red never trailed the rest of the way and stretched the lead to 15-8 after Olivia Mauch served an ace and assisted on a Jackson kill. The Scarlet Knights fought off two set points before Jackson’s sixth kill of the set clinched NU’s 25-21 win in the opening set.

Set 2: The Huskers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-22 win in the second set. A block assist by Manaia Ogbechie and Skyler Pierce and an Ogbechie kill had the Big Red ahead 11-6, while a 4-0 run from the Scarlet Knights trimmed NU’s lead to 11-10. Ogbechie answered with a kill and a solo block to restore the cushion for the Huskers. Choboy then sparked a 5-0 Husker run for the second consecutive set, with Jackson terminating a pair of kills, and Nebraska stretched its lead to 19-12. The Huskers extended the lead to 23-13, but Rutgers scored nine of the next 10 points, including fighting off five set points, to trim the NU lead to 24-22. However, an attack error from the Scarlet Knights gave the Huskers the set victory.

Set 3: Nebraska picked up a dominant 25-15 win in the third to secure the sweep. Rutgers led 4-2 after a Murray attacking error, but five straight from the Big Red put the Huskers up 7-4. Nebraska extended its lead to 12-7, which prompted a Scarlet Knights’ timeout. NU led 15-10 at the media timeout and pushed its lead to 20-13 on a block assist from Murray and Jackson. Pierce capped off the sweep with her fourth kill of the match, as the Huskers hit .444 in the final set and held Rutgers to .000.

No. 1 Nebraska concludes its nine-match homestand against Ohio State tomorrow night. First serve between the Huskers and Buckeyes at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center is set for 8 p.m. on BTN.