Murray, No. 1 Huskers Silence No. 12 Ducks on Saturday

No. 1 Nebraska made quick work of No. 12 Oregon, sweeping the Ducks 25-13, 25-16, 25-20 in front of a sold-out, school-record crowd of 12,364 at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday night.

Nebraska (24-0, 13-0 Big Ten) hit .425 as a team while holding Oregon (19-4, 10-3 Big Ten) to a .152 hitting percentage to record the Huskers’ eighth 24-0 start in program history.

The Huskers picked up their 55th consecutive regular-season victory and extended their win streak in road and neutral-site matches to 26, which is tied for eighth all-time in NCAA history and tied for second in program history.

Head Coach Dani Busboom Kelly improved to 65-28 against ranked opponents in her career, including 23-1 at Nebraska. 

Harper Murray and Teraya Sigler powered the Nebraska offense with 14 kills each while hitting .481 and .458, respectively. Virginia Adriano finished with 11 kills on .500 hitting, and Andi Jackson added nine kills while attacking at a .368 clip. 

Bergen Reilly powered the Husker offense with her sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 43 assists and 11 digs. Defensively, Olivia Mauch (13) and Laney Choboy (12) also tallied double-digit digs. 

It is the fifth time this season Nebraska has hit .400 or greater in a match. 

Set 1: Nebraska dominated the first set, hitting .531 with 19 kills and just two errors on 32 swings and holding Oregon to a .148 clip. The Huskers jumped out to a 7-1 lead and forced a timeout from the Ducks, and extended their lead to 15-7 at the media timeout on a kill from Adriano. Murray picked up a kill to help the Huskers reach the red zone at 20-10, and a kill from Reilly put away the Ducks in the first and put Nebraska up 1-0. 

Set 2: The Huskers continued their momentum into the second, as a Sigler kill capped off a 7-0 run with a kill to put the Big Red 8-2. Oregon trimmed its deficit to 12-9, but Nebraska rattled off another 7-0 run to take a commanding 19-9 lead. A Reilly kill, followed by an Oregon attacking error and Murray ace, gave Nebraska a 23-13 lead, and a kill from Sigler and block assists from Reilly and Sigler capped off the set. The Huskers hit .350 in the set and held Oregon to .095. 

Set 3: Nebraska closed out a dominant sweep with a 25-20 win in the third set. A Sigler kill gave the Huskers a 7-4 lead, but Oregon battled back to tie the score at 8-8. Alanah Clemente notched consecutive kills to put the Ducks ahead 11-10, but Nebraska answered and held a slim 15-14 lead at the media timeout. Clemente tallied another kill to within a point, but the Huskers scored four straight to hold a 20-15 advantage. Oregon got within three, but Nebraska closed out the set and the sweep on Jackson’s ninth kill. 

Nebraska continues its weekend in the Pacific Northwest, as the Huskers venture to Seattle to take on No. 18 Washington tomorrow evening. First serve between the Big Red and Huskies is set for 5:30 p.m. CT on FS1.