Nebraska holds on and wins 3-1 against Minnesota in heavyweight battle in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Nebraska (Nebraska Athletics press release) – The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team defeated the No. 16 Minnesota Golden Gophers 3-1 (25-12, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19) on Thursday in front of an evening crowd of 8,703 people at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The Huskers (25-1, 15-0 B1G) earned their 22nd straight win this season and their 39th straight win at home, which is NU’s longest home winning streak since 2004-09 (88 games).

Bergen Reilly posted 40 assists and career highs of 20 digs and six kills to lead the Huskers. She became the first Husker setter to record at least 40 kills, 20 digs and five kills in a match in the rally scoring era (since 2001).

Harper Murray recorded 13 kills and 19 digs in his career. Taylor Landfair earned 12 kills against her former team, while Andi Jackson had nine kills with a .471 hitting percentage, along with six blocks. Rebekah Allick and Merritt Beason each had seven kills and four blocks. Lexi Rodriguez contributed 16 digs, and Olivia Mauch and Laney Choboy had seven and six, respectively.

Nebraska had a 12-7 advantage in blocks and had two aces to one for Minnesota. The Golden Gophers committed 12 service errors, while the Huskers had only five. Nebraska hit .199 for the game and Minnesota hit .130.

Julia Hanson led Minnesota (16-9, 9-6 B1G) with 20 kills. Lydia Grote added 14.

Set 1: Nebraska scored the first three points of the set and never looked back. Two kills by Murray made it 6-1, and Landfair posted three kills, with Allick adding one to lift the Huskers to a 13-6 lead. Jackson hit a kill and recorded a block with Murray to put NU up 18-9, and a 6-0 run provided the NU set point. Landfair closed the dominant first set with a kill to win 25-12. Nebraska hit .367 and held Minnesota to .029. The Huskers sided with 84.6 percent.

Set 2: Beason and Murray each had two early kills to put Nebraska up 8-6. But Minnesota answered with a 4-0 run to take a 10-8 lead. Murray earned a sideout for Nebraska with a back row kill, and Mauch served an ace to tie the set at 10-10. But the Golden Gophers answered with a 3-0 spurt to regain a 13-10 lead. After a timeout, Beason and Allick had a block, and Murray finished her sixth kill to bring the score back to 13-12, and another kill by Murray evened the score at 14-14. Minnesota again had an answer with back-to-back blocks to take a 16-14 lead, and the Gophers went up 22-17 after a 5-1 run. Minnesota won 25-22 and held the Huskers to a .098 hitting percentage.

Set 3: Nebraska led 6-4 after a block by Jackson and Murray, and kills by Landfair and Jackson. Two more Landfair kills and one from Allick put NU ahead 11-8, but Minnesota climbed back to tie the score at 12-12. A kill by Landfair, followed by an Allick/Reilly kill and an Allick kill made it 18-14. Minnesota got within two points at 18-16, but Reilly dumped a kill and a Minnesota attack error made it 20-18. Allick answered with a kill, and Murray finished a lengthy rally for a 22-20 lead. Jackson made it 23-20 with a kill, and the Huskers took advantage of two Minnesota service errors to win 25-22.

Set 4: A 6-0 run, powered by three Landfair kills and three Gopher errors, put the Big Red up 13-4. Nebraska continued to dominate, taking a 20-11 lead after two more Minnesota errors. The Gophers brought the score within four at 21-17 after a 4-0 run, but an ace by Reilly and kill by Beason put NU on match point and an Allick kill closed the set, 25-19, and the match, 3 -1.

Up next: Nebraska hosts Indiana on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network and the Huskers Radio Network.

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