Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
No. 1 Nebraska volleyball swept Rutgers 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 in the Cornhuskers’ Big Ten opener Friday at John Cook Arena.
Harper Murray led the Nebraska attack with 15 kills while hitting a solid .323. Andi Jackson hit a blistering .632 while piling up 14 kills and a team-high four blocks. Bergen Reilly tallied 39 set assists. The Huskers (12-0, 1-0 Big Ten) outhit the Scarlet Knights (9-4, 0-1), .320-.137, while outblocking Rutgers 7-6.
The Scarlet Knights took an early 2-1 lead before Nebraska scored six straight points to open a 7-2 advantage. From there, the Huskers led by at least four until Rutgers pulled to within 24-21 at the end of set one. Nebraska tallied the next point to finish off the set. In the second, Rutgers again scored two of the first three points, but then a four-point Husker run put NU ahead 5-2. Nebraska led the rest of the set and all but clinched the set by tallying nine of the last 10 points to build a 23-13 lead. The Scarlet Knights went on a 9-1 run to pull to within 24-22 before a Rutgers attack error handed the second set to the Huskers.
In set three, Rutgers opened a 4-2 lead before Nebraska scored 10 of the next 13 points to grab a 12-7 advantage. The Huskers led by at least three points the rest of the set. A five-point Nebraska run opened a 22-13 lead, and the Huskers cruised from there to win.
Nebraska will face Ohio State in the finale of a nine-match homestand Saturday at 8 p.m. at John Cook Arena. Pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m. on B-107.3.