Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
No. 1 Nebraska volleyball swept South Dakota State, 25-18, 25-20, 25-15, Wednesday in Brookings, S.D. The Cornhuskers (3-0) have swept all three matches this season.
Nebraska won despite hitting just .267 as a team and committing 13 service errors. Still, the Huskers were solid defensively, holding the Jackrabbits to .011 hitting while outblocking SDSU 10-8.
Teraya Sigler continued her strong start to the season with 10 kills while hitting .320. Skyler Pierce was very efficient, tallying seven kills while hitting .429. Bergen Reilly piled up 32 set assists while Andi Jackson led NU with five blocks.
Nebraska led throughout the first set. The Jackrabbits tied the set at two, three and four before the Huskers won three straight points and five of eight to build a 10-7 lead. A five point run with Reilly serving opened the lead to 20-13 all but clinched the set. A kill and an ace by Harper Murray finished off set one.
Set two was the toughest for Nebraska, though it didn’t start out that way. The Huskers raced out to a 9-4 lead, capped by a block and back to back kill by Manaia Ogbechie. But South Dakota State returned fire, winning nine of 11 rallies to take a 12-11 lead. The lead changed hands five times and the set was tied eight times, including at 19. But a five-point run with Olivia Mauch serving locked down Nebraska control of set two.
The Huskers bolted out to an 8-3 lead in set three. A five-point run including two kills and a block by Sigler helped to open the run. The Jackrabbits cut Nebraska’s lead to 9-7, but the Huskers won 10 of 14 points to open the lead to 19-11. SDSU won three of five rallies to cut the NU lead to 21-14, but the Huskers won four of the last five matches to finish the match. Sigler finished the match with a kill and a block.
Nebraska now heads to Chicago to take on DePaul at Wintrust Arena. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 4 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.