Husker Volleyball Falls At Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team saw its 25-match win streak come to an end in a 3-1 (21-25, 25-14, 22-25, 23-25) loss at No. 4 Penn State on Friday night in front of a crowd of 6,597 at Rec Hall.  Penn State (29-2, 19-1 B1G) clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title with the win, which was its first over Nebraska since 2018. The Huskers (28-2, 18-1 B1G) now need to win at Maryland on Saturday night in their regular-season finale to be crowned co-Big Ten champions with the Nittany Lions.  Harper Murray had 13 kills and 13 digs to pace the Huskers. Andi Jackson recorded 10 kills on .667 hitting and tied her career high with eight blocks. Rebekah Allick contributed eight kills and seven blocks.  Bergen Reilly had 38 assists and eight digs, while Lexi Rodriguez led NU with 16 digs.  The Huskers had 16 blocks, their most since the season opener, in holding Penn State to .152 hitting. But offensively, Nebraska struggled, hitting a season-low .154 and getting blocked 10 times. Penn State had 11 more kills, 57-46. Caroline Jurevicius had a career-high 18 kills and hit .414 to lead Penn State.

Set 1: Penn State came out strong with a 4-0 run to start the match. A Landfair kill and two kills by Allick pulled the Huskers within 4-3, and another kill by Allick and one by Murray helped the Huskers get back to level at 6-6. A solo block by Murray gave the Huskers their first lead at 7-6, and Jackson added a kill and a block with Reilly to make it 9-7 Huskers. Penn State scored three in a row to go back up 12-11 and led 15-14 at the media timeout. A Penn State kill and ace made it 17-14 Nittany Lions, and PSU went up 19-15 to force a Nebraska timeout. Murray and Jackson combined for a block, and Reilly won at the net to trim the deficit in half, 19-17. After a PSU timeout, Jackson terminated on the slide and Penn State hit long to tie the score at 19-19. But Penn State answered with a 4-0 spurt to go back ahead 23-19. Jackson and Landfair ended the run with a block, but the Nittany Lions went on to win 25-21, snapping Nebraska's streak of 27 straight sets won on the road. 

Set 2: Murray had a kill and a block with Jackson as part of a 3-0 start. Kills by Murray, Jackson and Landfair, and a solo block by Allick put the Huskers up 9-4 after a 4-0 run served by Kennedi Orr. Landfair recorded a kill, and Allick and Beason combined for a block to make it 12-6, and a kill by Allick and block by Beason and Jackson put the Big Red up 15-7. Murray and Beason pounded kills, and Murray served an ace to double up the Nittany Lions, 18-9. Penn State scored three in a row to pull within 19-12 but served into the net and hit out twice to make it 22-12 Huskers. Landfair added a kill before teaming up with Allick for a block, and the Huskers won 25-14, holding Penn State to -.079 hitting in the set. 

Set 3: Nebraska scored the first three points, but Penn State scored the next three points. Then there were 10 straight sideouts until back-to-back blocks by the Nittany Lions put them up 10-8. Another 3-0 spurt increased PSU's lead to four, 13-9. A block by Allick and Reilly pulled the Big Red within two, 17-15, but the Nittany Lions went back up 19-15. Another block by Allick, this one with Beason, helped NU cut it to 20-18, and back-to-back kills by Murray and Jackson got the Huskers within one, 21-20. After a PSU timeout, Jurevicius terminated her 13th kill and the Huskers hit wide for a 23-20 Penn State advantage. PSU won the set, 25-22, to take a 2-1 lead. 

Set 4: The teams went back and forth in the fourth set with neither team able to gain a two-point advantage until Penn State scored five in a row to go up 16-12. Allick provided a block and a kill with Murray adding a kill in between to help the Huskers crawl back to down two, 17-15. Jackson added a kill before Penn State hit wide to make it 18-17 Nittany Lions. After a Penn State timeout, Murray posted her 12th kill to tie the score, and Penn State hit out for a 19-18 Husker lead after the 4-0 run served by Beason. But the Nittany Lions answered with a kill and an ace to go back on top, 20-19. A Penn State block and Husker hitting error put the Huskers in a 24-21 hole, and the Nittany Lions won, 25-23. 

Up Next: Nebraska finishes the regular season at Maryland on Saturday at 6 p.m. (CT) on Big Ten Network and Huskers Radio Network.