Huskers Overpower Illinois, 3-0

LINCOLN - The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team swept the Illinois Fighting Illini 25-17, 25-19, 28-26 in front of a crowd of 8,551 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Friday night. 

The Huskers (19-1, 9-0 Big Ten) won their 16th match in a row overall and their 37th straight match at home. Illinois fell to 13-6 with a 5-4 conference mark. 

NU hit .339 for the match and recorded seven blocks and five aces with five service errors. Illinois hit .217 and three blocks and three aces, along with seven service errors. 

Merritt Beason led the Big Red with 13 kills on a .308 hitting percentage, along with three blocks and a career-high four aces. Andi Jackson posted a .667 hitting percentage with 11 kills and six blocks. Harper Murray added nine kills, along with nine digs and three blocks, and Rebekah Allick had six kills and hit .385. 

Bergen Reilly contributed 40 assists and 10 digs for her 13th double-double of the season. Lexi Rodriguez registered 10 digs.

Raina Terry paced Illinois with 15 kills. 

Set 1: Beason paced the Huskers early on, recording an ace, kill and assisted block with Jackson to help put NU up 7-3. Murray and Taylor Landfair notched a kill apiece to make the score 13-8, but Illinois scored four of the next five points to cut it to 14-12. Back-to-back kills by Murray put the Huskers up 16-12, and kills by Reilly and Jackson and a Reilly/Allick block extended the lead to 20-14. Mauch registered an ace to put the Big Red at set point, and Allick put down her fourth kill of the day to close out the set, 25-17. NU hit .419 in the opening frame.

Set 2: Beason posted two straight kills from the back row to give the Huskers a 7-3 lead. Two Beason aces and a Jackson kill helped power a 4-0 run to make the score 16-10. Kills from Reilly and Landfair forced an Illini timeout at 20-13. Illinois pulled within two at 20-18 after a 5-0 run, but an Allick kill gave NU the sideout, and Beason and Murray recorded kills to make it 23-18. Another Beason kill finished out the 25-19 victory for Nebraska. The Big Red hit .552 in the set.

Set 3: Two straight blocks by Murray and Jackson and Beason’s fourth ace of the night put the Huskers up 7-5 at the beginning of the third set. The Illini went on a 4-0 run to take a 9-7 lead. Jackson had two kills to help the Huskers go back on top, 10-9, but Illinois regained an 11-10 advantage. Lindsay Krause subbed in and sparked the Huskers with two kills, and one by Beason helped the Huskers go up 15-13. Illinois came out of the media timeout with a 3-0 run to go ahead 16-15, and the Fighting Illini led 20-19 when Jackson terminated her ninth kill to make it 20-20. The teams continued trading sideouts, and a Krause kill tied it 23-23. Illinois earned set point after a kill by Laynie Smith, but a Beason kill and a block by Murray and Jackson put NU at match point, 25-24. Terry kept Illinois alive with a sideout kill, but Beason and Jackson combined for a block for another match point. Terry stepped up again for Illinois with a clutch kill, before Jackson gave Nebraska its third match point at 27-26. Jackson put down yet another kill, and the Huskers earned the 28-26 set victory and won the match, 3-0.

Up Next: The Huskers will stay home to face off against the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The match will be streamed on B1G+ and audio coverage will be provided by the Huskers Radio Network.