Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team continued its dominant October with a 25-17, 25-14, 25-15 sweep of Northwestern Thursday in Evanston, Ill. The win was the Cornhuskers’ eighth sweep in a row, running NU’s streak of sets won to 25.
Andi Jackson paced Nebraska (18-0, 7-0 Big Ten) with 10 kills and six blocks. Harper Murray added nine kills while Teraya Sigler pitched in eight. The Huskers outhit the Wildcats (7-11, 0-7), .287-.030, outserved them nine aces to none and outblocked them 13-8. Bergen Reilly notched three aces while Murray and Sigler both had a pair.
The first half of the first set was actually hotly contested, with a five-point run putting Northwestern ahead, 15-14. The set was tied at 15, 16 and 17 before an eight-point Nebraska run with Jackson serving finished the set. The Wildcats showed life early in set two, taking a 6-3 lead. But the Huskers scored nine points in the next 11 rallies, building a 12-8 lead. A five-point Nebraska run later in the set opened the NU lead to 20-11, and the Huskers never looked back. In the third, Nebraska started out with a 7-3 lead and gradually pulled away to finish the match in a tidy 82 minutes.
The victory was Nebraska’s 49th straight regular season win. The Huskers have won 24 in a row on road and neutral sites, the longest such streak in NCAA volleyball since 2011.
Nebraska now prepares to face No. 13 Purdue Saturday at John Cook Arena. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 3 p.m. on B-107.3.