1 week Ago
The Nebraska volleyball team lost its first set in three weeks but kept rolling for another win on Thursday night, taking down the Minnesota Gophers in four sets (25-12, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19). The Big Red has now won 22 consecutive matches. Follow All Huskers on Facebook The Huskers started fast, winning six of the first seven points.
The Gophers battled back, getting within three points, but the Huskers went on another run. The lead soon ballooned to seven, then nine before a 6-0 Nebraska run pushed it to 13 and set point. From there, the Big Red closed it out to go up 1-0.
Nebraska outhit Minnesota .367 to .029 in the opening frame, but that proved to be the exception rather than the norm.
Related: Nebraska Huskers National Signing Day roundup The second set was much closer, with the teams trading punches early on and the Gophers putting together the first run. It wasn’t until Minnesota went up 13-10 that either team had a three-point lead in the stanza, but it was tied again a short time later. However, like earlier in the set, it was the Gophers who put together a run, using a 4-0 burst to go up 22-17.
Nebraska fought off three set points but the Gophers closed it out to even the match. Minnesota’s win snapped Nebraska’s 16-set win streak, which dated back to Oct. 26.
Set No. 3, like the second set, was very tight early on but the Huskers strung together the first run — a 6-1 burst — to take an early four-point lead. The Maroon and Gold rallied back to tie the set at 12 but the Huskers again responded to jump back in front.
From there, it was neck and neck to the finish, but Nebraska managed to hang on thanks to a long Gophers serve to close it out. Finally, Minnesota faded away in the fourth frame. It again started out close but a quick 7-0 run put Nebraska in control early and the Gophers could never get back within striking distance.
After Minnesota outhit Nebraska in the two middle sets while holding the Huskers to under a .150 hitting percentage, the Huskers vaunted attack resurfaced. The Big Red hit .
238 in the final set to slam the door shut on a possible comeback. Related: Huskers volleyball stars Bergen Reilly, Lexi Rodriguez named AVCA POY semifinalists Harper Murray led Nebraska with 13 kills and former Gopher Taylor Landfair added 12 against her old squad; Andi Jackson had a match-high six blocks; and Bergen Reilly had a monster night, with a career-high 20 digs and six kills to go with 40 assists and four blocks. Next up for Nebraska (25-1, 15-0 in conference play) is a home match against Indiana on Saturday night.
That match is set to start at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on BTN.
Courtesy: Nebraska Athletics.
