Huskers Open Big Ten Play With Sweep of Michigan

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team opened Big Ten play with a 25-22, 25-10, 25-13 sweep of Michigan on Wednesday in front of 8,543 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. 

The Huskers (11-0, 1-0 Big Ten) hit .380 and held the Wolverines (10-2, 0-1 Big Ten) to .108 hitting. 

Harper Murray tallied 11 kills and hit .391 with seven digs and two blocks. Virginia Adriano recorded 10 kills on .444 hitting and added three blocks. Rebekah Allick had nine kills with two blocks, while Andi Jackson tallied eight kills on .778 hitting with three blocks. 

Bergen Reilly notched 28 assists, nine digs, five kills and an ace. Reilly passed her head coach, Dani Busboom Kelly, for fifth on NU's career assists list in the rally scoring era (2,950). 

Olivia Mauch had a team-high 11 digs. 

Nebraska got five aces from five different players, and the Big Red nearly doubled up Michigan in kills, 47-24. The Huskers had 37 digs to 24 for the Wolverines. 

Set 1: Jackson and Murray had kills, and Allick recorded back-to-back kills for an 8-5 NU lead. The Huskers went on a 5-0 run with Adriano serving to go up 16-9. Jackson and Murray each had two kills in that run. Landfair and Allick posted kills to get to 21-16, but Michigan fought back to within 22-21. A Michigan attacking error and Landfair kill earned set point, and Nebraska won 25-22 on a Michigan service error. 

Set 2: The Huskers scored the first five points with Adriano posting three kills and a block with Jackson. Mauch served an ace during her run. Jackson and Murray added kills for an 8-1 lead that forced a Michigan timeout. Sigler hammered a kill from the back row, and Jackson added another before a Murray ace helped the Huskers go up 12-2. The Wolverines scored five of the next six to cut it to 13-7 and eventually got as close as five at 14-9. But a pair of Michigan errors and kills by Murray, Adriano and Allick put NU up 20-9 with Landfair serving the 6-0 run. After Michigan ended the run, Adriano and Jackson posted kills, and Jackson and Murray had a block before a Murray kill earned set point. Adriano put it away, 25-10, with her sixth kill of the set. The Huskers hit .565 in set two and held Michigan to .000. 

Set 3: NU separated from an 8-8 tie with a 7-0 run served by Reilly. Allick had two kills and a block with Adriano in that stretch, while Landfair posted a kill and Reilly served an ace. Another kill by Adriano, an ace by Landfair and a kill by Murray increased the lead to 20-9 after another run served by Landfair. An ace by Campbell Flynn gave the Huskers match point, and NU won 25-13. NU hit .346 in the final set, while Michigan hit -.033. 

Up Next: Nebraska hosts Maryland on Saturday at 3 p.m.