Huskers pull off Top 5 road sweep in Nebraska Louisville battle

***Nebraska volleyball game story provided courtesy of Nebraska Athletics***

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 5 Nebraska volleyball team earned its second win of the week against a top-five opponent with a 25-16, 25-17, 25-20 win over No. 4 Louisville in front of a crowd of 14,126 at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Huskers improved to 10-1 on the season after picking up their first sweep against a top-five team on the road since Feb. 21, 2021 (Minnesota). Louisville fell to 8-2.

Nebraska dominated the serve game with seven aces to none for Louisville. The Huskers were also stout defensively, posting nine blocks and holding Louisville to .133 hitting.

On the attack, Nebraska hit .305. Harper Murray had 11 kills to lead the Big Red, while Merritt Beason had nine kills and hit .364 with four blocks. Andi Jackson added six kills on .545 hitting with four blocks, and Lindsay Krause added five kills.

Bergen Reilly finished with 25 assists, six digs, four kills and two blocks. Lexi Rodriguez had a team-high eight digs. Rebekah Allick led the team in blocks with five.

Anna DeBeer had 12 kills for Louisville. Charitie Luper and Sofia Maldonado Diaz each had eight.

Set 1: Louisville led 5-3 before a 4-0 run served by Murray that included kills by Murray and Krause. With NU ahead 9-8, Krause served a 7-0 run that made it 16-8. Allick had a solo block, Beason and Reilly had a block, Murray posted a kill, and Krause served an ace to force two Louisville timeouts during her service run. A kill by Jackson and ace by Beason increased NU’s lead to 20-11, and Murray served an ace to make it 22-12. Louisville scored three in a row before Jackson terminated for a sideout, and Reilly dumped a kill for set point. Krause put the set away, 25-16, with a kill. NU outhit Louisville .320 to .105.

Set 2: Krause had a kill, and after a block by Allick and Beason, served three straight aces for a 5-2 Husker lead. After a Murray kill made it 7-3, Rodriguez took the service line and ripped off a 6-0 run for a 12-3 advantage. She served one ace, and Murray had a kill, while Beason and Jackson combined for a block. Nebraska led 17-7 when Louisville scored four points in a row to get within 17-11. Reilly dumped a kill for sideout, and Beason terminated back-to-back kills before Krause added another to restore a double-digit lead, 21-11. Beason tallied two more kills for set point, 24-15, and a Murray kill finished it off, 25-17.

Set 3: Louisville led 10-7 when kills by Beason and Murray cut the deficit to one. A kill by Beason and a block by Jackson and Reilly tied the score at 11-11. Louisville went back ahead 12-11, but Jackson had two kills and a solo block for a 15-12 Husker lead at the media timeout. The Cardinals answered with a 4-1 spurt to tie the score at 16-16, and the Huskers took a timeout. Louisville then committed three straight hitting errors, and Beason terminated for a 20-16 Husker advantage. Krause and Murray tacked on kills to take the lead to 23-19, and Jackson and Reilly stuffed an attack for match point. Murray finished the match, 25-20, with her 11th kill.

Up Next: The Huskers begin Big Ten action at home next weekend. NU welcomes UCLA to the Devaney Center on Friday at 7 p.m. and USC on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Both matches will be televised on the Big Ten Network.