Huskers Sweep No. 12 Purdue on the Road

Box Score WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 3 Nebraska volleyball team picked up another sweep on the road with a 25-21, 25-20, 25-18 win at No. 12 Purdue on Wednesday night at Holloway Gymnasium.

Bekka Allick had a career-high 12 kills with four blocks and hit .611 to lead the Huskers (17-1, 9-0 Big Ten) to their 10th straight win and fifth in a row by sweep. 

Madi Kubik had nine kills and nine digs and hit .304, and Ally Batenhorst posted seven kills. 

The Huskers hit .295 for the match and held the Boilermakers to .140. NU had the advantage in kills (41-36) and digs (38-34), while Purdue had a slight edge in blocks (8-6). NU sided out at 68.9 percent, while Purdue sided out 54.8 percent of the time. 

Whitney Lauenstein added five kills, while Kaitlyn Hord had five and Lindsay Krause had three. Lauenstein also had four blocks and two aces.  

Nicklin Hames and Anni Evans had 21 and 16 assists, respectively. Lexi Rodriguez and Kenzie Knuckles had nine and seven digs, respectively. 

Purdue (15-4, 6-3 Big Ten) got nine kills from Emma Ellis and eight kills from Madeline Koch. Eva Hudson entered the match averaging more than 17 kills per match, but NU held her to a season low in kills (seven) and hitting percentage (-.086).  

Set 1: The beginning of the match was tightly contested with the Huskers attacking better than the Boilermakers, but four early service errors aided the Boilermakers taking a 12-11 lead. Krause killed a ball to spark a 4-0 Husker run. Allick had a kill and Kubik’s service run had the Huskers ahead 15-12 at the media timeout. Purdue pulled within 18-17, but Lauenstein and Kubik answered with kills to keep NU on top, 21-17. Allick connected for three kills to earn set point for NU at 24-19, and Batenhorst put the set away at 25-21. NU hit .364 and held Purdue to .167. Allick had five kills on seven swings. 

Set 2: Purdue went out in front, 7-4, but two kills by Batenhorst and one by Hord were part of a 5-0 Husker run that made it 11-8 Huskers. After a Purdue sideout, Batenhorst and Kubik added two more kills for a 13-9 lead, and a kill by Allick was followed by a Purdue attacking error, and the Huskers held a 17-11 lead. Allick posted her eighth kill and then had a block with Krause before her ninth kill made it 20-12 Big Red. But the Boilermakers went on a 7-2 spurt to get within 22-19. A service error then gave the Huskers a key sideout, and Nebraska had set point at 24-20. A kill by Allick clinched the set, 25-20.  

Set 3: The Huskers came out firing to a 3-0 lead after kills by Kubik and Lauenstein and a block by Allick and Lauenstein. Lauenstein added another kill and then served NU’s first ace before a kill by Kubik and a Purdue error made it 7-1 Huskers. A block by Hames and Allick and another kill by Allick had NU up 9-2. The Huskers pushed the lead to eight, 15-7, after kills by Hord and Kubik and a block by Hord and Lauenstein. The Huskers took control with a 7-2 spurt that made it 22-12 Big Red. Lauenstein hand Kubik each had a kill and an ace in that stretch. The Huskers finished out the sweep, 25-18. 

Up Next: The Huskers head to Champaign, Ill., for a 6 p.m. match on Saturday against Illinois.