The share became an outright title on Thursday night. No. 1 Nebraska beat No. 25 Illinois 25-23, 25-20, 25-12 at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center and won the Big Ten championship outright, Nebraska Athletics announced.
Nebraska has won 38 conference titles, including seven in the Big Ten (2011, 2016, 2017, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026). It is the first time since 2004-08 that Nebraska has won four straight conference titles. The university said those seven Big Ten titles since Nebraska joined the conference in 2011 are the most by any team.
26-0, and a new hitting mark
The Huskers improved to 26-0 and 15-0 in the Big Ten, Nebraska’s seventh 26-0 start in program history. Nebraska also won its 57th consecutive regular-season match and its 64th straight at John Cook Arena.
Nebraska hit .483, which Nebraska Athletics says topped last Sunday’s .477 and is now the program’s highest single-match hitting percentage against a ranked opponent in the rally-scoring era. Illinois, now 17-9 and 9-6 in the Big Ten, hit .200.
Three Huskers above .600
Teraya Sigler led Nebraska with 13 kills on .684 hitting. Manaia Ogbechie had nine kills and hit .750, with a team-high five blocks. Andi Jackson had nine kills and hit .643. Nebraska Athletics said it is only the third time in the rally-scoring era that three Huskers have hit at least .600 in the same match, with a minimum of 10 attacks, and the first time since 2014.
Bergen Reilly had 40 assists and seven digs, her eighth match with 40 or more assists this season. Olivia Mauch led the team with 13 digs.
How the sweep went
Illinois led 18-13 in the first set before Nebraska scored eight straight points to go up 20-18, with three kills from Sigler in that stretch. The set was tied 21-21. Nebraska went ahead 23-21 on an Illinois attacking error and an Ogbechie kill, and Jackson closed it 25-23. Nebraska hit .567 in the set, with 18 kills and one error.
The Huskers hit .345 in the second set and won 25-20. They led 15-13 at the media timeout, then 19-15 on an Ogbechie solo block. Illinois cut it to 21-19. Nebraska scored the next three, capped by an ace from Harper Murray, and Sigler’s ninth kill ended the set.
The third set was 25-12. After Illinois trimmed a 10-8 deficit to 12-11, Nebraska went on a 9-0 run to lead 21-11, then closed with a 4-0 burst, a 13-1 finish to the set. Nebraska hit .607 in the set and held Illinois to seven kills and a .037 hitting percentage.
Next
Nebraska hosts Iowa tonight on Senior Night. First serve is 6 p.m. CST on B1G+ at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
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