Nebraska volleyball defeats Creighton in five sets

The fifth-ranked Huskers held on to beat No. 9 Creighton in five sets on Tuesday at the Devaney Sports Center. The score was 25-19, 25-16, 31-33, 16-25, 15-10.

Nebraska is 23-0 all-time vs. Creighton.

For previously unbeaten Creighton, it was another crushing loss to its in-state foe. The Bluejays have now lost fifth-set heartbreakers against Nebraska three times in the last six matchups.

This year presented probably the best chance yet for Creighton to beat Nebraska. Creighton has one of its best teams ever, entering with 22 wins in its past 23 matches, and All-Americans on its roster.

And Nebraska was one week removed from being swept by unranked SMU.

Before the match, Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth told her team this was one of several matches against good teams the Jays would be playing over the next weeks and that it represented a great opportunity to boost its season résumé.

“And we’re disappointed that we didn’t seize that opportunity tonight,” Bernthal Booth said.

Bernthal Booth said the players are mad about losing, and she’s OK with that — for about 15 minutes.

“What we had at the end of set three, is what we needed to bring at the start of set five. We kind of went back on our heels,” Bernthal Booth said.

In the rivalry’s first match when both teams were in the top 10, it was players from the state delivering in big moments. Lindsay Krause had 15 kills and five blocks for Nebraska. Her close friend from Papillion, Norah Sis, was great for Creighton in the latter half of the match and finished with 24 kills and 11 digs.

Ava Martin came on in the second half of the match and finished with 17 kills on .236 hitting.

Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson had one of the best matches of her college career — 15 kills on .379 hitting and eight blocks.

But Nebraska got kills from every position. Merritt Beason had 14 kills on a season-best .306 hitting percentage. Harper Murray was the one who got Nebraska off to a great start to the match, and she finished with 16 kills, four blocks and 14 digs. She also had the match point kill.

There were some amazing rallies where each team made several remarkable digs — Nebraska finished with 81 digs and Creighton had 80.

Nebraska (6-1) had a .234 hitting percentage and held Creighton to .209. Nebraska libero Lexi Rodriguez had 21 digs.

In the tiebreaking fifth set, Nebraska got the all-important 3-0 lead, scoring the first three points with kills. Later in the set, Krause and Sis were going back-and-forth getting kills for their respective teams. Nebraska got one last surge and won 15-10.

Rodriguez felt good going into the final set.

“I felt so much belief from everyone on that court, so it was a pretty cool feeling,” she said.

Nebraska was excellent in the final set with 13 kills, just one hitting error and no serving errors.

The end of the third set will have people talking at work on Wednesday. The set just kept going, before Creighton won 33-31 to avoid being swept.

When the score was 31-30, Bernthal Booth asked someone on the bench to refill her water cup. It was that intense, even for the fans.

Creighton had a late lead, but Murray’s clutch kills kept the Huskers alive several times. Creighton fought off four match points for Nebraska. Back-to-back kills by Sis and Martin finally ended the set, keeping Creighton’s hopes alive.

Many fans rushed to the restroom, or like Bernthal Booth, to get a drink. This wasn’t over yet.

Sis’s 11 kills in the third set let the Bluejays keep playing. Murray had six for the Huskers in the set.

Creighton dominated the fourth set, hitting .306 and holding the Huskers to a negative hitting percentage.

Nebraska coach John Cook was impressed by how the Huskers responded after losing the marathon third set, and then getting crushed in the fourth set.

“We had four swings to win it, and couldn’t put it away,” Cook said. “So that takes a lot of momentum away. I just told them, ‘Let’s regroup; it’s game five, you’re at home; let’s go.’ That’s about all I said. They found a way to play really, really well.”

Nebraska had a strong start to the match with both its offense and blocking. That — and winning more of the long rallies — helped the Huskers have 18 kills in the set to just 10 for Creighton.

Considering the caliber of the opponent — and the pressure on the Huskers — it was a great start.

In the second set, Creighton got the first lead. But by the end of the set Nebraska was operating at a high level again. On one point, Nebraska dug an attempted setter tip by Kendra Wait and, in a flash, transitioned to offense and got a quick kill from Jackson. Elite.

There were 8,924 spectators, the third-largest crowd for a volleyball match at the arena. Each of the spots in the standing-room-only section at the top of the arena was occupied for a match that lasted 2 hours and 49 minutes.

“It was a great match,” Cook said. “That was totally what I was expecting tonight — a five-gamer. Creighton is a great team. They’ve got two special players in (Wait) and Norah Sis. Those guys are really, really good.”