Another sweep for Nebraska volleyball as Lexi Rodriguez continues to make her mark on the program.
No. 2 Nebraska (22-1, 12-0 Big Ten) ends the weekend road trip with a sweep of Northwestern (4-16, 2-10 Big Ten), 25-18, 25-15, 25-15. During the match, Rodriguez moved into a tie for second in program history for digs.
Rodriguez and legendary Husker libero Kayla Banwarth are now both at 1,706 career digs. The top spot is held by Olympian Justine Wong-Orantes at 1,890.
The Huskers cruised to their 19th straight win with an extremely balanced offensive performance, hitting .287 with 39 kills and only 12 errors. Nebraska was just as impressive from the service line finishing with seven aces.
The visitors collected seven blocks and forced the home side into 21 attacking errors.
Nebraska setter Bergen Reilly was aggressive on the offensive side, finishing with four kills, while dishing out 25 assists to go along with nine digs. Senior captain Merritt Beason led the offense with nine kills while hitting an impressive .643 hitting percentage.
Husker middle blocker Andi Jackson had another impressive performance, building her case for an All-America nod with eight kills on .545 hitting and two blocks. Rebekah Allick and Harper Murray both finished with four kills.
Murray struggled finding the floor on the Northwestern side of the net, taking 20 swings, good for a .050 hitting percentage. She did however ace the Wildcats three times.
Nebraska stays on the road next weekend with a trip to the Pacific Northwest. The Huskers take on the Oregon Ducks Thursday and the Washington Huskies Saturday.
Set 1: Nebraska took a 6-1 lead to start the match with three kills on six swings along with an ace by Olivia Mauch. Three kills by Landfair helped push the lead to 13-6, but Northwestern fought back to get within 15-12 after a 5-1 spurt sparked by three kills by Hazan. Beason and Jackson responded with kills to make it 17-12, and Reilly and Jackson posted back-to-back kills before an ace by Murray increased the Husker lead to 20-13. Nebraska led 21-13 before a three-point Northwestern run, but the Huskers got two kills from Beason to win 25-18.
Set 2: With the score tied 4-4, Murray tallied a kill before a Northwestern hitting error and a block by Jackson and Reilly made it 7-4 Big Red. Reilly dumped a kill and an ace by Murray put the Huskers up 9-5. Northwestern pulled within one, 10-9, but a solo block by Landfair, a kill by Allick and an ace by Reilly put the Huskers back up by four, 13-9. Landfair, Allick, Murray and Beason put down kills and Beason served an ace to extend the advantage to 19-12. Landfair and Jackson terminated kill, and a block by Allick and Landfair put the Huskers at set point. Reilly dumped a kill for the 25-15 win.
Set 3: Leyla Blackwell started the set for the Huskers at middle blocker and had two kills and a block with Murray for a 4-1 start. Murray had two kills and an ace as the Huskers built their lead to 13-5 after she served a 5-0 run. Northwestern cut it to 15-9, but Reilly dumped a kill and Lindsay Krause tooled a block to put Nebraska up 17-9. The Wildcats used another 3-0 run to get within 17-12, but Beason answered and Murray and Blackwell stuffed a Northwestern attack to make it 19-12. Beason and Jackson teamed up for a block before Rodriguez served an ace, and the Huskers pulled away for a 25-15 win.
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