Two road matches against ranked teams in about 24 hours. Two sweeps. One banner. No. 1 Nebraska beat No. 18 Washington 25-20, 25-13, 25-22 Sunday at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle and clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title.
Nebraska is 25-0 overall and 14-0 in the Big Ten. Per Nebraska Athletics, it is the eighth 25-0 start in program history, the program’s 38th conference title and its seventh in the Big Ten. It is also the first time Nebraska has won four straight conference titles since its 2004-08 run in the Big 12. One more win in the final three league matches makes the title outright.
The number: .477
Nebraska hit .477 as a team, which Nebraska Athletics says is the program’s highest mark in a single match against a ranked opponent in the rally-scoring era. Washington hit .210. Per Washington Athletics, the Huskers had 49 kills to 36, led in digs 34-25 and in blocks 5.5 to 3.0. Washington had one more ace, 4-3.
How it happened
The first set got tight after a fast start. A Teraya Sigler kill made it 7-2, but Washington answered with a 9-2 run to lead 10-9, and Nebraska held only a 15-14 edge at the media timeout. The Huskers pulled away late and Harper Murray closed it 25-20.
The second set was the knockout. Tied 9-9, Nebraska scored six straight, then added another 6-0 run to lead 22-11 on a Murray ace. Nebraska hit .464 in the set and held Washington to .069. Bergen Reilly ended it with a kill.
Washington made the third set a fight. The Huskies led 15-14 at the media timeout, tied it 19-19 and went up 21-20 on a Samantha Destler kill. Nebraska scored five of the last six points, and Murray finished the match with an ace.
Box score notes
- Harper Murray: 13 kills on .357 hitting and three aces.
- Virginia Adriano: nine kills on .438.
- Manaia Ogbechie: seven kills on .778.
- Bergen Reilly: 37 assists and eight digs.
- Teraya Sigler: a team-high 10 digs and six kills.
- For Washington, Destler led with 12 kills on .286 hitting and Maija Howse added eight.
The streaks
Per Nebraska Athletics, the win is Nebraska’s 56th straight in the regular season. The road and neutral-site win streak is now 27, tied for seventh in NCAA history and second in program history. Dani Busboom Kelly is 24-1 against ranked opponents at Nebraska and 66-28 in her career.
Washington Athletics said the crowd of 9,294 was a sellout and the second-largest in Huskies volleyball history, with a healthy share of traveling Nebraska fans. Washington fell to 18-5 and 9-5 in the Big Ten.
Next
Nebraska closes the regular season with three straight home matches, against Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Illinois is first, Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. CT at John Cook Arena on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.
Featured image: Photo: Smuckers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Purdue_vs._Louisville,_2024_NCAA_Division_I_women’s_volleyball_tournament.jpg.
