Stellar Defense Helps Nebraska Volleyball Fend Off Minnesota

Gritty over pretty.

No. 2 Nebraska (25-1, 15-0 B1G), by their own admission, did not play their best volleyball match in a 25-12, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19 victory over No. 16 Minnesota (16-9, 9-6 B1G) Thursday night. Still, NU grabbed a 22nd consecutive victory and reclaimed $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy (normally a football trophy) from Minnesota for the first time since 2018.

With the second set victory for the Golden Gophers, the Huskers dropped their first set since Oct. 26 vs. Michigan.

“They (Minnesota) know how to win ugly” Nebraska coach John Cook said. “That’s why I…told them it was gonna be like a slugfest tonight. And it was.”

Both teams hit under .200, with Nebraska leading the way at .199. Husker middle blocker Andi Jackson said the mentality is to be team-first, even when the offense isn’t firing on all cylinders.

“We hit .199, which isn’t amazing…sometimes there’s gonna be those games where maybe the stat sheet isn’t pretty but coming together and just being team first in those moments will reflect on the court,” Jackson said.

For most of the night and in the final stats, the teams were extremely close. Nebraska led in kills (54-51), digs (82-77), assists (54-49), and blocks (12-7) over Minnesota. The Golden Gophers did have more attacks (169-166), attacking errors (29-21), and service errors (12-5), however.

Part of the lower hitting percentage for the Husker was due to setter Bergen Reilly being the first one to touch the ball as she racked up 20 digs.

“That’s where we weren’t very good out of system tonight,” Cook said. “She did a great job and she covered the tips really well.”

Reilly added a career-high six kills, 40 assists, an ace and four blocks, including a solo stuff that had her teammates in awe. A good day overall after being named a semifinalist for the AVCA Division I National Player of the Year.

“Oh my gosh…I couldn’t stop talking about it at the net” Jackson commented, “The next play was starting and I was like, oh Bergen that was so good.”

In her first matchup against her former team, Taylor Landfair started fast with five kills in the first set. She ended with 12, her third straight match with over 10 kills. Harper Murray had a team high 13 kills and a career-high 19 digs.

Lexi Rodriguez continues her climb up the charts in her hunt for the No. 1 spot in Nebraska volleyball history for digs. She added 16 more to her total.

Minnesota’s Julia Hanson did not go down without a fight as she took 58 swings and finished with 20 kills and 10 digs to pace the Golden Gophers.

Nebraska stays home Saturday to host the Indiana Hoosiers. That match is set for a 7:30 p.m. CST first serve on the Big Ten Network.

Box score

Set 1: Nebraska scored the first three points of the set and never looked back. Two kills by Murray made it 6-1, and Landfair posted three kills with Allick adding one to take the Huskers to a 13-6 lead. Jackson smashed a kill and recorded a block with Murray to put NU up 18-9, and a 6-0 run earned NU set point. Landfair finished off the dominant first set with a kill for a 25-12 win. Nebraska hit .367 and held Minnesota to .029. The Huskers sided out at 84.6 percent. 

Set 2: Beason and Murray each had two early kills to help Nebraska go up 8-6. But Minnesota answered with a 4-0 run to take a 10-8 lead. Murray earned a sideout for Nebraska with a back-row kill, and Mauch served an ace to tie the set at 10-10. But the Golden Gophers answered with a 3-0 spurt to regain a 13-10 advantage. After a timeout, Beason and Allick had a block, and Murray terminated her sixth kill to cut it to 13-12, and another kill by Murray evened the score at 14-14. Minnesota again had an answer with back-to-back blocks to take a 16-14 lead, and the Gophers went up 22-17 after a 5-1 run. Minnesota won 25-22, holding the Huskers to a .098 hitting percentage. 

Set 3: Nebraska led 6-4 after a block by Jackson and Murray, and kills by Landfair and Jackson. Two more Landfair kills and one by Allick had NU ahead 11-8, but Minnesota climbed back to tie the score 12-12. A kill by Landfair, followed by an Allick/Reilly kill and an Allick kill made it 18-14. Minnesota pulled within two at 18-16, but Reilly dumped a kill and a Minnesota attacking error made it 20-18. Allick answered with a kill, and Murray terminated a lengthy rally for a 22-20 advantage. Jackson made it 23-20 with a kill, and the Huskers benefitted from two Minnesota service errors down the stretch to win 25-22. 

Set 4: A 6-0 run powered by three kills from Landfair and three Gopher errors put the Big Red ahead 13-4. Nebraska continued to dominate, taking a 20-11 lead behind two more Minnesota errors. The Gophers brought the score within four at 21-17 after a 4-0 run, but an ace by Reilly and kill by Beason put NU at match point and an Allick kill closed out the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.

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