Following a 33-1 season, Nebraska volleyball saw four players earn AVCA All-America honors on Wednesday.
Middle blocker Andi Jackson, setter Bergen Reilly and outside hitter Harper Murray are all first-team selections, while middle blocker Rebekah Allick made the second team. Their selections increased Nebraska’s nation-leading total to 111.
Nebraska led all programs with three first-team selections, while Kentucky is the only other program with more than one.
Jackson is a repeat first-teamer after leading the nation in hitting percentage. She averaged 2.74 kills per set on .467 hitting, the third-highest percentage in program history. The junior set a new Big Ten record for hitting percentage in conference matches at .559. The Brighton, Colo., native was a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection and was an AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalist.
Through three seasons, she’s sporting a .437 career hitting percentage, the best mark in program history and the No. 1 percentage nationally among active players. She was one of two middle blockers on the first team.
Reilly, the Big Ten Player and Setter of the Year, AVCA Region Player of the Year and one of four AVCA National Player of the Year finalists, is now a three-time All-American, though this is her first first-team selection. She’s the lone setter on the team. The junior was a second-team All-American in each of her first two seasons and is a three-time All-Big Ten first-team honoree.
Rebekah Allick (5) and Harper Murray (27) block a shot from Utah Ute Allie Grossenbach (17). Photo by John S. Peterson.
This year, the Sioux Falls, S.D., native averaged 10.47 assists and 2.70 digs per set while setting Nebraska to a school-record and nation-leading .351 hitting percentage, shattering the previous record (.331) that had stood for nearly 40 years. She saw slight upticks in her attacking and blocking numbers as well as she continued to improve her all-around game. She notched 10 double-doubles (including four in sweeps) and set Nebraska to a .400 hitting percentage or better nine times this season, a new rally-scoring school record.
Murray is also a first-time first-teamer. She was on the third team as a freshman and the second team as a sophomore. The three-time All-Big Ten first team selection took her game to a new level this season, averaging a team-best 3.54 kills per set on .295 hitting and 2.16 digs per set. She led the team with 34 aces and adding 64 blocks, including 12 by herself after totaling 11 solo stuffs in her first two seasons combined. The junior from Ann Arbor, Mich., recorded three double-doubles while carrying a heavy passing load as a six-rotation player.
Murray’s career 3.38 kills-per-set average ranks third in program history in the rally-scoring era behind only team legends Sarah Pavan and Jordan Larson.
Allick earned her first All-America nod after a breakout senior season offensively. She averaged 2.56 kills per set on .450 hitting (fourth-best in school history) plus a team-high 1.27 blocks per set. The Lincoln native earned first-team All-Big Ten honors for the first time this season and ends her career in fifth place on Nebraska’s rally-scoring blocks list, with her averaging ranking fourth. In her final match at the Devaney Center, Allick posted a career-high 15 kills on .480 hitting.
