Andi Jackson dominated in every phase of the game as No. 1 Nebraska volleyball swept Maryland on Saturday night — without Bergen Reilly.
The Huskers and Terrapins set a new Xfinity Center volleyball record as 15,127 fans turned out to watch Nebraska win 25-13, 25-20, 25-15. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly gave Campbell Flynn and Ryan Hunter the start and looked to her bench even more in the third set as Nebraska improved to 15-0 overall and 4-0 in Big Ten Play.
“I thought it was a good performance, and Campbell did great running the offense,” Busboom Kelly said on the Huskers Radio Network. “I just thought everybody that came in did a nice job.”
Reilly suited up and was available, but Busboom Kelly decided to give her the night off after she rolled her ankle in Thursday’s win at No. 16 Penn State.
“I just don’t know if she would have been 100%, and just with a big week coming up, I thought this is good opportunity for Campbell, number one, and why push it with Bergen?” Busboom Kelly said.
Flynn made the most of her start, totaling 35 assists, eight digs, four blocks and two kills while setting Nebraska to a .278 hitting percentage.
Despite working with a different setter, Jackson was the star of the night with a match-high 12 kills on .455 hitting, five blocks and four digs. Her match-high 22 attacks is a season high and a new career high for a three-set match as Nebraska’s game plan was to get her the ball often, particularly on quick sets inside.
“I just thought their left sides were pretty small, so it takes them a while to get up there, and they’re pretty physical when they get a full swing block move,” Busboom Kelly said. “We wanted to make sure our middles kind of stayed inside, and we thought we could beat them there, and then we’ve been working on moving those outsides, so tonight was a good match, just with our physicality versus theirs, to be able to kind of develop that rip to the left a little bit more.”
However, the number that jumps off the stat sheet most for Jackson is a new career high six aces, accounting for more than half of Nebraska’s 11 aces as a team. Laney Choboy and Teraya Sigler added two aces apiece. Maryland managed just one ace against Nebraska’s serve receive unit.
“We serve a lot in practice,” Jackson told Big Ten Plus. “I know Dani’s talked about it. It’s our goal to be the best serving team in the world, so I’ve got to give credit to Dani because we do it a lot every single day in practice.”
Sigler added eight kills on 14 attacks, hitting .423 and passing a team-high 15 serves without a reception error. Harper Murray chipped in six kills on .267 hitting in two sets while Hunter matched her with six kills, though she also committed six errors. In total, nine Huskers tallied kills.
“It’s definitely super special, and I think it just shows how hard we work in practice,” Jackson said. “Everyone is so bought into this team. Not every team can say that they have players who can come off the bench and be game changers — Ryan, Gabby, T, Campbell, Skyler, Keri, there are so many. They can come in and change the game, and I think that’s so special and it’s so rare. But it just really shows like how bought in, like I said, and they love this program, and they’re going to do whatever it takes. When their number gets called, they’re going to step up.”
Olivia Muach recorded a match-high 10 digs as Nebraska held Maryland — hitting .306, second in the Big Ten, heading into the match — to .117.
First Set
The Terrapins traded punches with Nebraska early with six ties and five lead changes in the first 12 rallies. Sigler terminated to force the final tie at 6-6, sending Jackson to the service line, and the senior middle brought the heat as the Huskers extended their run to 6-0, creating some healthy separation.
Jackson’s serving run, which included an ace, flipped a switch for the Huskers as they dominated the rest of the way, cruising to a 12-point victory.
Nebraska out-hit Maryland .385 to .087 with Flynn (11 assists) running the show. Sigler led the way with four kills on six errorless swings.
Second Set
Maryland managed to reset during the break and got the better of the Huskers early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Jackson helped pull the Huskers within one at 5-4 with three kills and an ace before 16 straight sideouts.
Nebraska finally broke the chain thanks to a bad set from Maryland before tacking on two more points for a 4-0 run.
Sigler capped the run with an ace before missing her fourth serve, but after trading points, Choboy served a 6-0 run including another ace to build a 23-16 lead. The Terrapins won a few rallies down the stretch to shrink the final margin, but Jackson capitalized on Nebraska’s second set-point with a kill on a slide.
Maryland tallied 10 kills before its first attack error, but the Huskers eventually caught up to and passed the Terrapins in attacking efficiency, .364 to .321. Jackson led the way with six kills on 12 attacks, while Murray chipped in four kills.
Third Set
Busboom Kelly made some lineup changes to start the third, with Kenna Cogill replacing Manaia Ogbechie and Keri Leimbach starting for Murray, with Skyler Pierce checking in later to play in the front row.
Maryland got off to another great start, winning the first four rallies, but the Huskers continued to chip away until the dam broke as Jackson served a 6-0 run including three more aces to give Nebraska a 7-11 lead.
The Huskers maintained control the rest of the way, eventually blowing the game open with another 6-0 run to earn set point. That included freshman Gabby DiVita checking in to serve after a Sigler ace, adding an ace of her own followed by a kill, though the latter needed a challenge as the officials initially called it out. Despite the significant lead, Nebraska’s coach signaled for a review, handing DiVita her first Big Ten kill and triggering a big celebration from the bench for their teammate.
“I just thought it looked in, and why not?” Busboom Kelly said. “It was late in the game. It was a great swing by Gabby, so let’s take another look.”
The successful challenge made it 24-14, and after a Maryland sideout on an error from Pierce, the junior drew a net violation on a Terp blocker on her next swing to end the match.
Nebraska only hit .132 in the set but held Maryland to minus-.077 and three kills — matching the number of blocks Nebraska tallied. Jackson capped her day with four more kills on just five attacks.
Up Next
Nebraska will get a few days back in Lincoln before hitting the road again to visit No. 15 Indiana on Thursday, completing a three-match road swing. The Huskers will be back at the Devaney Center on Saturday to host No. 6 Wisconsin
“We’ll prep for both of them throughout the week, and then go straight for Indiana on Wednesday, and then it’s nice to have a day in between to prep Wisconsin,” Busboom Kelly said.
