Rebekah Allick said she wanted to “kick some butt” during Nebraska’s trip to Penn State, and that’s exactly what No. 1 Nebraska volleyball did, sweeping the 16th-ranked Nittany Lions on Friday night.
The Huskers (13-0, 3-0 Big Ten) avenged last season’s losses with a 25-6, 25-15, 25-13 sweep at Rec Hall. Nebraska hit .437 (39 kills) and held Penn State (7-6, 1-2) to minus-.114 (16 kills).
“I felt like all week we were [locked in],” Coach Dani Busboom Kelly said on FOX after the match. “It’s easy for me to say now that we came out playing so well, but our prep was so good and our team was very focused. I’m not surprised we had that kind of a match tonight.”
Allick led a balanced Nebraska attack with nine kills on .615 hitting and four blocks, backing up her words from earlier in the week.
“When I was walking out tonight, I was telling myself, ‘This is why I want to play college sports,’” Allick said. “I love rivalries, I love good banter … I’m not afraid to get a little spicy.”
Virginia Adriano didn’t show any signs of nerves in her first match at Rec Hall, scoring Nebraska’s first two kills and finishing with eight on .545 hitting. Andi Jackson added six kills on .400 hitting, four blocks and one ace. Taylor Landfair finished with five kills on .556 hitting. Harper Murray, Nebraska’s top attacker on the season, was the only regular rotation hitter below .400, though she still totaled six kills, five digs, three blocks and one ace.
Olivia Mauch finished with a match-high 10 digs — half the entire Penn State team’s total. Bergen Reilly racked up 26 assists (to Penn State’s 14), eight digs, three blocks, two kills and an ace.
Nebraska held Penn State star Kennedy Martin (who totaled 63 kills in her first two Big Ten matches) to 11 kills on .182 hitting. Former Husker Maggie Mendelson (three kills on six attacks) and Emmi Sellman (two kills, seven errors) were the only other Nittany Lions to find the kills column.
Busboom Kelly was pleased with how her team performed in one of the most difficult places to play in the Big Ten.
“It’s very, very difficult, no matter who’s on the other side,” Busboom Kelly said. “Just playing here, the Penn State brand, and the biggest thing is our serve receive was really good against what I think is one of the best serving teams in the conference, if not the best. So I’m really proud of that effort.”
Penn State scored the first two points of the night, but it was all Nebraska the rest of the way. The Huskers outscored the Nittany Lions 25-4 from that point on to take the first set. Nebraska didn’t even make it all the way through its serving rotation as each of the five Husker servers reeled off runs of 4-0 or better.
Reilly set freshman Teraya Sigler for a back-row kill twice in the first 10 rallies, and Busboom Kelly said she knew at that point Nebraska was in for a great night.
Six different Huskers notched two or more kills as Nebraska hit .583 and held Penn State to minus-.143. The Huskers had as many blocks as the Nittany Lions had kills (four).
The run continued into the second set as the Huskers scored the first three points and gradually pulled away throughout the frame. Landfair and Murray both served 4-0 runs to push Nebraska’s lead to double digits again, and Landfair also delivered the game-point kill.
Nebraska hit .440 and held Penn State to .031. Allick and Adriano led the Huskers with four kills apiece on a combined 10 swings.
“[Allick] plays with a lot of emotion and a lot of fire, and she was definitely ready for this one,” Busboom Kelly said on the Huskers Radio Network. “She’s on a mission this year, obviously; I think everybody can tell that.”
Sigler opened game three with an ace before a Penn State sideout for just the second tie of the night. However, Back-to-back Husker blocks gave Nebraska the lead for good. Bergen Reilly delivered the knockout blow, serving an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 11 at 16-5, and the Huskers cruised to the finish.
Nebraska’s offense cooled off a bit in the third as the Huskers only hit .273, but the defense didn’t let up at all as Penn State hit minus-.250 with 12 errors, though only three of them were on Husker blocks.
“Everyone was on the same page,” Allick said. “I don’t know how to explain it, but the girls that watched us lose last year, they understand what we went through. Also, take away what happened in the past, everyone wants to play high-level volleyball. Penn State’s good, Wisconsin’s good, UCLA’s good; we always get excited for high-level matches.”
The Huskers won’t have long to celebrate with a quick turnaround. Nebraska will face Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Saturday night. The Scarlet Knights (10-5) beat Maryland 3-1 on Friday to earn their first Big Ten.
First serve is set for 6 p.m. CT on Big Ten Plus.
