No. 1 Nebraska picked up its second top-20 win in a 22-hour span and clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a sweep at No. 8 Washington Sunday evening.
The Cornhuskers beat the Huskies 25-10, 25-13, 25-22 to improve to 14-0 in Big Ten play and 25-0 overall.
That followed a late-night start at No. 12 Oregon on Saturday night that saw the Huskers hit .425 with a pin-heavy attack in another sweep. Teraya Sigler and Harper Murray tallied 14 kills apiece, hitting .458 and .481 respectively, while Virginia Adriano added 11 kills on a .500 clip.
There were 12,364 in attendance at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday, Oregon’s first volleyball sellout that shattered the previous program record from the last time Nebraska visited Oregon, in 2024 (8,566).
Coach Dani Busboom Kelly gave the Huskers an A+ grade for their Pacific Northwestern trip.
“I felt like it was total team win, even though we didn’t play that many players,” the head coach said on the Huskers Radio Network after the Washington win. “Just both games felt like everybody was super engaged and working together.”
Nebraska hit a season-high .477 against the second-best defense in the Big Ten by opponent hitting percentage. Eight different Huskers logged three or more attacks and all eight hit better than .300. Bergen Reilly dished out 37 of the team’s 48 assists while five different players accounted for the other 11, meaning Nebraska operated out of a system a healthy chunk of the night and still achieved that mark. Reilly went 4-for-4 on her own attacks.
Murray led the offense with 13 kills on .357 hitting and three aces. Adriano added nine kills on .438 hitting. Manaia Ogbechie added seven kills on nine errorless attacks while Sigler contributed six kills and a match-high 10 digs in about two and a half sets of work. Washington hit .210.
“I felt like it was good,” Busboom Kelly said. “We had to gut it out a little bit. We were maybe a step slow to start the game. I don’t know if it was physically or just with our eyes, and we did have to rely a little bit on some grit. We really got into a nice groove, and then I thought game three we let go a little bit, but it was good to see us make plays when it mattered at the end there.”
First set
Nebraska showed no signs of a hangover from the quick turnaround with a 7-2 start, but Washington fired right back with a 10-3 stretch to take a two-point lead. A few ties followed, then the Huskers took control for good with a 5-1 run.
The teams traded sideouts the rest of the way until Murray found the floor with a roll shot to end it.
Nebraska hit .417 behind Ogbechie’s four kills on five errorless swings. Sigler had seven of Nebraska’s 14 digs herself while the Huskies managed 10 as a team. Washington hit .243.
Second Set
The second set was close… until it wasn’t. The game included two lead changes and seven ties, the last one at 9-9, but the Huskers used a 6-0 run to open the game up heading into the media timeout.
Washington won two of the first three rallies out of the break then only won two more the rest of the set. Murray served a 6-0 run including two aces before missing on her last serve, then Nebraska won three of the last four rallies as well with Reilly calling her own number on set point.
Skyler Pierce checked in for Sigler at 17-11 and finished the set, adding two kills to Nebraska’s total. The Huskers hit .464 behind four kills apiece from Murray and Adriano while holding the Huskies to .069.
Third Set
Kenna Cogill started the third set in place of Andi Jackson, though Busboom Kelly went back to Sigler at outside hitter.
Washington didn’t go away quietly, winning four of the first five rallies in the set. The Huskers fired right back with a 5-0 run to take the lead and 11 straight sideouts followed before a Maija Howse ace tied it at 11-11.
The teams traded sideouts on the next six rallies as well before Simona Mateska terminated to give Washington a 15-14 edge at the media break. Nebraska regrouped and surged ahead with four straight points, but Washington responded with a 6-2 run to take a 21-20 lead.
For a brief moment, it looked like Nebraska’s winning streak when reaching the red zone first could be in jeopardy. Then Ogbechie and Murray took over to seal the sweep.
Ogbechie terminated to tie it up before Washington setter Andrea Fabikovicova overshot her target on a slide. Washington tied it up for the final time with a kill from lead attacker Samantha Destler, but the Huskers threw a triple block with Reilly joining Ogbechie and Murray at Destler’s next swing. Ogbechie gave Nebraska match point with a kill made possible by an Olivia Mauch pancake, then Murray closed it out with an ace.
“I thought we like made a couple great plays there to go ahead in game three,” Busboom Kelly said. “That Harper BIC, it was kind of a scramble play, and she went up and bombed it. That’s a sign of a team with some grit and that killer mentality. A lot of players might roll shot that in and play it safe, but she went for it and got a kill.”
Murray led the way with six kills in the third as Nebraska one-upped itself again, hitting a blistering .556. Cogill went 3-for-3 in the game, adding to Jackson’s five kill on eight swings in the first two frames.
Up Next
Nebraska will close out the regular season back at home with three matches prior to the inaugural Big Ten Tournament in Fishers, Ind.
The Huskers will look to clinch the regular season title outright against Illinois on Thursday. The Illini swept No. 21 Indiana on Sunday to secure their fifth ranked win of the season.
