No. 1 Nebraska volleyball dropped a set for the first time this season but rallied to beat Georgia Tech 3-1 Saturday afternoon to improve to 7-0 on the season.
The Cornhuskers closed out the Husker Invitational with a 24-26, 25-17, 25-18, 25-12 victory in front of a sold-out crowd inside John Cook Arena, capping a stretch of three matches in three days following the team’s two-week tour across the country.
“I didn’t really feel like we were tired,” Coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “I thought we’ve been practicing great, but I do think it was a factor, and it has been a long three weeks. But that was one way to challenge these guys, to be tough when maybe you’re not feeling your best, and I thought it was a really good team win, and we gutted through some things, and we got better throughout the whole match.”
With some of the team’s stars struggling, Busboom Kelly turned to her bench, and reserves Skyler Pierce and Keri Leimbach both played a big role in the team’s turnaround during their most extensive playing time in a Husker jersey.
“They were great,” Busboom Kelly said. “Both of them played great, came in, did their job, but on top of that, they did better than what we even needed them to do, so that was huge. That’s why you come here, and we have a great bench and we have we’re going to use it. Today was a perfect example of that … We see it all the time, so I don’t think the team ever had any doubt, because we see it every day in practice. They did amazing and were a big reason why we won.”
Skyler Pierce swings over the top of two Georgia Tech defenders in Nebraska volleyball’s 3-1 victory. Photo by Braden Cochran.
Pierce led Nebraska’s pins with a career-high 10 kills on .348 hitting while chipping in three digs and two blocks.
“I just knew she’d be a good matchup against these guys,” Busboom Kelly said. “She jumps high and hits deep, and that’s great when you play Georgia Tech. I’m not shocked she went out there and had a lot of success. Just the way she’s been practicing, she was due for a moment, and I’m just really proud of her for taking advantage of that.”
Leimbach added five digs, two assists and an ace while playing in the back row for Pierce.
Bergen Reilly recorded her second double-double with 41 assists, a match- and season-high 13 digs, three kills and an ace while setting Nebraska to a .324 hitting percentage.
Manaia Ogbechie tallied a team-leading 12 kills for the second straight match, hitting .526 and recording five blocks. The sophomore has hit better than .500 in her last four matches.
“I think Manaia has really stepped into that role as one of the top middles, and I think she’s been amazing at it,” Pierce said. “I think you can tell throughout every game how confident she’s getting, so it’s really cool to see her grow and her personally kind of come through too.”
Andi Jackson added eight kills on .545 hitting, three blocks and an ace for a strong one-two punch in the middle, while Virginia Adriano chipped in six kills on .357 hitting and four blocks.
Olivia Mauch tallied 12 digs at libero as Nebraska held Georgia Tech to .112 hitting. Laney Choboy led Nebraska with three aces as the Huskers finished with a positive ace-to-error ratio for the second time this season (eight to seven).
“I think it’s nice that we’re losing a set now just so we’re kind of used to it and kind of realize that we can come back from those tough moments,” Pierce said. “As a team, we know and have the confidence in each other that even though we’re down or kind of feeling like we’re not playing as well as we could be, we know that we can fight through it as a team.”
First Set
Nebraska never led en route to dropping a set for the first time this season. The Huskers tied it up 10 times but never found a way to get over the hump.
Eight of those ties came before the media timeout. Georgia Tech threatened to blow Nebraska out, ripping off five straight including a pair of aces to take a 19-13 lead.
The Huskers regrouped during their second timeout and Ogbechie terminated for the sideout, sparking a 7-1 run to pull the Huskers level at 20-all. That included a 5-0 run with Leimbach serving.
“Keri’s been great, I think, just from redshirting last year and how much she’s grown over the last year,” Pierce said. “She’s great in the back row; she’s our little back there, so defensive-wise, she’s just amazing. She reads the court really well. And serving, she’s a beast behind the line. So it’s great that she gets to come in and play her role and do great.”
Georgia Tech won four of the next five rallies including another ace to earn set point at 24-21. Nebraska saved three set points, but Lauren Bieleski ended the run with a kill then teamed up with Bianca Garibaldi to block Jackson on set point.
Nebraska hit .219 with nine errors while the Yellow Jackets terminated at a .321 clip and recorded five blocks. Georgia Tech opposite hitter Alida Bennour recorded seven kills on 12 errorless swings.
Ogbechie and Jackson tallied five kills apiece on a combined .533 clip, but Nebraska’s pins totaled six kills and seven errors (minus-.059 hitting). After Teraya Sigler’s third error or the set, Busboom Kelly sent Pierce in for her.
Second Set
Georgia Tech carried its momentum into the second set, opening the frame with a 5-0 run including two more aces to draw an early Nebraska timeout. After eight straight sideouts, Georgia Tech extended the lead to 10-4 on a Nebraska error.
Then the Huskers found their stride. They won 10 of the next 12 rallies, taking their first lead of the day on Leimbach’s first career ace during a 4-0 run. Six sideouts followed before an ace from Murray, leading to a 5-0 run and a 9-2 finish to the set. Ogbechie and Pierce teamed up for a block on game point.
“That’s when Sky came in, right, and Keri?” Busboom Kelly said of the turnaround. “I thought they kind of helped change the tide, and we started passing better. We just let a couple servers on Georgia Tech’s team get hot, and then that gets really stressful when you feel like you can’t get out of a rotation.”
Nebraska picked it up on both ends, hitting .348 while holding Georgia Tech to .000. The Yellow Jackets tallied as many attack errors as Nebraska had kills (10).
Busboom Kelly went back to Sigler for a handful of rallies after Pierce started the set, but the junior checked back in at 8-4 and finished the set, recording three kills.
“I could see the confidence in her,” Leimbach said of Pierce. “Whenever we subbed in, we were like, ‘Great job, you got it.’ She played great. She was hitting every shot. Her block alignment was amazing. I think, honestly, she just was very confident; I could tell.”
Third Set
Nebraska was ready to go from the opening serve in set three, racing out to a 6-1 lead. Nebraska used an extended 9-2 run to stretch the lead to 15-6 at the media timeout, but the stoppage halted their momentum as Georgia Tech scored five straight to cut the deficit to four before a service error.
From there, Nebraska reasserted control and gradually pulled away, pushing the lead back to nine before the Yellow Jackets saved a few set points to shrink the final margin.
Nebraska hit .333 and held Georgia Tech to .162. After the Yellow Jackets notched six aces in the first two sets, they totaled three errors without an ace in the third as Nebraska’s passers continued to settle in.
Fourth Set
After a brief stretch early, the fourth set was all Nebraska thanks to two long serving runs from the Husker littles.
After an error-filled start to the game from both sides, Georgia Tech scored four straight to take an 8-7 lead. Ogbechie earned the sideout with a kill to even the score, bringing Mauch to the service line, and the Huskers proceeded to score five more points for a 13-8 lead.
Mauch missed her sixth serve, but Georgia Tech returned the favor and Choboy picked up where her back-row partner left off, serving a 9-0 run including three aces to turn the game into a rout. Nebraska traded points the rest of the way until Pierce ended the match with a kill.
Nebraska hit .526 and held Georgia Tech to minus-.080, doubling up the Yellow Jackets in kills (12-6) while they quadrupled the Huskers in errors (8-2). Georgia Tech only recorded one block in the last three sets after stuffing the Huskers five times in the first.
After a rough start to the match, Busboom Kelly went back to Sigler in the fourth as she replaced Murray early in the frame. The sophomore responded by terminating on four of her five swings to finish with six kills on .273 after hitting negative through three sets. Busboom Kelly said she was glad to see Sigler be “super aggressive.”
“A lot of times in that situation somebody’s going to come out and be really timid, but she took three huge swings, had a block,” Busboom Kelly said. “So that was awesome for her and should give her a lot of confidence going forward.”
Up Next
The Huskers face a quick turnaround with a mid-week match against No. 15 Creighton. The Huskers will welcome the Bluejays toa soldo-out Pinnacle Bank Arena on Wednesday for the yearly showdown, with first serve set for 6 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
