No. 1 Nebraska volleyball saw a weakness in Maryland’s defense and exploited it to perfection in a 3-0 sweep on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskers (12-0, 2-0 Big Ten) took down the Terrapins (7-5, 0-2) 25-14, 27-25, 25-14 at the Devaney Center to close out week one of Big Ten play.
Maryland entered the match second in the Big Ten in blocks at 2.9 per game, but the Huskers out-blocked the Terrapins 11 to four as middles Rebekah Allick and Andi Jackson combined for 22 kills on .741 hitting. Allick said the Husker middles “abused the solo block.”
“When you have a team like Maryland — who we identified early on that they’re a little bit weaker blocking in the middle, they’re pretty big on the pins — we really wanted to take advantage of that one-on-one, like Bekka said, and then also getting in those gaps, because it was pretty guaranteed to be one-on-one, which makes it a lot easier,” Jackson said. “Also, kudos to our setters; they were feeding the ball super well.”
Allick tied her career high with 13 kills and did so on only 17 attacks, setting a new career high in hitting at .706. She also posted a match-high six blocks (one solo) to pass Sarah Pavan and move into fifth place on Nebraska’s rally scoring era career blocks list.
“Pavan, she’s insane, so I’m very honored,” Allick said. “It’s just cool. The thing about Nebraska volleyball is it’s full of giants, and it’s really cool that my name will be up there with them. Honestly, it’s just gratitude at the end of the day. You don’t really do it for the accolades; you do it because you love the sport. That’s why you started, and I’ve always loved the chase of just wanting to be better and better every day. So I’m very honored.”
Jackson added nine kills on 10 swings, hitting .800 with four blocks. Harper Murray finished with 10 kills on .280 hitting, 10 digs and two aces, her third double-double of the season. Bergen Reilly totaled 29 assists, four kills on six attacks and six digs while splitting time in the second set. Olivia Mauch posted a match-high 12 digs and served two aces.
The Huskers hit .360 and held Maryland to .090, out-digging the Terrapins 48 to 33.
Nebraska got off to a slow start, surrendering two aces to fall behind 4-2 early despite Maryland not recording a kill on its first 12 swings. However, Jackson provided a spark with a 5-0 run at the service line, including an ace, to put the Huskers in front 8-5.
Nebraska used back-to-back blocks to extend the lead to five at 14-9 then rolled the rest of the way, winning 12 of the last 15 rallies. Busboom Kelly gave Skyler Pierce some run, and the redshirt freshman terminated on one of her four swings with a sharp cut up the line to the back corner.
The Huskers out-hit the Terps .312 to minus-.067 and out-blocked them four to one. Murray led the way with four kills on .400 hitting while Allick added three kills on four swings and three blocks.
Coach Dani Busboom Kelly switched things up in the second, running a 6-2 the whole set with Reilly and Campbell Flynn alternating at setter in the back row while Allie Sczech rotated with Virginia Adriano at opposite. Teraya Sigler played all six rotations alongside Murray. Busboom Kelly said the reason behind the switch was to get an extended look at the double-substitution.
“I think we’re going to need that this year, multiple times,” Busboom-Kelly said. “I think we’re going to need Allie, I think we’re going to need Campbell, and I thought this was a great game to try. That wasn’t the intent to go 6-2, but I thought the opportunity presented itself, and then we wanted to stick with it and see if they could finish that second set off, even though it was tight.”
Maryland won four of the first five rallies before the Huskers settled in. Nebraska took its first lead at 8-7, then used a 5-0 run with Jackson at the service line to build a seven-point advantage at 19-12.
The Terrapins didn’t roll over, however, ripping off a 10-3 run to tie the set up at 22-all. Maryland tied it again three more times, but the Huskers finally capitalized on their third set point with kills from Allick and Murray.
Nebraska hit .324 to Maryland’s .244 with Allick leading the way. The senior terminated on seven of her nine attacks to reach double-digit kills in two sets.
“Credit where credit is due, Maryland served really, really well, and honestly, they served us off the court that second set,” Jackson said. “So it was adjusting to that like we did in the third set, and coming out and knowing that, OK, that was not our best volleyball, but this set is going to be better, and really pulling it out at the end.”
Nebraska went back to the 5-1 with Reilly and Adriano for set three and the Huskers got off to a much better start. Mauch served a 5-0 run to open the game that included two kills from Adriano, matching her total from the first two sets combined.
Maryland kept it close for a bit, but Reilly served a 5-0 run midway through to give the Huskers a 14-6 advantage and they cruised the rest of the way. Manaia Ogbechie checked in midway through, and Maisie Boesiger served the final two points as all 14 non-redshirting players saw the court.
Nebraska hit .452 and held Maryland to .034. Jackson terminated on all four of her swings to lead a balanced attack.
“Andi’s so athletic and she’s so fast off the ground; that’s probably the biggest thing,” Busboom Kelly said. “She’s fast off the ground and she has a fast arm, so both those things are pretty dynamic, and unless the opponent is going to 100% commit with her, she’s probably going to have a poorly formed block. So again, she’s a weapon, and I just think her speed makes her so unique.”
The Huskers will get five full days to rest and prepare before hitting the road for week two, with a Friday visit to Penn State up next.
