No. 1 Nebraska secured its sixth straight sweep and 11th of the season late on Friday night, taking down Washington in straight sets.
The Huskers (15-0, 5-0 Big Ten) never trailed in a 25-14, 25-18, 25-16 victory over the Huskies (7-8, 2-3) at the Devaney Center.
“We had talked about Washington and that they’re playing really well,” Coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “They dig a lot of balls, they don’t make a ton of errors, they’re really going to make you earn your kills. I just thought we handled it really well. Washington came out and made us earn our points, and we stayed really steady. Even though it wasn’t the absolute cleanest game we’ve played, I thought it was one of our better games, just the aggressiveness, the serving, the passing, everything was just really good.”
Busboom Kelly was also pleased with the fan base’s execution of the program’s Stripe-Out, with fans wearing either red or white based on their section.
“I thought it was great,” Busboom Kelly said. “I had my doubts, but it was really good, and they were into it tonight, cheering when Washington went on a couple runs, trying to get them to miss serves. That was a livelier Devaney crowd than I’ve seen in a while, so it was fun.”
The Huskers hit .307 while holding the Huskies to .147. Nebraska’s serving played a big part in that gap as the Huskers finished with six aces (from five different players) and only one error.
“I thought [our serving] was excellent,” Busboom Kelly said. “When your ace-to-error ratio is 1:1, that’s really good, and we were well above 1:1. It was one of our better serving matches. That was one of our goals tonight, so it’s really great to see them deliver.”
Harper Murray led the attack with 12 kills on .407 hitting, seven digs, three blocks and one ace. Andi Jackson added 10 kills on .562 hitting. Virginia Adriano chipped in nine kills and an ace while Rebekah Allick flirted with a double-double, contributing seven kills and eight blocks. Bergen Reilly totaled 34 assists, nine digs, two kills and an ace.
Olivia Mauch led the defensive effort with 12 digs and two aces as the Huskers held Washington’s Kierstyn Barton, eighth in the Big Ten in kills per set heading in, to .026 hitting.
Nebraska was the aggressor from the first point, keeping the Huskies out of sorts with service and attack pressure. The Huskers won four of the first five rallies then blew the game open with a 6-0 run featuring Reilly at the service line, building a 13-4 advantage.
Washington settled in a bit, but not enough to put a real dent in the deficit. Adriano closed out the set with back-to-back kills, giving her a match-high five in the frame.
The Huskers hit .500 with 18 kills as six different players terminated multiple times, Reilly included.
“When teams can’t pass, it’s a lot easier to play defense,” Murray said. “I think that’s exactly what we did to them, and we got them out of system a lot. We’ve worked on serving our targets and serving certain areas.”
Washington kept it much closer in the second set, which featured several extended rallies. Nebraska took control down the stretch, pushing its lead to four at 18-14 with back-to-back kills from Jackson and Murray then using a 3-0 run featuring a block assist and a kill from Taylor Landfair. They closed out the set soon after for the 2-0 match lead.
Nebraska Cornhuskers new court before a college volleyball match against Washington on Friday, October 10, 2025, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Photo by Brandon Tiedemann.
Murray put down five kills on 10 errorless swings. The second set saw 43 combined digs as the 22 from Nebraska matched the combined total from the first set. The Huskers hit .273 and held the Huskies to .152.
“I thought Washington was doing a great job of getting touches on the block, kind of slowing us down so they could extend those rallies, and I thought it was good that we were able to finish most of those off,” Busboom Kelly said. “It’s always good when a team makes you work that hard and it’s just going to make you better.”
Nebraska won eight of the first 10 rallies in game three, triggering an early timeout from the Huskies. Washington regrouped, fired back with a 4-0 run and kept it close for a while, but Nebraska closed the match on a 7-2 stretch, with Allick delivering the match-point kill.
The Huskers only hit .211 in the third but held the Huskies to .133 and eight kills. Landfair and Murray led the way with four kills apiece.
Friday’s match was the debut of Nebraska’s new court, which features the state outline in the center and a darker shade of red representing rows of corn along the sideline.
“It’s really cool,” Jackson said. “We love it. It’s awesome. It’s an awesome court, and I think Dani did a really good job with the design … she helped a little bit with it … We were talking about it when we first had it, so it’s a cool court. We’re grateful.”
Fans will have to wait until next week to see the court again as the Huskers will head to No. 12 Purdue to close out week three on Sunday. First serve is set for 12 p.m. on Big Ten Plus, with the match available by pay-per-view for non-subscribers.
