No. 1 Nebraska volleyball tied a program record with a 3-0 Pink Match sweep over USC at John Cook Arena on Saturday night.
The Huskers notched their third match of .400 hitting or better this season to take down the Women of Troy 25-12, 25-16, 25-13, improving to 21-0 and 10-0 in Big Ten play. Busboom Kelly turned to her bench again in the last two sets with no dropoff.
“I liked the consistency of how we played every point,” Coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “We can be up by 10 points, and you see people diving into the crowd or going all out. Just the urgency, no matter what the score is and no matter who’s on the court, was really impressive tonight.”
The win was Nebraska’s 52nd in a row during regular season play, tying the program record. The Huskers have yet to drop a regular season match under Busboom Kelly as the team’s last loss came on Nov. 29, 20024, at Penn State. The head coach said the team’s maturity is the key to sustaining success for so long.
“It takes a lot,” senior Bergen Reilly said of reaching this point. “There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, and we have culture meetings every Monday, and just a lot of bonding stuff and working together throughout the summer and in the spring. There’s so much that goes into it, and just being able to show up every day and play volleyball with your best friends is ultimately what makes it worth it. We all want to do it for each other, so it’s easy to go out and play when that’s the kind of joy you’re playing with.”
Reilly totaled 34 assists and eight digs while setting Nebraska to a .400 clip. Harper Murray tallied a match-high 14 kills on .462 hitting and seven digs while fellow senior Andi Jackson chipped in eight kills on .500 hitting and four blocks.
Virginia Adriano tied her career high with 13 kills on .500 hitting. Saturday was her third straight match with double-digit kills, and she is now up to 2.19 kills per set on .256 hitting on the season.
Huskers — including Andi Jackson (15), Ryan Hunter (middle) and Keoni Williams (right) — share a moment with Nebraska volleyball’s honorary starters ahead of the team’s Pink Match against USC. Photo by Eli Larson.
“Just a much better mindset and understanding her role, what she needs to do to help this team win, and kind of just diving into that,” Busboom Kelly said of Adriano’s recent play. “That’s being great out of system, getting some good touches on the block. We don’t need her to kill every ball. I think once she was at peace with not having to be perfect or put up these numbers, that’s when you actually do, when you stop worrying about it and just think about how can I help us win today.”
Olivia Mauch led the defensive effort with 10 kills and eight assists as the Huskers out-dug the Women of Troy (9-11, 307) by 22 and held them to .095 hitting.
The strong performance followed a special moment prior to the match as Nebraska recognized eight women battling cancer as honorary starters for the Pink Out. The Huskers gifted them flowers, a volleyball and a hug before welcoming them into the team’s pre-match huddle.
“That meant a lot,” freshman Keoni Williams said of the moment. “When Ryan [Hunter] told me that I was walking with her to go give flowers and the ball, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ This really is so much bigger than what we walk into every day. We’re just playing the game. It’s so much bigger than that, and to be able to do that and also be there for those people that are going through bigger things than we are, it’s really big and meant a lot.”
First Set
Reilly went to Adriano early and often in set one as the Italian opposite picked up where she left off against UCLA on Thursday. The Huskers raced out to an 8-2 lead behind three early kills from Adriano and continued to pour it on as the set played out.
Virginia Adriano celebrates with her teammates after winning a point against USC. Photo by Eli Larson.
With the Huskers leading 22-11, Williams subbed in for Manaia Ogbechie to finish the set, which the Huskers closed out with an 8-2 run. Busboom Kelly said the freshman has been “really taking off” in practice the last two or three weeks, and that work showed against USC.
“She’s so physical, and I think we’re just scratching the surface with her,” Busboom Kelly said. “She’s going to gain a lot from just focusing on getting stronger and faster. The way she’s hitting the ball now is even much different than she was in January, and I think she’s making an impact in practice. So I was fired up for her to be able to make an impact tonight.”
USC libero Taylor Deckert took three brutal shots to the head/neck area during the set — one each from Ogbechie, Jackson and Teraya Sigler — and after the third one, USC acting head coach Megan Moenoa subbed her out.
Nebraska hit .471 in game one behind six kills from Adriano and five from Harper Murray, who each took nine swings. The Huskers racked up 19 kills and 18 digs while holding USC to a .118 hitting percentage.
“She’s been doing really well,” the setter said of feeding Jackson early. “We’ve had a lot of conversations these past couple weeks of just ironing out our connection, and she just has been really confident, and that makes me really confident in her too. It’s just cool to see how it’s paying off for her. I think she’s worked really hard. She changed some stuff on her footwork, and she’s been really intentional with that. She just took it and went with it, so we’re all really proud of her.”
Second Set
With Deckert out, Skutt Catholic alumna Paisley Douglas — who played defensive specialist in the first set — changed into the libero jersey during the break and started set two.
Busboom Kelly stuck with Williams in Ogbechie’s place for the rest of the match, and the freshman made the most of the opportunity.
Nebraska and USC went back and forth early in set two with two lead changes and six ties, the last at 6-6. Then the Huskers put together a 6-1 run featuring three kills from Williams and two from Jackson to take control.
Freshman middle blocker Keoni Williams elevates for one of her four kills in the second set of Nebraska volleyball’s win over USC. Photo by Eli Larson.
“Honestly, we do it every day in practice, so I just knew that my teammates were going to rally behind me, and that my coaches had my back as well,” Williams said of being ready to hear her name called. “So just going in, just being confident and relying on all the work I put in before that, and just being in the moment, because that’s something that’s really big and that you can’t take for granted.”
USC kept it somewhat close until Mauch served a 4-0 run featuring the match’s first ace to extend the lead to nine and give Nebraska set point. Leah Ford terminated for the sideout, but Nebraska responded with a kill from Jackson, her seventh of the match, to seal it.
Williams and Jackson each recorded four kills on five errorless swings as Nebraska out-hit USC .483 to .222.
“It’s so exciting,” Reilly said of Williams’ performance. “She puts in so much work, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. She’s ready to work every single day. She’s ready to find new ways to get better, and she’s always pushing the other middles too. She’s one of the reasons why Andi and Manaia and Kenna are so good, because she pushes them every day, and just getting to see it pay off in a game was awesome.”
Third Set
The teams traded points early in game three until the Huskers put together a 5-1 run including a kill from Skyler Pierce, who subbed in to play for Sigler in the front row early in the set.
USC cut a five-point deficit down to one before three straight Husker kills — from Murray. Pierce and Jackson. The Women of Troy won the next two rallies before Adriano earned the sideout, then Sigler served eight more points — including two aces — for a 9-0 run and a 20-9 lead.
Hunter and Campbell Flynn checked in late during Sigler’s run to close out the match, and the Huskers cruised to the finish.
Nebraska hit .250 in the third and held USC to minus-.029. Murray tallied six kills by herself to match the Women of Troy’s output while Adriano went 4-for-4 on her attacks.
Up Next
With a three-match home stand complete, Nebraska will spend the next two weeks of competition on the road. The Huskers will take the Michigan tour on Friday and Saturday before heading west to face Oregon and Washington the following week.
Nebraska will return to the Devaney Center on Nov. 12 as Illinois visits Lincoln.
