A gritty defensive performance on short rest and a highly efficient offensive effort lifted No. 2 Nebraska volleyball to its 15th straight win, a sweep at Ohio State on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskers beat the Buckeyes 25-18, 25-18, 25-16 in the first college volleyball match televised on NBC.
“This is a challenging turnaround,” Coach John Cook told NBC. “We had to play last night at Michigan State, play this afternoon, so I’m really proud of our team. They showed some mental grit and toughness. We’ve never won here at the Covelli Center] before, so this is also a big moment for us. It’s a big win.”
The Huskers (18-1, 8-0 Big Ten) hit .369 as Bergen Reilly dished out 39 assists.
Harper Murray put forth another strong effort with 14 kills on .394 hitting, and Merritt Beason wasn’t far behind with 13 kills on .345 hitting, six blocks, six digs and one ace. Andi Jackson added eight kills on .500 hitting and three blocks.
“It’s a great team to come in the gym every day with,” Reilly told NBC. “We have a lot of fun together, and I think you can see it on the court. It shows just in the trust that I have in everybody. We’re really balanced; everyone can come in and get a kill, and it’s really freeing as a setter just to be able to set anyone you want.”
Ohio State’s star opposite hitter, Emily Londot, went off for a match-high 16 kills on .245 hitting to improve her Big Ten-leading kills average, but the rest of the Buckeyes hit a combined .069.
Nebraska out-dug Ohio State (8-10, 1-7) 58 to 37 as Lexi Rodriguez flew around all match to rack up a season-high 22 digs.
“She didn’t play very well yesterday,” Cook told the Huskers Radio Network. “She heard about it, and she said she was going to play great today. I think she was fired up to go against Londot and Emmi [Sellman]. I think Emmi was on some USA teams with those guys this summer, so I think she was just fired up to dig those guys. They’re all big wrist-away hitters over there, so they were hitting a lot of balls at her. I didn’t realize — I knew she had a lot of digs, but that was a lot. She made some great [digs] of the junk shots by Londot, she made some great ups.”
Reilly added 11 digs to her line for the double-double while freshman Olivia Mauch finished with 10 digs and two aces.
After some back-and-forth play to open the match, Nebraska surged ahead with a 6-0 run midway through the set to take a 12-7 lead. Beason, Jackson and Murray scored two points apiece during the run.
The Buckeyes made a push, trimming the deficit to two at 17-15, but the Huskers responded with three straight including a pair of kills from Rebekah Allick to stretch it back out. They finished strong from there to take a 1-0 lead.
Reilly set Nebraska to a .414 hitting percentage with 13 assists. Murray was her favorite target with five kills on seven errorless swings. Londot put down eight kills on 19 swings by herself, but the rest of the Buckeyes only managed four kills and seven errors.
Nebraska grabbed the lead early in set two then used a 6-0 serving run from Mauch — including an ace — to create separation at 14-6. The lead peaked at 17-8 before Ohio State made a mini run late to make the final score a bit more respectable. The Huskers closed out the set with a block on Londot, their fifth stuff of the set.
Nebraska hit .342 and held Ohio State to .205. Beason got going on offense with five kills on 11 errorless swings.
Nebraska wasted no time in set three as Mauch ripped off another extended serving run — this time 8-0, including another ace — to put the Huskers up 10-1. Nebraska pushed the lead to 11 a couple of times before cruising to the sweep.
The Huskers hit .361 in the set and recorded 23 digs, holding Ohio State to .140. Murray and Beason notched five kills apiece as Reilly dished out 14 assists. After her eight-kill first set, Londot recorded eight kills in the last two sets combined on 34 swings.
“I think that’s something we’ve been working on is consistency across the board, both offensively and defensively,” Beason told NBC. “Tonight we knew they were going to make their plays, but it’s all about how we’re going to respond. You have to give a ton of credit to them and Emily Londot … She played amazing and so it was just about how were we going to respond and making sure that they don’t get all the momentum in those moments.”
Cook gave Taylor Landfair the start after her 12-kill performance on Saturday and she followed it with seven kills on .235 hitting and two blocks. Cook said he’s looking for someone who can grab onto the OH1 spot and keep it, but Landfair and Lindsay Krause will continue to compete for playing time in practice.
“We’re going to continue to compete,” Cook said on the radio. “There’s going to be some competition this week. I think these guys thrive on competition, and I think it brings out the best. So we’re going to keep competing.”
Nebraska volleyball will get another full week of practice to compete without having to worry about travel as Illinois and Michigan will visit the Devaney Center for another weekend Husker home stand.
