Coach John Cook wanted to mix up his lineup for the second half of a back-to-back while still taking care of business, and that’s what the No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team did in a home sweep over Rutgers Friday night.
Everybody but redshirting freshman Skyler Pierce saw the court as the first-place Huskers (16-1, 6-0 Big Ten) swept last-place Rutgers (5-12, 0-6) 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 at the Devaney Center.
“We weren’t super crisp today, but all the people we brought in — our game-changers, we call them — did a really good job,” Cook said. “Laney [Choboy] brought a ton of energy, Lindsay Krause came in, brought a ton of energy. Leyla [Blackwell] was awesome. So we’ve got that depth, and we can use it … It’s the first time we’ve had to do this in weeks, and we haven’t had to do it yet after playing a five-gamer marathon, three hours. So it’s good for us to go through it because we’re going to have to do it next week, I know, for sure.”
The Huskers hit .211 in the first two games before exploding in the third to finish at .314 overall.
Blackwell started alongside Andi Jackson at middle blocker, though Rebekah Allick spelled the latter in the final two sets as Cook sought to ease the sophomore back into the lineup following her injury. The trio combined for 15 kills on 26 errorless swings (.577) with Blackwell leading the way at nine kills on .600 and seven blocks.
“It’s a huge testament to Leyla, because when she goes in there, it’s like a seamless transition,” Choboy said. “You don’t even notice that anything’s different, and I think that’s something that’s super important. Obviously we’re practicing together every day, but when she goes in, it’s just completely seamless and she does what she needs to do, she does her job, and she does it well. So I’m super proud of her.”
Nebraska volleyball recorded nine stuffs after mustering just five in five sets against the 10th-ranked Boilermakers on Friday night. Blackwell said she was proud of the way the team turned the page from Friday to Saturday after the grueling match and took care of business.
“I think we showed up with a lot of focus today,” Blackwell said. “I think sometimes it can be hard to get mentally prepared for the next match, but we did a really good job. We had a great serve and pass this morning, really good film, and I just felt a lot of intentionality and focus. Everyone was prepared.”
Bergen Reilly led the offense with 35 assists and the defense with 13 digs. Harper Murray recorded her own double-double with a match-high 13 kills on .258 hitting, 11 digs and two aces.
“She’s one of the best outside haters at playing defense,” Cook said of Murray. “She’s been passing great, serving great, playing great defense, and she got 13 kills tonight, so she’s doing a nice job. Tough day for her too. We had some emotional people today with the pink night. So I’m proud of Harper for struggling through that. She was very emotional during the game, during game two, on the bench. So it’s a tough deal.”
Lindsay Krause (22) presents a rose to her mom, JoAnna Draper, a breast cancer survivor, before Nebraska’s Pink Out match against Rutgers. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Saturday was Nebraska Breast Cancer Awareness Night, presented by UNMC. In addition to the pink out, Nebraska honored seven women who either beat cancer or are currently fighting against it. Among the women was Krause’s mom, JoAnna Draper, and the two shared a hug on the court prior to the match.
“I’ve got my sister’s initials on this shirt; she passed away from it,” Cook said. “Everybody’s affected by it, and I know how important this is to the women in this community, for us to recognize this. It’s a big, emotional night.”
Lexi Rodriguez and Choboy recorded nine digs apiece while Olivia Mauch added five digs and her first ace as a Husker. Nebraska held Rutgers to .083 hitting. Taylor Landfair started at OH1 and played two sets, totaling six kills on .211 hitting and three blocks.
The Huskers took a while to find a rhythm in set one, but once they did, they dominated the second half of the set, winning 12 of the last 15 rallies to earn a 10-point win.
Nebraska only hit .206 but held Rutgers to .000 and recorded three blocks. Rutgers also missed four serves. Murray led the way with five kills.
The Huskers settled in much more quickly in set two, using runs of 4-0 (Rodriguez serving) and 7-0 (Murray serving) to create a 15-5 advantage. The Scarlet Knights made a push late in the set, trimming the lead to six, but Nebraska won five of the last seven rallies to take a 2-0 lead.
Allick started the second set in place of Jackson and notched four kills on six errorless swings to lead the attack as the Huskers hit .214 and held Rutgers to .089.
Krause replaced Landfair to start the third and Nebraska used another early run — this time 6-1 — to build a 9-4 lead. Nebraska pushed the lead to six with three straight kills then delivered the knockout blow with a 7-0 run featuring Rodriguez at the service line to earn match point. Rutgers extended the match by one point, but Nebraska earned the sideout with a kill from Murray.
Nebraska hit .615 in the third without an attack error as Merritt Beason came alive, terminating on four of her five swings after hitting negative in the first two games. Murray added five kills to lead the way while Krause matched Beason with four kills on six attempts.
“We took it up a notch, and I think they wanted to get it over with and get out of there,” Cook said. “We weren’t hitting great, we were still making high errors. And I just think they cleaned it up … We finished strong, which is what I told them afterward, it was a great job finishing strong, because sometimes these matches when you’re winning fairly easy, you can kind of let things get away from you and kind of get sloppy.
“That’s what’s great about this team, it doesn’t matter who we put in there, they still play hard and at a high level.”
After a home-heavy start to Big Ten play, the Huskers will spend week four on the road, visiting Michigan State on Friday and Ohio State on Saturday.
