Coach John Cook has been looking for improved production from the outside hitters, and his team delivered on Friday as No. 2 Nebraska volleyball swept Michigan State at the Breslin Center.
The Cornhuskers (17-1, 7-0 Big Ten) beat the Spartans (7-11, 0-7) 25-15, 25-19, 25-15 as Nebraska’s starting left sides combined for 24 kills on .373 hitting.
“I thought it was pretty good,” Cook said of his left-side attack on Big Ten Network. “We worked really hard on it this week and I thought we got into a pretty good rhythm. I always want more, but they did some nice things tonight, especially out of system. Harper [Murray] had some monster kills; that was fun to watch.”
Murray finished with 12 kills on .333 hitting and eight digs, but it was Taylor Landfair who stole the show. Cook gave her the start alongside Murray and she responded with 12 kills of her own on .417 hitting.
“I think Bergie and me were having a really, really good connection today, and then also just so much support from my team,” Landfair said. “If something didn’t happen that I wanted it to, I know that they were just there supporting me, being like, ‘You got the next one.’ So much confidence from my teammates, so it was nice.”
Andi Jackson added 10 kills on .600 hitting and five blocks while Bergen Reilly just missed out on a double-double with 35 assists and a team-high nine digs. Nebraska hit .364 overall.
“Offensively, I thought we did some really nice things,” Cook said. “We were killing the ball from all different areas — behind the setter, front of the setter, quick zone, go zone and back row. So I thought we had some really good swings.”
Defensively, Nebraska volleyball held Michigan State to .141, though what Cook was most proud of his team for was limiting Michigan State’s attack-minded setter, Julia Bishop, without a kill on three attempts.
“It took us a while to get going, but the highlight is their setter loves to two-shoot and throw it all over and I think our players were like ‘She’s not getting the ball down tonight,’” Cook said. “If you look at the stats, she has as many attempts as the middles, so she’s very active. I think that fired them up to go against her, because she’s a baller.”
The Spartans gave the Nebraska defense some problems early in set one, playing the Huskers to a draw through the first 26 rallies. However, Nebraska settled in and closed the first set on a 12-2 run including six straight at the end featuring Kennedi Orr at the service line.
Murray led the way with five kills, Landfair added four including game point and Jackson chipped in three as all three made it through the set without an error. Nebraska hit .433 overall and Jackson was in on all three of Nebraska’s blocks as the Huskers held Michigan State to .129.
Nebraska made its run a bit earlier in set two. Holding onto a 7-6 lead, the Huskers put together another 12-2 run to build a 19-8 advantage. In true Spartan fashion, Michigan State continued to fight, using a 7-1 run to trim the lead to five. However, the teams traded points for a bit from there until back-to-back Spartan errors gave Nebraska set point. Michigan State won set-point two rallies, but Landfair again closed out the set with a kill on Nebraska’s third try.
Nebraska hit .250 in the set behind five kills on 10 swings from Landfair. Michigan State hit .175.
The lead changed hands a few times early in set three as both teams struggled a bit with errors, but Nebraska put together a 7-2 run to pull ahead 11-7. The Spartans hung around for a bit until the Huskers delivered the knockout blow with a 10-2 run to push the lead to 10. Nebraska traded sideouts from there until Merritt Beason put down the match-point kill.
Nebraska hit .414 as Murray put down five kills and Jackson added four on four attacks. The Spartans hit .067.
The quick match (92 minutes) will benefit the Huskers who have to head to Columbus to take on Ohio State (8-9, 1-6) on Saturday afternoon. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on NBC.
The Buckeyes nearly upset No. 3 Penn State on Friday night, falling 16-14 in the fifth. Nebraska’s travel party arrived in Columbus before the marathon match ended.
