‘Gritty over pretty’ is one of No. 2 Nebraska volleyball’s mantras, and it showed on Thursday night as the Huskers took down No. 16 Minnesota 3-1.
For just the second time in the last 10 matches, Nebraska dropped a set, but the Cornhuskers (25-1, 15-0 Big Ten) rallied to win the final two for a 25-12, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19 victory.
“I knew this was going to be a tough match tonight, and it was a brawl,” Coach John Cook said. “I thought there was some really good volleyball and there was some shaky volleyball, but I think we responded really well after losing game two … It felt weird to lose a set, but I thought we responded really well, and I thought Minnesota gave a great effort tonight.”
The Cornhuskers cruised through the first set but hit well below their standard in the final three games to finish at .199 overall. Nebraska struggled in transition most of the night, allowing Minnesota to extend rallies.
“We hit .199, which isn’t amazing,” Andi Jackson said. “It’s definitely not our team goal. But we were just talking about it in the locker room, ‘gritty over pretty,’ and sometimes there are going to be those games where maybe the stat sheet isn’t pretty, but coming together and just being team-first in those moments, it will reflect on the court.”
Bergen Reilly recorded 20 digs and six kills — both career highs — to go with her 40 assists and four blocks. She hit .500, but the team struggled to terminate out of system when she took the first contact.
“She did a great job attacking and winning jousts at the net,” Cook said. “Laney [Choboy] did a great job of pushing her up there so she could do that. She dug great, but we hit .199, so we’ve got some things we’ve got to clean up and get a little better rhythm and improve on by Saturday.”
Harper Murray led the Huskers with 13 kills on .250 hitting and a career-high 19 digs. Taylor Landfair added 12 kills against her former team, but also had nine errors and hit .067. Jackson contributed nine kills on .471 hitting and six blocks.
Lexi Rodriguez added 16 digs and seven assists as Nebraska held the Gophers to .130 hitting. Junior outside hitter Julia Hanson took over for stretches and finished with 20 kills, but the Nebraska defense also forced her into 11 error and a .155 hitting percentage. The Huskers out-blocked the Gophers 12 to seven, which Jackson said was a huge part of the win.
“Not only does it slow down the attacks for our defense, but I’ve said it before: as a hitter, when they’re touching a lot of your shots, it’s very defeating, and you start to lose confidence,” Jackson said. “I think when our team has that huge block and is just touching a lot of balls, it really dwells the other team’s confidence, and so that can help us slow the game down a little bit, and it feels like we’re in a little bit more control.”
The first set was all Nebraska as the Huskers raced out to a 6-1 lead and kept building on it the rest of the way. A 4-0 run pushed the advantage to 13-6 midway through and the Huskers doubled up the Gophers the rest of the way, closing the set on another 6-1 run. Landfair delivered the set-point kill, her fifth of the set.
Nebraska hit .367 and held Minnesota to .029. The Huskers recorded three more blocks (including a solo stuff from Reilly and three assists from Jackson) and six more digs than the Gophers.
The second set was much more competitive. Minnesota used a 4-0 run to take its first lead, then used another 3-0 run to pull ahead 13-10. Nebraska had four attack errors and two service errors in the first 22 rallies of set two after notching just three and zero, respectively, in the entire first set.
Nebraska ended the run with a back-row smash from Murray then kept it close for a while until the Gophers ripped off four straight, including three kills, to take a 22-17 lead. Minnesota earned set point at 24-19 before a 3-0 Nebraska run, but the Gophers capitalized on their fourth chance with a Hanson kill.
Minnesota put forth a much scrappier defensive effort in set two with 17 digs, holding Nebraska to .098 hitting. The Gophers hit .175 as Hanson had five more kills to give her a match-high 10 at the intermission. Nebraska notched five more blocks but only mustered 11 kills.
“Giving credit to Minnesota, they’re a very good team, and they had a really, really strong block the second set and going forward,” Jackson said. “So we had to adjust to them. Obviously, we kind of rolled them the first set, and they turned it on a little bit. Both teams had to adjust, and I think they probably adjusted a little bit quicker in the second, and then we came back.”
Nebraska recaptured momentum with a 6-1 run for a 9-5 lead early in set three. Minnesota rallied to tie it up at 12-12 but never got over the hump. The Gophers kept applying pressure, making it a one-point game late at 21-20, but Nebraska closed the set on a 4-2 run that included two Gopher service errors.
Hanson notched nine more kills, but the rest of the Gophers hit .000 and gave Nebraska five free points at the service line with errors. Nebraska hit .151.
The teams traded shots early in the fourth set, but Nebraska took control with a 9-1 run — including seven straight with Kennedi Orr serving — to open a 13-4 lead. Minnesota used a 4-0 run late to cut the deficit down to four, but Reilly found Murray out of the back row for a kill then served an ace to quell the comeback. Merritt Beason added a kill for match point and Nebraska closed it out three rallies later with a kill from Rebekah Allick.
Nebraska out-hit Minnesota .238 to .136 in the fourth set while holding Hanson to one kill and three errors. Murray came alive with five kills on eight errorless swings in the frame.
“As I told the team, at the end here, the margin for winning is getting narrower, and it’s harder to win,” Cook said. “Everybody’s fighting for something, and we’re playing really good teams. So part of that was Minnesota did a really good job, and sometimes you just have to win when it’s not pretty, and everything’s going your way. We’ve kind of been used to that the last few matches where everything’s just kind of been going and we’ve been cruising a little bit. But they got us out of our comfort zone tonight.”
Nebraska volleyball will return to the Devaney Center on Saturday to host an Indiana team that fell in straight sets at Iowa on Thursday night. The Hoosiers are 12-13 overall and 5-10 in conference play.
First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network with Larry Punteney and Lauren Stivrins on the call.
