Volleyball

Huskers Win Ninth Straight With Sweep of Baylor

Lincoln -- Greichaly Cepero, Amber Holmquist and Laura Pilakowski each produced 11 kills and hit .500 or better to lead No. 1 Nebraska to it's 14th sweep of the season, a 15-2, 15-2, 15-10 decision over Baylor. With the victory, the Huskers improved to 16-0 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12 Conference and are now 51-2 all-time when competing as the nation's top-ranked team.

The Huskers used a balanced attack to take down the Bears. Cepero led the way, posting a season-high 11 kills on .611 hitting. She also had 32 assists to lead Nebraska to a .386 hitting efficiency, marking the 12th time this season that the Huskers have hit .322 or higher.

"Baylor never adjusted to Greicha," NU Coach John Cook said. "I just kept telling her to dump the ball, and it kept working. When a setter has 11 kills, that's also because of some great passing, too."

Sophomore outside hitter Pilakowski also totaled 11 kills. Pilakowski hit .529 and produced seven digs and a career-best three service aces. Holmquist was NU's third player to reach the 11-kill mark. She hit .500 and had a match-best eight blocks.

Defensively, Nebraska held Baylor to .052 hitting and out-blocked the Bears 12-2. The Huskers held freshman Stevie Nicholas, who entered the match averaging nearly six kills per game, to five kills and a minus -.053 efficiency. The match marked the first time this season that Nicholas has recorded less than 20 kills.

Baylor mounted its only serious challenge of the match in the third game against a mix of Nebraska starters and reserves. Trailing 8-2, the Bears scored three straight points to cut Nebraska's lead to 8-5. The Huskers responded with a 3-1 run of their own, taking an 11-6 advantage. Nebraska lost possession on a serving error, and the Bears pieced together another 3-0 run, scoring on two Husker hitting errors and back-to-back blocks by Kirsten Berg and Tisha Schwartz and Dana Atkinson and Tatiana Kenon.

A kill by Holmquist turned possession back to Nebraska. The Huskers traded serves with BU before finally scoring on Holmquist's 11th kill of the match to take a 12-10 lead. NU scored its final three points of the match on a kill by Pilakowski, and a block of Nicholas by Holmquist, and a thunderous kill by Cepero for the 15-10 third-game win.

"I wish we could play a team like Nebraska every week," Baylor Coach Brian Hosfeld said. "Not for the losses, but for the experience. The have a lot of physical ability above the net, and we didn't handle that very well in the first two games, but we adjusted in the third. I'm proud of our kids for challenging Nebraska in that third game."

The Huskers return to action Saturday when they travel to Lubbock, Texas, to face Texas Tech in a 1p.m. match at the United Spirit Arena.