Huskers Slice Sooners, 3-0

Lincoln ? Outside hitters Tara Mueller and Jordan Larson combined for 27 kills, leading second-ranked Nebraska to a 3-0 victory (25-16, 25-19, 25-14) over Oklahoma Wednesday night in front of a sold-out Nebraska Coliseum and national television audience.

Larson led Nebraska (16-0, 7-0 Big 12) with 14 kills on .293 hitting and eight digs, while Mueller collected her third career double-double, totaling 13 kills on .312 hitting and 10 digs, helping the Huskers win their 79th consecutive home match. Sydney Anderson dished out 38 assists and added eight digs and a pair of blocks.

Nebraska held Oklahoma (7-9, 3-5 Big 12) to just .093 hitting and out-blocked the Sooners, 7-2. Amanda Gates paced the Huskers with four stuffs and chipped in five kills to help NU collect its 11th sweep of the year. It marked the fourth opponent NU has held to under .100 hitting

“I thought the Huskers did a nice job tonight,” Nebraska Coach John Cook said. “The biggest challenge mentally is this is our fourth match in eight days. As I said on Tuesday, the challenge was last year we didn’t play very well in this match after playing a doubleheader on the weekend. So, we challenged them, and they responded really well and they should feel really good about their effort tonight.”

The Huskers came out firing in the opening set, hitting .357 as a team in posting a 25-16 victory. Larson and Mueller combined for 11 kills, while it was the strong serving of Larson who keyed the set’s big spurt. Trailing 9-8, Nebraska used Larson’s serving to run off seven straight points, as Mueller pounded home three kills to help push the Nebraska lead to 15-9. The Sooners pulled to within five points a couple of the times, the last being at 19-14, but a Larson kill and strong serving from Amanda Gates triggered another four-point run. The spurt took the NU lead to 22-14 lead after Kori Cooper and Lindsey Licht combined on a block.

Larson shined offensively in the second set, totaling seven kills on 15 swings and adding a service ace in a 25-19 victory. Trailing 11-9, Nebraska ran off four straight points, taking a 13-11 lead after a Gates kill. The Sooners stayed within striking distance, but the Huskers kept answering to keep OU at bay. Leading 20-18, a pair of Larson kills sandwiched a 5-1 set-ending run that sent the Huskers to the locker room with a 2-0 lead.

Nebraska used its best defensive effort of the night in the finale, totaling four blocks and holding the Sooners to .000 hitting in a 25-14 victory. Mueller came up big offensively with five kills on nine swings, while Gates totaled three of her four blocks in the finale. Nebraska took charge early in the set, using a 7-1 spurt to turn a one-point lead into a 15-8 cushion after two Mueller straight kills and a block by Gates and Sydney Anderson. OU pulled to within 17-10, but the Huskers ran off four straight points, including a kill and a block from Brooke Delano and led 21-10 after a Mueller service ace.

Caitlin Higgins led Oklahoma with 11 kills and 13 digs, while no other Sooner had more than six kills.

The Huskers return to action on Sunday afternoon, as they travel to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Missouri Tigers. First serve at the Hearnes Center is set for Noon and the match will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest and also carried on the Husker Sports Network.