Huskers Continue Win Streak with Sweep at Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. - The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team won its 19th match in a row with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-15 sweep at Northwestern in front of a sold-out crowd of 6,003 on Sunday afternoon. 

Merritt Beason had nine kills and hit .643 to lead the Huskers (22-1, 12-0 B1G), who trailed for just three rallies in the entire match. Andi Jackson recorded eight kills and hit .545, and Taylor Landfair had six kills. Rebekah Allick finished with four kills. 

Nebraska hit .287 and held Northwestern to .082. The Huskers had the advantage in kills (39-29), aces (7-2) and blocks (7-2). Harper Murray served three of Nebraska's aces and added four kills. Six different Huskers recorded two blocks.

Bergen Reilly had 25 assists and a team-high nine digs and also dumped four kills. Lexi Rodriguez had seven digs to move into a tie for No. 2 in school history with Kayla Banwarth with 1,706 career digs.

Buse Hazan had eight kills to lead Northwestern (4-16, 2-10 B1G). 

Set 1: Nebraska took a 6-1 lead to start the match with three kills on six swings along with an ace by Olivia Mauch. Three kills by Landfair helped push the lead to 13-6, but Northwestern fought back to get within 15-12 after a 5-1 spurt sparked by three kills by Hazan. Beason and Jackson responded with kills to make it 17-12, and Reilly and Jackson posted back-to-back kills before an ace by Murray increased the Husker lead to 20-13. Nebraska led 21-13 before a three-point Northwestern run, but the Huskers got two kills from Beason to win 25-18. 

Set 2: With the score tied 4-4, Murray tallied a kill before a Northwestern hitting error and a block by Jackson and Reilly made it 7-4 Big Red. Reilly dumped a kill and an ace by Murray put the Huskers up 9-5. Northwestern pulled within one, 10-9, but a solo block by Landfair, a kill by Allick and an ace by Reilly put the Huskers back up by four, 13-9. Landfair, Allick, Murray and Beason put down kills and Beason served an ace to extend the advantage to 19-12. Landfair and Jackson terminated kill, and a block by Allick and Landfair put the Huskers at set point. Reilly dumped a kill for the 25-15 win. 

Set 3: Leyla Blackwell started the set for the Huskers at middle blocker and had two kills and a block with Murray for a 4-1 start. Murray had two kills and an ace as the Huskers built their lead to 13-5 after she served a 5-0 run. Northwestern cut it to 15-9, but Reilly dumped a kill and Lindsay Krause tooled a block to put Nebraska up 17-9. The Wildcats used another 3-0 run to get within 17-12, but Beason answered and Murray and Blackwell stuffed a Northwestern attack to make it 19-12. Beason and Jackson teamed up for a block before Rodriguez served an ace, and the Huskers pulled away for a 25-15 win. 

Up Next: The Huskers continue their stretch of four straight road matches this week. Nebraska will play at No. 10 Oregon on Thursday at 9 p.m. (CT), and will then travel to face Washington on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. (CT).