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Nebraska Volleyball Advances to Sweet 16 with Sweep of Miami

The Huskers will host regionals at the Devaney Center after eliminating the Hurricanes.

Enrique Alvarez-Clary

Andi Jackson in action vs. Miami
Andi Jackson in action vs. Miami / Nebraska Athletics

Nebraska volleyball is headed back to the Sweet 16.

No.2 Nebraska (31-2, 19-1 B1G) swept Miami (23-11, 12-9 ACC) Saturday, 25-19, 25-14, 25-18, to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. This will be the program's 40th NCAA Regional appearance.

The Huskers used a mix of dominating offense and suffocating defense to stamp out the Hurricanes. Nebraska hit .293, while holding Miami to a paltry .058 hitting percentage.

Harper Murray celebrates vs. Miami
Harper Murray celebrates vs. Miami / Nebraska Athletics

Despite being out-swung (104-92), Nebraska finished the match with more kills (41-32), assists (38-31), aces (3-1), digs (43-35), and blocks (10-7). Miami did lead in two categories, however: attacking errors (26-14) and service errors (5-4).

The top attacker in the ACC, Flormarie Heredia Colon, finished the match with 14 kills on 39 swings, but committed 11 errors as well. Nebraska on the other hand spread the ball around, having all attackers finish with over six kills but not having a single one hit double digits.

Bergen Reilly shared the sugar by collecting 33 assists while adding four of her own kills. Taylor Landfair was the top target with 27 swings, terminating eight of them while also sending back four shots.

Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson with a block vs. Miami
Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson with a block vs. Miami / Nebraska Athletics

Merrit Beason also finished with eight kills, but the top kill getter for the Huskers was Harper Murray with nine, along with two aces and 12 digs.

Rebekah Allick was a force on both sides as she collected six kills and seven blocks to lead all defenders. Keeping it on the defensive side, Lexi Rodriguez entered the night needing 56 digs to pass Justine Wong-Orantes on the Nebraska all-time digs list. She added nine to her total Saturday night.

Nebraska will now host the regional in Lincoln next weekend. Wisconsin will face Texas A&M at 6 p.m. CST Friday, followed by the Huskers vs. Dayton 30 minutes after that match. The winners will play Sunday at 2 p.m. CST for a spot in the Final Four. Friday's matches will be televised on ESPN2, and Sunday's will be on ABC.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Set Synopses

Set 1: A Murray kill and block by Merritt Beason and Allick, along with a trio of Miami hitting errors, helped the Huskers take a 13-8 lead. Kills from Jackson and Landfair extended the advantage to 19-12. The Hurricanes pulled within four at 21-17, but a Husker block ended a 3-0 Miami scoring run. NU closed out the set, 25-19, on a Hurricane hitting error. The Big Red held Miami to .091 hitting in the set. 

Set 2: Kennedi Orr at the service line sparked a 3-0 run to hand the Huskers an early 7-3 lead. A Murray ace and two Hurricane hitting errors stretched the lead to 16-9. Orr enjoyed another service run, which included an ace, along with a Landfair kill and Allick/Landfair block that put Nebraska ahead 20-10. Andi Jackson and Beason combined for NU’s sixth block of the match to end the set, 25-14.  Nebraska hit .300 in the set while limiting Miami to an .081 attack percentage.

Set 3: Two kills apiece from Reilly and Jackson, along with an ace by Murray and block were part of a 7-0 run to give the Huskers a 9-3 advantage. Miami came back to pull within three at 12-9. The Huskers responded by winning five of the next six rallies to take a 17-10 advantage. Nebraska led by at least six the rest of the way, earning the victory on Reilly's fourth kill of the match. Nebraska hit .357 in the third set while Miami hit .000.

Nebraska Athletics Notes

  • With the win, Nebraska advanced to an NCAA Regional for the 13th consecutive season and for the 40th time in program history. The Huskers’ 40 regional appearances are the most in NCAA history, while Nebraska’s 13 consecutive regional berths rank second nationally.
  • With the win, Nebraska improved to 132-37 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in postseason wins and winning percentage (.781).
  • Nebraska improved to 30-2 all-time in second-round NCAA Tournament matches.
  • The win was Nebraska’s 24th consecutive home victory in the NCAA Tournament, a school record. NU improved to 85-7 all-time in home NCAA Tournament matches, including 30-2 at the Devaney Center.
  • Overall, Nebraska has won 43 consecutive home matches dating back to Dec. 1, 2022. The Huskers’ own the nation’s longest home winning streak, and the streak is the longest since Nebraska moved into the Devaney Center in 2013.
  • The Huskers improved to 62-1 all-time against unranked opponents in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Nebraska improved to 103-1 in the NCAA Tournament when taking a 2-0 lead. The Huskers have won 102 consecutive postseason matches when winning the first two sets.
  • John Cook improved to 91-20 in the NCAA Tournament as Nebraska’s head coach. He improved to 99-25 in his NCAA Tournament career. Cook ranks second all-time in career NCAA Tournament victories and NCAA Tournament wins at one school.
  • Cook coached his 111th NCAA Tournament match as Nebraska’s head coach tonight. The 111 postseason matches tie former Hawaii coach Dave Shoji for the third-most NCAA Tournament matches coached at one school.
  • Nebraska limited Miami to a .058 attack percentage. That was a season-low for the Hurricanes and marked only the second time this season they hit below .100.
  • Rebekah Allick recorded seven blocks in the match. That increased her career total to 395, as she moved up to sixth place on Nebraska’s career blocks chart in the rally-scoring era.
  • Lexi Rodriguez had nine digs in the match to move into the top into the top five in career NCAA Tournament digs at Nebraska. Rodriguez ranks fourth with 226 digs in her NCAA Tournament career.
  • Harper Murray led Nebraska in kills (9), digs (12) and service aces. NU also scored more points of Murray’s server than any other Huskers.

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Enrique Alvarez-Clary
ENRIQUE ALVAREZ-CLARY

Enrique Alvarez-Clary, better known as Rico, is the Assistant Program Director at 93.7 The Ticket in Lincoln, Nebraska as well as the Executive Producer for the Supernovas Radio Network which broadcasts every Omaha Supernovas match during the inaugural season of the Professional Volleyball Federation. A native of Nebraska, Rico first graduated from the prestigious Bellevue West High School and went on to graduate from the University of Nebraska-Kearney where he also competed in Track & Field. Being behind the scenes for so long, Enrique has shifted into a more on-air role co-hosting the "Happy Hour" and lending his voice to many other shows on 93.7. Enrique focuses his coverage of Nebraska on football, volleyball, mens & womens basketball, softball, and track and field. When Enrique isn't covering Huskers Athletics you can find him hanging out with his wife Rachael and their two children Elliot (daughter) and Kade (son). Rico can be reached at rique2688@gmail.com or on Twitter/X @RadioRicoAC

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