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Nebraska Volleyball Bounces Back, Sweeps The Citadel

No. 2 Nebraska volleyball bounced back from its Tuesday loss to sweep The Citadel on the first day of the Husker Invitational.

Kaleb Henry

Nebraska middle blocker Leyla Blackwell (right) wins a battle at the net against The Citadel.
Nebraska middle blocker Leyla Blackwell (right) wins a battle at the net against The Citadel. / Nebraska Athletics

A "get right" match if there ever was one for Nebraska volleyball.

After getting swept at SMU earlier this week, No. 2 Nebraska returned to the Bob Devaney Sports Center for the start of the Husker Invitational on Thursday. The Huskers began with a dominant sweep of The Citadel Bulldogs: 25-14, 25-16, 25-16.

NU improves to 4-1 while The Citadel drops to 2-2. This was the first-ever match between the two programs.

"First of all, our crowd was awesome tonight," Nebraska coach John Cook said. "For a Thursday night, playing a program that they probably weren't familiar with, they were awesome. That was a great feeling to feel their energy tonight.

"Second thing is, much respect for Citadel. Those student-athletes live in a different world."

Cook said he learned about The Citadel as a school from opposing coach Dave Zelenock. The Citadel is the third-oldest of the six senior military colleges in the United States, meaning, as Cook put it, they have to deal with curfews and discipline in a different way than that of most college athletes.

On the floor, Nebraska raced out quickly with a trio of aces from Lindsay Krause and Bergen Reilly to take a 6-1 lead in the first set. The Big Red would add two more and hit .550 to dominate the opening frame.

The Huskers started fast in the next two sets as well, 6-1 in the second and 5-0 in the third.

Nebraska defensive specialist Oliva Mauch digs a ball against The Citadel while libero Lexi Rodriguez eyes the ball.
Nebraska defensive specialist Oliva Mauch (front) digs a ball against The Citadel while libero Lexi Rodriguez (back) eyes the ball. / Nebraska Athletics

NU hit .367 for the match while holding the Bulldogs to .122. The Huskers did have 11 service errors, something that had Cook thinking back to the SMU loss.

"We were shaky serving, so that's PTSD from Tuesday," Cook said. "But we had (only) seven attack errors; that was really nice. I thought we did some really good things tonight. Played good volleyball, played pretty good defense.

"It was a good bounce back. We needed it."

Harper Murray was one kill away from a double-double, notching a match-high with nine while adding 10 digs. Lexi Rodriguez had the match high for digs with 15.

An even attack saw Leyla Blackwell, Merritt Beason, and Andi Jackson finish with seven kills each. Taylor Landfair was next with six on .667 hitting.

The Husker block was in effect with eight during the , led by four each from Blackwell and Beason.

Nebraska continues the Husker Invitational Saturday against Montana State at 2 p.m. CDT. The match will be televised on Nebraska Public Media and streamed on B1G+, with the Huskers Radio Network also carrying the action.

Box score

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Kaleb Henry

KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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