Nebraska Volleyball Burns Top 25 Opponent, Sweeps Arizona State

Husker volleyball takes on No. 14 Arizona State and makes quick work of the Sun Devils.

Enrique Alvarez-Clary | Sep 14, 2024

Lexi Rodriguez (left), Harper Murray (middle) and Bergan Reilly celebrate a kill from Rebekah Allick. / Amarillo Mullen

Sunscreen applied. Sun Devils defeated.

No. 5 Nebraska (7-1) played their second match in four days and swept No. 14 Arizona St (7-1): 25-20, 26-24, 25-19.

Nebraska put on an offensive clinic collecting 48 kills and only13 errors, finishing with a .319 hitting percentage as a team.

Arizona State hit .213 as a team, led by Geli Cyr who finished with 14 kills on .357 hitting percentage. Argentina Ung paced the Sun Devils offense with 35 assists while keeping the ball from hitting the court with 15 digs.

Merritt Beason pushed aside a slow start to finish with the most kills in the match, leading the way with 15 kills and only three errors, good for a .429 hitting percentage. The senior captain also chipped in three blocks.

Bergen Reilly again led a balanced Huskers attack as she earned another double-double finishing with 41 assists and 15 digs while chipping in two blocks.

Andi Jackson and Harper Murray both finished with 10 kills each, with Murray chipping in nine digs as well. Rebekah Allick only took 13 swings but turned them into seven kills while also being a problem at the net for the opponent with five blocks.

Nebraska Volleyball Rebekah Allick celebrates a double block with Merritt Beason.

Rebekah Allick (5) celebrates a double block with Merritt Beason. / Amarillo Mullen

The first set of the match saw both teams putting on a show on the offensive end.

A back-and-forth affair from the first serve saw both teams siding out at a ridiculous pace, Nebraska at 90% with Arizona State at 72%. Nebraska took the lead at 5-4 off a Jackson kill. She started the match 6-for-6 before committing her first error late in the first set, and the Big Red never trailed for the rest of the set.

The second set was more hotly contested with Arizona State leading 15-12 at the media timeout. The teams then traded the lead multiple times before the Husker called a timeout while trailing 22-21.

Back-to-back attacking errors from Murray led to a conversation with the team from coach John Cook. The timeout caused a Sun Devils service error. The visitors would finish the match with 12.

A double-stuff block by Nebraska to retake the lead. The Huskers finished the second set, outscoring Arizona State 5-2 down the stretch to claim the victory.

Nebraska Volleyball Merritt Beason gets her hands on the ball for a block.

Merritt Beason (13) gets her hands on the ball for a block. / Amarillo Mullen

The third set saw a another Husker step up to the challenge. Harper Murray crushed six of her 10 kills in the final set, leading the way for a set that saw only three lead changes.

Next up for the Huskers is the final match of the Nebraska Classic. Nebraska takes on Wichita State Saturday at 3 p.m. CDT.

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Published Sep 14, 2024

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