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Nebraska Volleyball Falls at No. 4 Penn State

The perfect Big Ten Conference season for Nebraska volleyball ends at No. 4 Penn State.

Kaleb Henry

Amarillo Mullen

Nebraska volleyball is no longer perfect in Big Ten Conference play.

No. 2 Nebraska lost at No. 4 Penn State Friday, 21-25, 25-14, 22-25, 23-25. The Huskers fall to 28-2 on the year and 18-1 in the league, while the Nittany Lions close their regular season at 29-2 and 19-1 in conference play.

With the win, Penn State clinches at least a share of the Big Ten Conference title. Nebraska must beat Maryland Saturday to share the title.

It was an even night on the attack as Nebraska hit .154 to Penn State's .152. The difference came from total attacks, as the Nittany Lions turned 21 more attacks into 11 more kills on the night.

Two Huskers finished with double-digit kills, led by Harper Murray's 13. Andi Jackson notched 10 kills on .667 hitting, adding a match-high eight blocks.

Lexi Rodriguez had 16 digs in the match. That gives her 1,805 digs in her career, just 85 shy of program record holder Justine Wong-Orantes. If Nebraska makes a run to the NCAA Championship, Rodriguez would need to average 12.2 digs per match to break the record.

Former Husker Caroline Jurevicius led the upset effort for Penn State. Jurevicius tallied 18 kills on .414 hitting. Another former Husker, Maggie Mendelson, finished with eight kills and six blocks.

Nebraska closes the regular season at Maryland Saturday. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CST on Big Ten Network.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Set Synopses

Set 1: Penn State came out strong with a 4-0 run to start the match. A Landfair kill and two kills by Allick pulled the Huskers within 4-3, and another kill by Allick and one by Murray helped the Huskers get back to level at 6-6. A solo block by Murray gave the Huskers their first lead at 7-6, and Jackson added a kill and a block with Reilly to make it 9-7 Huskers. Penn State scored three in a row to go back up 12-11 and led 15-14 at the media timeout. A Penn State kill and ace made it 17-14 Nittany Lions, and PSU went up 19-15 to force a Nebraska timeout. Murray and Jackson combined for a block, and Reilly won at the net to trim the deficit in half, 19-17. After a PSU timeout, Jackson terminated on the slide and Penn State hit long to tie the score at 19-19. But Penn State answered with a 4-0 spurt to go back ahead 23-19. Jackson and Landfair ended the run with a block, but the Nittany Lions went on to win 25-21, snapping Nebraska's streak of 27 straight sets won on the road. 

Set 2: Murray had a kill and a block with Jackson as part of a 3-0 start. Kills by Murray, Jackson and Landfair, and a solo block by Allick put the Huskers up 9-4 after a 4-0 run served by Kennedi Orr. Landfair recorded a kill, and Allick and Beason combined for a block to make it 12-6, and a kill by Allick and block by Beason and Jackson put the Big Red up 15-7. Murray and Beason pounded kills, and Murray served an ace to double up the Nittany Lions, 18-9. Penn State scored three in a row to pull within 19-12 but served into the net and hit out twice to make it 22-12 Huskers. Landfair added a kill before teaming up with Allick for a block, and the Huskers won 25-14, holding Penn State to -.079 hitting in the set. 

Set 3: Nebraska scored the first three points, but Penn State scored the next three points. Then there were 10 straight sideouts until back-to-back blocks by the Nittany Lions put them up 10-8. Another 3-0 spurt increased PSU's lead to four, 13-9. A block by Allick and Reilly pulled the Big Red within two, 17-15, but the Nittany Lions went back up 19-15. Another block by Allick, this one with Beason, helped NU cut it to 20-18, and back-to-back kills by Murray and Jackson got the Huskers within one, 21-20. After a PSU timeout, Jurevicius terminated her 13th kill and the Huskers hit wide for a 23-20 Penn State advantage. PSU won the set, 25-22, to take a 2-1 lead. 

Set 4: The teams went back and forth in the fourth set with neither team able to gain a two-point advantage until Penn State scored five in a row to go up 16-12. Allick provided a block and a kill with Murray adding a kill in between to help the Huskers crawl back to down two, 17-15. Jackson added a kill before Penn State hit wide to make it 18-17 Nittany Lions. After a Penn State timeout, Murray posted her 12th kill to tie the score, and Penn State hit out for a 19-18 Husker lead after the 4-0 run served by Beason. But the Nittany Lions answered with a kill and an ace to go back on top, 20-19. A Penn State block and Husker hitting error put the Huskers in a 24-21 hole, and the Nittany Lions won, 25-23. 

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Published
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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