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Nebraska Volleyball Libero Moves Up All-Time Digs Chart in Sweep of Northwestern

Husker volleyball libero Lexi Rodriguez ties another legend in front of a sold-out Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Enrique Alvarez-Clary

Nebraska volleyball players celebrate a point at Northwestern.
Nebraska volleyball players celebrate a point at Northwestern. / Nebraska Athletics

Another sweep for Nebraska volleyball as Lexi Rodriguez continues to make her mark on the program.

No. 2 Nebraska (22-1, 12-0 Big Ten) ends the weekend road trip with a sweep of Northwestern (4-16, 2-10 Big Ten), 25-18, 25-15, 25-15. During the match, Rodriguez moved into a tie for second in program history for digs.

Rodriguez and legendary Husker libero Kayla Banwarth are now both at 1,706 career digs. The top spot is held by Olympian Justine Wong-Orantes at 1,890.

The Huskers cruised to their 19th straight win with an extremely balanced offensive performance, hitting .287 with 39 kills and only 12 errors. Nebraska was just as impressive from the service line, finishing with seven aces.

The visitors collected seven blocks and forced the home side into 21 attacking errors.

Nebraska Volleyball
Rebekah Allick (5) and Merritt Beason (13) block a Creighton kill. / Amarillo Mullen

Nebraska setter Bergen Reilly was aggressive on the offensive side, finishing with four kills while dishing out 25 assists to go along with nine digs. Senior captain Merritt Beason led the offense with nine kills while registering an impressive .643 hitting percentage.

Husker middle blocker Andi Jackson had another impressive performance, building her case for an All-America nod with eight kills on .545 hitting and two blocks. Rebekah Allick and Harper Murray finished with four kills each.

Murray struggled finding the floor on the Northwestern side of the net, taking 20 swings, good for a .050 hitting percentage. She did, however, ace the Wildcats three times.

Nebraska is on the road again next weekend with a trip to the Pacific Northwest. The Huskers take on the Oregon Ducks Thursday and the Washington Huskies Saturday.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Set Synopses

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. 

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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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