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Nebraska Volleyball Survives Top-10 Scare, Fends Off Purdue in Five Sets

The Huskers overcome a rough second set and a meltdown in the third to escape with the win over the Boilermakers.

Enrique Alvarez-Clary

Nebraska volleyball players celebrate a point against Purdue. The Huskers won in five sets.
Nebraska volleyball players celebrate a point against Purdue. The Huskers won in five sets. / Nebraska Athletics

Big Ten. Top 10. Five sets.

No. 2 Nebraska (15-1) scratched and clawed its way to a five-set victory over No. 10 Purdue (12-4) in front of a raucous Bob Devaney Sports Center crowd Friday evening. The Huskers remain undefeated in Big Ten play with a 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-22, 17-15 win over the Boilermakers.

A light show between the second and third set was, despite the pageantry, a distant second to the amazing play on the court.

Bergen Reilly guided the Huskers to a .242 hitting percentage as she dished out 60 assists and added to her double-double count with 17 digs.

Merritt Beason led the team in kills as she collected 22 to go along with eight digs and three blocks. Harper Murray had clutch kill after clutch kill as she added 17 to the Nebraska tally.

The Husker middles were active early but slowed down as the match went on. Andi Jackson had 14 kills while Rebekah Allick added 10.

Nebraska Volleyball
Andi Jackson. / Amarillo Mullen

Purdue found something that worked and kept going to it as Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine carried the load for the Boilermaker offense with 26 and 22 kills, respectively. Raven Colvin had just five kills for Purdue but did more than enough defensively as she put up a wall at the net with 11 blocks.

Purdue outhit the Huskers .311 to .242 but committed 19 service errors compared to the Huskers' seven.

Up next for Nebraska is a second match in as many nights as the Huskers welcome the Rutgers Scarlet Knights into Lincoln. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT Saturday.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Set Synopses

Set 1: The Huskers held a 9-5 lead after kills by Jackson and Lindsay Krause. Purdue answered with a 7-2 run to take a 12-11 lead. Kills by Murray and Beason put NU back in the lead, and another Murray kill put the Big Red ahead 15-14 at the media timeout. Murray came out of the timeout with an ace, but Purdue tied the score at 17-17. With the score still tied at 20-20, Murray put down her fourth kill of the set before Jackson followed with back-to-back kills for a 23-20 Husker lead. After a Hudson sideout kill for Purdue, Jackson connected again for her fifth kill on her fifth swing for set point, 24-21. Beason finished out the set with a kill out of the back row for a 25-22 win. 

Set 2: Purdue jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but Beason posted a kill and served an ace to cut it to 5-4. A 4-0 run for the Boilermakers put them ahead 12-8, and Purdue was in control, building the lead to 19-13. A kill by Taylor Landfair and a Purdue hitting error preceded a block by Allick and Landfair, and the deficit was cut in half, 19-16. After a Purdue timeout, the Boilers hit long to bring NU within two, 19-17. But Chicoine earned sideout with a kill, and the Huskers misfired on two straight swings to put Purdue up 22-17. The Boilermakers grabbed set point at 24-19, but the Huskers fought back with kills by Beason, Murray and Jackson to pull within 24-22 and force a Purdue timeout. But Hudson terminated a kill after the timeout for a 25-22 Purdue win to even the match at 1-1.  

Set 3: Purdue used a 4-0 run to go up 9-5. A kill by Murray, block by Beason and kill by Jackson tied the score at 11-11. The Boilermakers went back ahead 17-15, but Beason and Allick answered with kills to even the score again, 17-17. NU took an 18-17 lead after a Purdue error, and kills by Allick and Murray made it 20-18 Big Red. Chicoine posted a sideout kill for Purdue, but Jackson answered with her 11th of the night. The Huskers led 22-20, but Purdue scored three in a row - two off Husker hitting errors - to go up 23-22. After a timeout, Krause killed an overpass to tie the score at 23-23. But another Husker hitting error gave Purdue set point, and the Boilermakers won the set 25-23 on a kill by Hudson. 

Set 4: Reilly opened the set with an ace, and Allick had a kill before a block by Beason and Jackson made it 5-2. Another kill by Beason and a Purdue hitting error put the Huskers up 8-4. Beason put the Huskers ahead 11-6, and later in the set a block by Reilly and Jackson made it 17-12 Big Red. After a timeout, Purdue scored three in a row to get within 17-15. Murray recorded a sideout kill, and kills by Allick and Landfair kept NU on top, 20-16. Landfair added another kill before two by Beason made it 23-18 NU. The Huskers earned set point at 24-19 before surrendering three straight points. Finally, Beason connected from the back row for a 25-22 win to force a fifth set. 

Set 5: Purdue led 3-1 before kills by Allick and Murray tied the score. The teams sided out the next 11 rallies to a 9-8 Purdue lead, and then Purdue held serve with a kill by Hudson that made it 10-8. After a timeout, Beason fired her 19th kill to cut it to 10-9, and Jackson tied the score at 10-10 with her 12th kill. Hudson answered for Purdue, but Beason came right back for NU to make it 11-11. Hudson put Purdue back in front, 12-11, but Murray produced a big kill to tie it 12-12. Jackson put NU in front for the first time since 1-0 with her 13th kill. After a timeout, Hudson tied the score at 13-13 with her 26th kill. But Jackson earned match point, 14-13, with another kill. Chicoine answered for the Boilermakers, and a block by Purdue gave the Boilermakers match point at 15-14. Beason hammered a back-row kill to make it 15-15, and Landfair earned a kill after Purdue went into the net for another match point at 16-15. Beason ended the match with her 22nd kill. 

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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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