Nebraska Volleyball Sweeps Rutgers

Just a day after surviving a five-set thriller against No. 10 Purdue, No. 2 Nebraska volleyball handles Rutgers in straight sets.

Kaleb Henry | Oct 12, 2024

Nebraska volleyball middle blocker Leyla Blackwell (11) celebrates a point with setter Bergen Reilly (2) against Rutgers. / Nebraska Athletics

No issues this time for Husker volleyball.

Just a day after surviving a five-set thriller against No. 10 Purdue, No. 2 Nebraska volleyball handles Rutgers in straight sets. The Huskers won 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 to improve to 16-1 and remain undefeated in Big Ten play. The Scarlet Knights are now 5-12 on the year and 0-6 in league play.

Nebraska's dominance was on display on both side of the net. Offensively, the Huskers hit .314. Defensively, NU had 51 digs and nine blocks, holding the Rutgers to .083 hitting.

Sophomore outside hitter Harper Murray had a match-high 13 kills to go with 11 digs. Leyla Blackwell, starting for Rebekah Allick, had nine kills on a .600 hitting percentage and a match-high seven blocks.

Bergen Reilly dished out 25 assists, adding a match-high 13 digs to complete the double-double.

Nebraska will play back-to-back days again next week, this time on the road. The Huskers face Michigan State Friday on the Big Ten Network and Ohio State Saturday on NBC.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Set Synopses

Set 1: Blackwell and Landfair combined for all of NU’s first four points, as Blackwell notched two kills, Landfair posted one and the two combined for a block. The score was tied at 8-8, but a Murray kill and another Blackwell/Landfair block helped the Huskers pull ahead, 13-9. A Blackwell kill and block, along with three Scarlet Knight errors, were part of a 5-0 run served by Olivia Mauch to extend the lead to 18-12. Back-to-back kills by Murray increased NU’s lead to 20-13, and Landfair’s third block of the set closed out the 25-15 set victory. The Huskers held Rutgers to .000 hitting in the set.

Set 2: Allick, Murray and Beason all registered a kill in a 4-0 run to put Nebraska up 7-3. The Big Red extended the advantage to 15-5 behind two Murray aces and kills from Murray, Landfair and Blackwell. An Allick kill off a diving dig by Choboy forced a Scarlet Knight timeout at 17-7. Two Blackwell kills sparked a 4-0 run served by Choboy that put NU at set point, and the Huskers finished out the set on a Blackwell/Murray block.

Set 3: A Blackwell kill and Blackwell/Murray block gave Nebraska an 8-4 lead in the third set. Krause put down two kills to stretch the lead to 14-8. Beason and Blackwell combined for a block and Blackwell, Beason and Murray posted a kill apiece to make the score 21-11. Two Murray kills ended the set, 25-12 and the match, 3-0.

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Published Oct 12, 2024|Modified Oct 12, 2024

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.