Volleyball State Showdown Goes the Distance, Nebraska Tops Creighton

Husker volleyball dominates early, falters in the middle, and slams the door on Creighton to remain undefeated in the series.

Enrique Alvarez-Clary | Sep 11, 2024

Nebraska's Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson work to block a Creighton attack. / Nebraska Athletics

For the first time in the history of the series, Nebraska and Creighton volleyball entered their yearly meeting ranked inside the top 10.

For the 23rd time in a row, the Nebraska Huskers come out on top against the Creighton Bluejays.

No. 5 Nebraska (6-1) and No. 9 Creighton (5-1) went the distance as the Huskers prevailed in a five-set thriller: 25-19, 25-16, 31-33, 16-25, and 15-10.

Sophomore outside hitter Harper Murray led Nebraska with 16 kills, 14 digs, and four blocks. Star sophomore setter Bergen Reilly led a balanced attack by dishing out 57 assists, which allowed the Huskers to hit .234 on the night, while also collecting 13 digs.

Lindsay Krause and Andi Jackson both finished with 15 kills. Jackson led the match with eight blocks on the night as well.

Merritt Beason added 14 kills and six digs while Rebekah Allick finished with nine kills and three blocks.

The defensive specialists were on their toes vs. the Bluejays as they combined for 33 digs, 21 from libero Lexi Rodriguez and 12 from Laney Choboy.

Lexi Rodriguez passes the ball from the Husker sideline, nearly avoiding assistant coach, Jaylen Reyes. / Amarillo Mullen

The first two sets were won by Nebraska is pretty dominating fashion, 25-19 and 25-16.

In the first the score saw Nebraska either ahead by one or the score tied up until it was 4-4, that’s when the Huskers woke up. A 4-0 run followed by a 3-0 run broke things open, and Nebraska never looked back.

Set two followed much of the same script, except for Creighton getting their first lead of the night and building it up to 5-3 early on a kill from Norah Sis. The lead didn’t last long as the Huskers came back to take an 8-7 lead on a Sis attacking error and never looked back enroute to the second set victory.

After that, however, things started to get a lot more interesting.

The third set saw 17 tied scores, eight lead changes and Creighton prevailing by a score of 33-31. The Huskers fell behind early going down 3-0 and didn’t take a lead until they led 11-10 on a Murray kill. It was a back-and-forth affair before Nebraska took a 21-17 lead.

Creighton then kicked it into gear.

The Bluejays fired back and tied the match at 24 apiece. The teams then swapped points with the Bob Devaney Sports Center on their edge of their seat for every dig, set and swing. Nearing the end of the third set, Nebraska ran out of subs, forcing John Cook to leave defensive specialist Laney Choboy and her 5-3 inch self in the front row.

Creighton won the third on the back of 11 kills from Sis on 21 errorless swings.

Following the marathon that was the third set, set four for Nebraska was something out of a horror movie. The Huskers hit (cover your eyes volleyball fans) -.024 with just seven kills on 41 swings. Of those 41 swings, eight were errors and only three were blocked. Only four Huskers recorded a kill with Beason, Jackson, and Murray all finishing with two each in the set.

Ava Martin led the Bluejays to the 25-16 victory in the fourth with five kills.

The decisive fifth set was over just as quickly as it began with Nebraska racing out to a 3-0 lead and never allowing Creighton to get any closer than two points.

Lindsay Krause tallied 15 kills against the Bluejays. / Amarillo Mullen

Six Huskers got in on the action as 13 of the 15 Nebraska points came off kills, led by Krause with three.

Next up for the Huskers, the Nebraska Classic. NU battles Arizona State Friday and then Wichita State Saturday.

Box score

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Published Sep 11, 2024|Modified Sep 11, 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