LINCOLN, Nebraska. – The No. 5 Nebraska volleyball team earned its second Top 15 win of the week and third of the season with a 25-20, 26-24 and 25-19 victory over Arizona State on Friday night before 8,772 spectators at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Merritt Beason paced the Huskers (7-1) with 15 kills and a .429 batting average. Harper Murray added 10 kills and nine digs.
Nebraska’s midfield was strong once again. Andi Jackson had 10 kills and hit .389, while Rebekah Allick had seven kills and hit .462, with a team-best five blocks.
Nebraska had a batting average of .319 and Arizona State (7-1) had a batting average of .213. The Huskers had a 7-3 lead in blocks and 2-0 in aces.
Bergen Reilly recorded 41 assists and 15 digs, her sixth double-double of the season. Lexi Rodriguez had 10 digs and Olivia Mauch had a career-high nine.
Geli Cyr led Arizona State with 14 kills and a .357 hitting percentage.
Sentence 1: The Huskers used a 4-0 run to take a 6-4 lead with kills from Jackson and Murray. A block from Lindsay Krause and Allick increased the lead to four, 12-8. The teams then traded sideouts for 16 rallies until the Huskers took a 20-16 lead. Rodriguez served an ace to make it 21-16, and kills from Beason and Jackson increased the lead to 23-18. Jackson scored a sixth kill for set point, and the Huskers won 25-20.
Sentence 2: Arizona State led 15-12 at the media timeout after three straight kills. The Big Red responded with a 7-3 run to take a 19-18 lead, with kills by Jackson, Krause, Allick and Beason key, as well as a block by Allick and Reilly. Two more kills by Beason put Nebraska ahead 21-20, but the Sun Devils capitalized on two Huskers hitting errors to take a 22-21 lead. A service error by ASU after a timeout tied the score at 22-22, and Krause and Jackson combined to block to put NU ahead 23-22. A kill by Cyr tied the score before a service error gave Nebraska a set point at 24-23. The Huskers tried to keep the ball under the net, but Arizona State hit the ensuing serve too long, giving NU another chance at set point. A kill by Beason gave the Huskers a 26-24 victory.
Sentence 3: The Huskers took a 5-1 lead with kills from Allick, Murray and Beason and two blocks from Beason and Allick. However, the Sun Devils fought back after a 5-1 run, 11-10. Allick, Beason and Krause answered with kills to give the Huskers a 13-11 lead. After an Arizona State sideout, Beason hit two consecutive kills to make it 15-12. Murray was awarded a kill after video review, and an Arizona State error gave NU an 18-15 lead. Kills from Jackson and Krause gave NU a 22-17 lead. An attack error by the Sun Devils gave the Huskers set point, and Krause floored the ball to complete the set win, 25-19, and a 3-0 match victory.
Next: The Huskers will host Wichita State on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the final game of the Nebraska Classic. The game will be streamed on B1G+.
