LINCOLN, Nebraska (WOWT) – No. 5 Nebraska made short work of No. 2 Stanford, sweeping the Cardinal (25-17, 25-22, 25-14) on Wednesday night in Lincoln.

The win marks Nebraska’s first victory over Stanford at the Devaney Center.

“You’re always looking for games that give you confidence and show how well they can play,” John Cook said. “Tonight they proved it.”

Lindsay Krause and Andi Jackson each had nine kills, while Merritt Beason added eight. Defensively, the Huskers held Stanford to a hit percentage of just .100 in the game.

Nebraska took a 9-2 lead thanks to kills from Krause, Jackson, Beason, Harper Murray and an ace from Lexi Rodriguez. The Cardinal never got closer than five points for the rest of the set. Beason made the set point kill to give the Huskers the 25-17 victory. Nebraska posted a .406 batting average in the set and held Stanford to .114.

Stanford played it close in the second set. Nebraska again struck first, starting with an 8-2 run, but the Cardinals countered with an 8-0 run to take the lead. Trailing 18-16, the Huskers used the momentum of two consecutive kills from Jackson and a service error from the Cardinals to take a 20-18 lead. Beason was successful again with set point, giving Nebraska a 2-0 set lead, 25-22.

Set three began like the previous two, with the Huskers building a comfortable 8-4 lead. The Cardinals offered little resistance as Rebekah Allick recorded a kill and two assisted blocks to put Nebraska ahead 12-6. Two consecutive aces from Harper Murray extended the Huskers’ lead before Lindsay Krause converted match point to seal the sweep 25-14.

Nebraska now heads to another battle for the top five when it faces No. 4 Louisville at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the KFC Yum! Center.

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