Huskers Sweep No. 12 Oregon

Photo Credit: Nebraska Athletics

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team swept No. 12 Oregon 25-12, 26-24, 25-18 for its 20th straight in front of an Oregon school-record crowd of 8,566 at Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday night. The Huskers (23-1, 13-0 B1G) got 14 kills and 10 digs from Harper Murray, who hit .414 and also had an ace. Taylor Landfair added 13 kills and hit .407, and Merritt Beason and Andi Jackson each tallied six kills.  Bergen Reilly had 33 assists and nine digs as the Huskers hit .278 for the match. Nebraska was stout defensively once again, holding the Ducks (17-5, 9-4 B1G) to .133 hitting. 
Nebraska had four aces with no errors with Olivia Mauch serving two of them. Oregon had three aces and made six service errors. It was the first time since Sept. 16, 2017 that Nebraska didn't commit a service error.  NU had the edge in kills (44-37) and digs (52-38), while Oregon had one more block (7-6).  With her team-leading 14 digs, Lexi Rodriguez claimed sole possession of second place in school history with 1,720 career digs, passing Kayla Banwarth (1,706). Justine Wong-Orantes is the school record holder with 1,890.  Mimi Colyer had 13 kills to lead the Ducks.

Set 1: Nebraska took a 4-0 lead, but Oregon fought back to tie the score at 6-6. Back-to-back kills by Murray, two by Landfair and one by Jackson made it 11-6 Big Red. Landfair added three more kills and a block with Allick as the Huskers built an 18-8 advantage. After Oregon scored three in a row, a service error by the Ducks preceded an ace by Mauch, a block by Allick and Beason and a kill by Murray that made it 22-11 Huskers. A kill by Jackson and a solo block by the sophomore middle blocker gave the Huskers a 25-12 win. NU hit .476 in set one and held Oregon to -.031. 

Set 2: Oregon led 8-6 when Murray and Jackson pounded kills, and Murray served an ace for a 10-8 Husker lead. Reilly dumped a kill before Beason tallied another to make it 13-10. But the Ducks ran off three straight points to even the score at 14-14. After a Husker timeout, Murray tooled a block and the Ducks hit long twice to put NU back in front, 17-14. The Ducks rallied to tie the score at 19-19, but Jackson terminated a kill and Allick and Landfair combined for a block and a 21-19 advantage. Landfair ended a long rally with a kill to make it 22-20, but the Ducks came right back to even the score at 22-22 after a kill and a Husker hitting error. After an NU timeout, Landfair posted her eighth kill, but Colyer answered for the Ducks. The Ducks then hit long to give NU set point, 24-23, but a kill by Oregon tied it 24-24. Oregon hit wide to give the Big Red another set point chance, and Murray ended the set at 26-24 with her ninth kill. 

Set 3: Oregon led 6-4 when Kennedi Orr served a 4-0 run to put the Huskers up 8-6. Reilly dumped two kills, and Allick and Landfair each posted one. After Oregon tied the score at 8-8, Landfair earned a sideout kill and Reilly served an ace before an Oregon error made it 11-8. The Ducks came back with a 3-0 run to make it 11-11, but Beason terminated and Mauch served her second ace before Oregon hit wide for a 14-11 Husker edge. After an Oregon timeout, Reilly set Beason for back-to-back kills, and Allick and Beason stuffed a Duck attack for a 17-11 lead. After Oregon got within 17-13, Allick recorded a solo block, and three Murray kills put the Huskers up 22-15. Nebraska finished off a 25-18 win with three kills by Landfair. 

Up Next: Nebraska will play at Washington on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. (CT) on Big Ten Network and the Huskers Radio Network.