No. 1 Huskers Cruise to Sweep of DePaul

No. 1 Nebraska recorded a 25-19, 25-13, 25-15 sweep at DePaul on Friday night. The match was played in front of a crowd of 8,786, a DePaul volleyball attendance record at Wintrust Arena.

Friday’s attendance record for the Blue Demons is the 18th time in the last four seasons that a program has set an all-time school attendance record when Nebraska has played at their arena.

Nebraska improved to 4-0 with the win, hitting at a season-high pace of .434. DePaul hit just .060 on the night and dropped to 4-1 on the season.

Harper Murray led the Huskers with 11 kills, six digs, two blocks and a pair of service aces. Teraya Sigler totaled eight kills on 10 swings and added two blocks in one set of action. Ryan Hunter recorded five kills on .571 hitting to go with three blocks, while Kenna Cogill made her first career start and posted four kills and a match-high seven blocks.

Manaia Ogbechie chipped in four kills and two blocks, followed by Skyler Pierce with three kills and two blocks.

Campbell Flynn recorded 16 assists, eight digs and two kills in two sets of action, while Bergen Reilly had 13 assists and a kill in the first set. Olivia Mauch led the Huskers with 11 digs and added three assists.

Set 1: DePaul held an early 5-3 lead before the Huskers scored five of the next points to grab an 8-6 lead. The Big Red led 16-13 after Sigler reeled off three straight kills. An Ogbechie kill and block assist by Sigler and Ogbechie gave the Huskers set point. DePaul fought off one set point before Sigler sealed the set with a kill to give Nebraska a 25-19 victory. Highlighted by Sigler’s eight kills, the NU offense hit at a blistering pace of .607 in the opening set.

Set 2: Nebraska never trailed after Pierce’s early ace and block assist from Cogill and Murray gave the Big Red the first two points of the set. Four straight DePaul errors stretched the Huskers’ advantage to 10-5.  NU’s lead grew to eight behind a pair of kills from Murray, while consecutive kills by Ogbechie and Flynn had the Huskers out front 22-12. The Huskers reached set point behind Pierce’s kill, while a block assist from Hunter and Cogill forced a Blue Demon error to close out the 25-13 win in the second set.

Set 3: The third set saw Nebraska and DePaul trade points early, tying at five before the Huskers began pulling away behind a strong middle stretch from Hunter and Cogill. The Big Red grew the lead to 15-12 on a Cogill kill, then extended the lead to 20-13 after a 5-0 run that concluded with a kill by Hunter. An ace from Flynn and back-to-back kills by Hunter extended the lead to 23-14, while a block assist by Murray and Cogill had the Huskers at match point with a lead of 24-15. NU closed it out 25-15 on another DePaul attack error to complete the sweep on Friday night.

Nebraska continues play in Chicago this weekend, as the Huskers take on Missouri in the Allstate Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge at Wrigley Field on Sunday night. First serve is set for 8 p.m. on FOX.