No. 2 Huskers dominate No. 7 Badgers in sweep – University of Nebraska

MADISON, Wis. – For the first time since 2013, the Nebraska volleyball team defeated the Wisconsin Badgers with a resounding 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 victory 7,229 on Friday night at the UW Field House.

The No. 2 Huskers (21-1, 11-0 Big Ten) gave the No. 7 Badgers (15-5, 9-2 Big Ten) their first win at UW Field House since 2016. Nebraska was dominant throughout the game and held Wisconsin to .094 hits, which was its lowest output since 2016.

Nebraska hit .202 and was led by Taylor Landfair with 13 kills. Merritt Beason recorded 11 kills and hit .391, and Andi Jackson and Harper Murray had seven and six kills, respectively.

The Huskers totaled 10.5 blocks, led by Rebekah Allick’s seven. Landfair, Beason, Jackson and Murray all had three blocks.

NU had five aces and six errors. Olivia Mauch and Lexi Rodriguez each had two, while Kennedi Orr had one. Wisconsin had two aces and five errors.

Bergen Reilly had 32 assists for the Big Red. Rodriguez had 12 digs and Laney Choboy had nine.

Wisconsin saw its 25-game winning streak come to an end at home, while the Huskers snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Badgers at the UW Field House.

Sarah Franklin had 16 kills for Wisconsin.

Set 1: Nebraska took a 10-8 lead after a kill from Landfair and two blocks from Allick, one from Murray and one from Beason. After Wisconsin regained an 11-10 lead, Allick got a kill and Jackson produced a solo block to give the Huskers a 12-11 lead. A block from Landfair and Jackson gave the Big Red a 15-13 lead at the media timeout, but the Badgers got two kills to cut the score to 15-15. Murray started a 3-0 run with a kill, Landfair, Allick and Reilly followed with a triple block and Orr served an ace to make it 18:15. Landfair added two more kills and an ace from Rodriguez made it 23-18. Murray and Beason finished the set with kills and a 25-21 win. The Huskers had 6.5 blocks in the first set and held the Badgers to a .108 hitting percentage.

Set 2: The Huskers used a 7:1 run and took the lead 12:7. Beason had three kills and the Badgers committed three straight hitting errors. Nebraska led 13-8, but Wisconsin responded with a 9-1 run to secure a 17-14 lead. After Nebraska’s second timeout, Landfair tallied two consecutive kills, but Wisconsin responded with a kill and an ace to go up 19-16. Landfair got another kill and Beason followed before a scoring error by Wisconsin pushed the score to 19-19. Landfair and Allick combined for a block for a 20-19 Husker lead, but two straight scoring errors by NU put Wisconsin back on top at 21-20. However, a Landfair kill sparked a 4-0 run that brought the Huskers to the point. Mauch served an ace, Murray recorded a kill and Allick and Murray had a block to make it 24-21. Beason again took the set with a kill, 25-22. Nebraska limited Wisconsin to .061 hits in the second set.

Set 3: The Huskers started strong and took a 7-2 lead thanks to aces from Mauch and Rodriguez and two kills each from Murray and Jackson. Wisconsin fought back throughout and led 15-14. But three straight scoring errors by Badger and a kill by Landfair gave Nebraska an 18-15 lead. Wisconsin pulled within 19-18, but Landfair hit two more kills for a 21-19 lead, and the last one started a 5-0 Husker run served up by Mauch to tie the game at 25-19 finish.

Next up: The Huskers travel to face Northwestern at noon on Sunday.