No. 5 Nebraska wins thriller against No. 9 Creighton – University of Nebraska

LINCOLN, Nebraska – The No. 5 Nebraska volleyball team won a 3-2 thriller against No. 9 Creighton by scores of 25-19, 25-16, 31-33, 16-25 and 15-10 in front of 8,924 spectators at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Tuesday night.

Nebraska improved its season record to 6-1, while Creighton suffered its first loss and fell to 5-1.

The Huskers were balanced offensively, led by Harper Murray (16 kills), Andi Jackson (15 kills), Lindsay Krause (15 kills) and Merritt Beason (14 kills). Murray had a double-double with 16 kills and 14 digs, and Jackson set career highs in kills (15) and blocks (8) and posted a .379 batting average. Krause added five blocks and Beason posted a .306 batting average. Rebekah Allick added nine kills and posted a .333 batting average.

Bergen Reilly had a career-high 57 assists, along with 13 digs, three blocks and three kills. Lexi Rodriguez had a season-high 21 digs. Laney Choboy added 12 and Olivia Mauch seven.

Nebraska had a batting average of .234 in the game and Creighton had a batting average of .209.

Norah Sis had 24 kills and 11 digs for Creighton. Ava Martin totaled 17 kills and 17 digs.

Set 1: A 4-0 run put the Huskers up 8-4. Jackson had two kills and a block with Murray, who also had a kill. After Creighton got a sideout kill, Reilly threw down a kill, Jackson and Krause combined to block and Murray served an ace to put the Huskers up 11-5. Kills by Krause and Murray made it 13-6 NU, but Creighton scored three in a row to cut it to 13-9. A kill by Beason preceded a kill by Murray in the longest rally of the set and NU led 17-10. Two more kills by Jackson and Murray and a block by Jackson and Krause made it 21-13 Big Red. The Bluejays got to 22-17, but Krause got a kill and Creighton retired for set point. The Huskers won 25-19, batting .250 and holding Creighton to .100.

Set 2: Creighton led 5-3 when kills by Murray and Jackson tied the score. Three straight blocks by the Big Red made it 9-7, with Reilly and Allick involved in two of them. Allick added a kill as the Huskers extended their lead to 12-8. Allick and Jackson made three straight kills, and Jackson and Murray blocked as the Huskers took an 18-11 lead. Creighton rallied with a 4-1 run to get within 19-15, but Jackson made a sideout kill and Krause added another as the Huskers followed the 4-0 run to extend the lead to 23-15. Allick won the set 25-16 with her sixth kill. NU hit .333 and held the Jays to .032.

Set 3: Nebraska’s first lead of the set came at 11-10 after Murray rolled a ball to the floor and Krause followed with an ace. After Creighton regained the lead, Jackson, Murray and Krause made four straight kills and Krause and Allick combined for a block and a 20-16 lead. Nebraska led 23-21 but Sis made two straight kills and Martin added one, giving Creighton a set point at 24-23. Murray tied it at 24-24 with her ninth kill, but Martin rolled a kill to the floor and gave Creighton another set point. An incredible defensive effort to keep a ball alive at the net led to another kill from Murray and on the next rally Murray deflected a kill for match point at 26-25. Creighton again turned to Martin for a kill and an equalizer to make it 26-26, but Reilly set up Krause for a match point to make it 27-26. A block by Creighton made it 27-27, and the Huskers mishandled a Creighton serve, putting the Jays back in front, 28-27. Krause stepped up again for the Big Red, tying it with her 11th kill to make it 28-28, and Creighton touched the net to make it 29-28 for the Huskers. Then Sis tied it with her 16th kill to make it 29-29, but a back-row kill by Murray gave Big Red match point No. 4. The Bluejays then blocked and got a Sis kill to make it 31-30, but Allick answered with a kill to make it 31-31. However, Sis and Martin scored two kills in a row, giving Creighton the 33-31 victory.

Set 4: Creighton built a 7-3 lead when Nebraska called a timeout. Creighton led 10-5 before kills from Jackson and Murray cut NU to 11-8. But the Jays responded with a 5-0 run to take a 16-8 lead. Creighton won the set 25-16 and forced a fifth set for the third time in series history. Creighton hit .306 in the set and held NU to -.024.

Set 5: Reilly opened the set with serve, Krause saved a kill before Allick sank an overpass and another Krause kill made it 3-0 to the Huskers. A Creighton service error and a Beason kill put NU ahead 5-1. Allick, Jackson and Reilly scored kills to put NU ahead 8-4 when the teams switched ends. Reilly and Murray scored more kills to extend the lead to 10-5 before Creighton scored two in a row to cut it to 10-7. But Krause’s 15th kill made it 11-7. A Beason kill kept NU ahead 13-9 and Jackson saved her 15th kill for match point, 14-9. Murray’s 16th kill ended the five-set thriller at 15-10.

Up next: NU hosts the Nebraska Classic this weekend at the Devaney Center. The Huskers will play No. 14 Arizona State on Friday at 7 p.m. and Wichita State on Saturday at 2 p.m.