The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team swept Arizona in its non-conference finale, 25-19, 25-23, 25-18, Saturday at John Cook Arena. The Cornhuskers earned their sixth sweep in 10 non-conference matches.
Harper Murray paced Nebraska (10-0) with 14 kills. Virginia Adriano had nine kills on an efficient .438 hitting. Andi Jackson tallied nine kills, while Taylor Landfair added eight and Rebekah Allick added seven. Bergen Reilly had 40 set assists for the Huskers. The Wildcats (6-5) were led by the 17 kills of Jordan Wilson and Carlie Cisneros had eight, but no other Arizona player had more than four. Nebraska outhit the Wildcats, .392-.250.
The Huskers rolled through the first set, never trailing while hitting .441 as a team. NU scored the first four points and never looked back. The Huskers scored six points in seven rallies to open a 14-6 lead and were never seriously challenged.
The second set was tougher. The Wildcats led 3-2 early, but Nebraska won seven of eight rallies to take a 9-4 lead. Arizona surged back with a 7-2 run to take an 18-17 lead. The Huskers answered with five straight points to build a 22-18 advantage. Arizona won five of seven rallies to cut Nebraska’s lead to 24-23, but Murray terminated to finish the second set.
In the third set, the Huskers bolted out to an 8-3 lead and held the Wildcats at arm’s length for most of the set. After Arizona had cut Nebraska’s lead to 19-16, the Huskers won five straight rallies to bring up matchpoint. The Wildcats fought off the first two, but a Paige Thies service error finished off the match for Nebraska.
The Huskers open Big Ten Wednesday at John Cook Arena against Michigan. First serve is slated for 6 p.m., with pregame at 5 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.