Huskers defeat Illinois, 3-0 – University of Nebraska

LINCOLN – The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini 25-17, 25-19, 28-26 on Friday night in front of 8,551 spectators at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The Huskers (19-1, 9-0 Big Ten) won their 16th straight game overall and their 37th straight home game. Illinois fell to 13-6 with a conference mark of 5-4.

NU hit .339 for the match and recorded seven blocks and five aces with five service errors. Illinois hit .217 with three blocks and three aces and seven service errors.

Merritt Beason led the Big Red with 13 kills for a .308 hitting percentage, along with three blocks and four aces, a career-best. Andi Jackson posted a .667 hitting percentage with 11 kills and six blocks. Harper Murray added nine kills along with nine digs and three blocks, and Rebekah Allick had six kills and hit .385.

Bergen Reilly contributed 40 assists and 10 digs for her 13th double-double of the season. Lexi Rodriguez has recorded 10 digs.

Raina Terry paced Illinois with 15 kills.

Set 1: Beason gave the Huskers a run for their money early, recording an ace, kill and assisted block with Jackson to give NU a 7-3 lead. Murray and Taylor Landfair each had a kill to bring the score to 13-8, but Illinois scored four of the next five points to cut the score to 14-12. Back-to-back kills from Murray gave the Huskers a 16-12 lead, and kills from Reilly and Jackson and a Reilly/Allick block extended the lead to 20-14. Mauch hit an ace to bring the Big Red to set point, and Allick got her fourth kill of the day to close out the set 25-17. NU hit .419 in the first frame.

Set 2: Beason scored two straight kills from the back row to give the Huskers a 7-3 lead. Two Beason aces and a Jackson kill ensured a 4-0 run and a score of 16:10. Kills by Reilly and Landfair forced an Illini timeout at 20-13. Illinois pulled within 20-18 after a 5-0 run, but an Allick kill gave NU the sideout, and Beason and Murray recorded kills to make it 23-18. Another Beason kill rounded out the 25-19 win for Nebraska. The Big Red hit .552 in the set.

Set 3: Two straight blocks from Murray and Jackson and Beason's fourth ace of the night gave the Huskers a 7-5 lead early in the third set. The Illini went on a 4-0 run to take a 9-7 lead. Jackson had two kills to put the Huskers back on top 10-9, but Illinois regained an 11-10 lead. Lindsay Krause stepped in and fueled the Huskers with two kills, and one from Beason helped the Huskers take a 15-13 lead. Illinois came out of the media timeout on a 3-0 run to take a 16-15 lead, and the Fighting Illini led 20-19 when Jackson completed her ninth kill to make it 20-20. The teams continued to trade sideouts, and a Krause kill made it 23-23. Illinois secured the set point after a kill by Laynie Smith, but a Beason kill and a block by Murray and Jackson brought NU to match point at 25-24. Terry kept Illinois alive with a sideout kill, but Beason and Jackson combined to block another match point. Terry stepped up for Illinois again with a clutch kill before Jackson gave Nebraska its third match point at 27-26. Jackson scored another kill and the Huskers eked out a 28-26 set victory, winning the match 3-0.

Next up: The Huskers stay home and take on the Michigan Wolverines at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday, October 26, at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on B1G+ and audio will be provided by the Huskers Radio Network.