Husker volleyball wins Top 10 thriller with rival Creighton

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

Nebraska improved to 6-1 on the season while Creighton suffered its first loss to fall to 5-1.

The Huskers were balanced offensively with Harper Murray (16 kills), Andi Jackson (15 kills), Lindsay Krause (15 kills) and Merritt Beason (14 kills) leading the way. Murray had a double-double with her 16 kills and 14 digs, and Jackson had career highs in both kills (15) and blocks (8) while hitting .379. Krause added five blocks, and Beason hit .306. Rebekah Allick chipped in nine kills and hit .333.

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

Nebraska had a .234 hitting percentage in the match, and Creighton hit .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 dumped a kill to the floor, Jackson and Krause combined for a block, and Murray served an ace to make it 11-5 Huskers. 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 on 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 pulled within 22-17, but Krause connected for a kill and Creighton hit out for set point. The Huskers won 25-19, hitting .250 and holding Creighton to .100.

Set 2: Creighton held a 5-3 lead when kills by Murray and Jackson tied the score. Three blocks in a row by the Big Red made it 9-7 with Reilly and Allick contributing on two of them. Allick added a kill as the Huskers pushed their advantage to 12-8. Allick and Jackson struck three straight kills, and Jackson and Murray posted a block as the Huskers went up 18-11. Creighton went on a 4-1 spurt to pull within 19-15, but Jackson posted a sideout kill and Krause tacked on another as the Huskers built the lead to 23-15 after the 4-0 run. Allick put the set away, 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 shot to the floor, and Krause followed with an ace. After Creighton regained the lead, Jackson, Murray and Krause posted four straight kills, and Krause and Allick combined for a block and a 20-16 lead. Nebraska led 23-21, but Sis produced back-to-back kills, and Martin added one for set point for Creighton, 24-23. Murray came up big with her ninth kill to tie the score 24-24, but Martin rolled a kill to the floor for another set point. An incredible defensive effort to keep a ball alive at the net led to another kill by Murray, and on the next rally Murray tipped a kill for match point, 26-25. Creighton turned to Martin again for a kill and a 26-26 tie, but Reilly set Krause for a 27-26 match point. A Creighton block made it 27-27, and the Huskers mishandled a Creighton serve to put the Jays back on top, 28-27. Krause stepped up once again for the Big Red with her 11th kill to tie it 28-28, and Creighton touched the net to make it 29-28 Huskers. Then Sis tied the score at 29-29 with her 16th kill, but a back-row kill from Murray earned match point No. 4 for the Big Red. The Bluejays then posted a block and got a kill from Sis to make it 31-30, but Allick answered with a kill to tie it 31-31. However, Sis and Martin recorded back-to-back kills to give Creighton the 33-31 win.

Set 4: Creighton bolted to a 7-3 advantage as Nebraska called timeout. Creighton led 10-5 before kills by Jackson and Murray helped get NU within 11-8. But the Jays answered with a 5-0 run to go up 16-8. Creighton won the set, 25-16, to force a set five for the third time in the history of the series. Creighton hit .306 in the set and held NU to -.024.

Set 5: With Reilly serving to open the set, Krause terminated a kill before Allick hammered down an overpass, and another kill by Krause made it 3-0 Huskers. A Creighton service error and a kill by Beason put NU ahead 5-1. Allick, Jackson and Reilly tallied kills to take NU to an 8-4 lead as the teams changed sides. Reilly and Murray added kills for a 10-5 lead before Creighton scored two in a row to cut it to 10-7. But Krause's 15th kill made it 11-7. A kill by Beason kept NU in front, 13-9, and Jackson terminated her 15th kill for match point, 14-9. Murray's 16th kill ended the five-set thriller, 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.