For the first time in series history, the Nebraska and Creighton volleyball teams entered their annual meeting ranked in the top 10.

For the 23rd time in a row, the Nebraska Huskers beat the Creighton Bluejays.

No. 5 Nebraska (6-1) and No. 9 Creighton (5-1) went the distance, with the Huskers prevailing in a thrilling five-set match, 25-19, 25-16, 31-33, 16-25, 15-10.

Sophomore outside hitter Harper Murray led Nebraska with 16 kills, 14 digs and four blocks. Star sophomore setter Bergen Reilly led a balanced attack by dishing out 57 assists, allowing the Huskers to hit .234 on the night while also collecting 13 digs.

Lindsay Krause and Andi Jackson both finished with 15 kills. Jackson also led the match with eight blocks on the night.

Merritt Beason added 14 kills and six digs, while Rebekah Allick finished with nine kills and three blocks.

The defensive specialists were on point against the Bluejays, managing to make a total of 33 digs, 21 of which were by libero Lexi Rodriguez and 12 by Laney Choboy.

The first two sets were won by Nebraska in a fairly dominant manner, 25-19 and 25-16.

In the first half, Nebraska was up by one or tied at 4-4. Then the Huskers woke up. A 4-0 run followed by a 3-0 run broke the house open and Nebraska never looked back.

Set two followed much the same script, except Creighton took their first lead of the night and built it early to 5-3 on a kill from Norah Sis. The lead didn’t last long, as the Huskers came back to take an 8-7 lead on an attacking error from Sis and never looked back en route to victory in the second set.

But after that it all got a lot more interesting.

The third set featured 17 ties, eight lead changes, and Creighton won by a score of 33-31. The Huskers fell behind early, losing 3-0, and didn’t take the lead until they led 11-10 on a kill from Murray. It was a back-and-forth affair before Nebraska took a 21-17 lead.

Creighton then took it one step further.

The Bluejays struck back to tie the game at 24-24. The teams traded points from there, with the Bob Devaney Sports Center on the edge of its seats for every dig, set and swing. Towards the end of the third set, Nebraska ran out of substitutions, forcing John Cook to leave defensive specialist Laney Choboy and her 5-3 inch frame in the front row by herself.

Creighton won the third thanks to 11 kills from Sis and 21 flawless swings.

After the marathon that was the third set, set four was something out of a horror movie for Nebraska. The Huskers hit (cover your eyes volleyball fans) -.024 with just seven kills on 41 swings. Of those 41 swings, eight were errors and only three were blocked. Only four Huskers recorded a kill with Beason, Jackson and Murray all finishing with two in the set.

Ava Martin led the Bluejays to a 25-16 victory in the fourth inning with five kills.

The deciding fifth set was over as quickly as it had begun. Nebraska took a 3-0 lead and never allowed Creighton to get closer than two points.

Six Huskers got in on the action, as 13 of Nebraska’s 15 points came from kills, with Krause leading the way with three.

Next up for the Huskers is the Nebraska Classic, with NU taking on Arizona State on Friday and Wichita State on Saturday.

Scoreboard

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