The Devaney Center gave former Husker Ally Batenhorst a warm welcome, but the Huskers weren’t nearly as kind to her USC team as No. 2 Nebraska swept the No. 20 Trojans on Sunday to close out the first week of Big Ten play.

Nebraska picked up its sixth top-25 win of the season with a 25-18, 25-22, 25-16 sweep of the Trojans, hitting .245 and holding USC to .137.

“This was a little bit of a weird game playing there with Tyler (Hildebrand) and Ally, and you see how close Ally still is to all these guys,” coach John Cook said. “And it was just weird. USC came out, had a great game plan … but I thought we adjusted well. We held them to zero last game, so I’m really proud of our team for that…

“Any win you go 3-0 in the Big Ten is a relief, and it’s a great effort because these teams are so good and so talented. So well done by our team tonight, and our crowd was great tonight. There was a lot of buzz in the air tonight; you could feel it down there.

Batenhorst transferred to USC after graduating from Nebraska in three years. She received a loud and extended ovation during the starting lineup announcement, and some fans showed their appreciation throughout the match when she made a big play. She finished with a match-high 13 kills on .242 hitting and nine digs in her return to Lincoln.

“Even though she was from Texas, she’s a Nebraska girl,” Cook said. “Her mom and dad are from Nebraska. Her father’s family farm is in northeastern Nebraska. She’s a Husker and I think people enjoyed watching her play. She’s done a great job on social media, and you can see how close she still is with our players. So there’s just an emotional connection, and she trained with us all spring.

“She’s part of our family, and I think our fans know that, and they’ve rewarded her for that. I felt sorry for her because I was trying to go through all that and then play, but she played great. So good for her; you can’t prepare for that. You don’t have to take classes to prepare for moments like that.”

Batenhorst fought back tears during the fans’ ovation and then showed the emotion again when Lexi Rodriguez, Harper Murray and Kennedi Orr presented her with a mini volleyball with notes from everyone on the team.

“It was great,” Murray said. “Ally is one of my best friends and I still talk to her every weekend. We set up a time to talk every Sunday. So it was really nice to see her, and we saw her last night too. It was great that she was able to come here and play against us because Husker country obviously gave her a very warm welcome. I know she was excited, and it was quite emotional for her, but I think it was really fun.

Batenhorst’s emotions bubbled up again after the match as she discussed the ovation and gift from her former teammates.

“I think everyone saw me crying; that was cool,” Batenhorst said. “I was just completely overwhelmed with just joy and so much support. I’m going to cry again just talking about it. It was just really nice to see everyone. It was just amazing, and the Husker nation is so sweet, and it means so much to me… (The volleyball) was so cute, and they wrote little notes about it. It just means the world to me. I love them.”

Murray led the Huskers with 12 kills on .259 hitting and two aces. Merritt Beason added 11 kills on .250 hitting, nine digs and an ace. Rodriguez posted a match-high 13 digs, while Bergen Reilly finished with 33 assists, eight digs, three kills (on three attacks) and an ace.

As a team, Nebraska served four aces with eight errors while allowing just one ace. The Trojans failed thirteen times from the service line.

USC started the weekend third in the nation in blocking 3.17 per set, but the Huskers limited the Trojans to 2.5 blocks for the entire match.

“It’s hard to block when you hit high and hard, but I think going into this game we knew our balanced offense would test that,” Beason said. “So it was just us, being Harper and being Merritt, and we knew Bergen was going to put us in good situations and good scenarios, and then just do what we do every day. That’s what makes our team so special right now: how balanced we are. That makes it very difficult to defend.”

Nebraska took an early 6-3 lead, helped by three Trojan service errors plus a Beason ace, but USC tied the score with three straight games, including back-to-back Batenhorst kills. Nebraska responded with a 7-2 run to set USC’s first timeout at 13-8.

The Huskers scored one more point late – eight in a row on Murray serve – to earn the set point. The Trojans didn’t go down easily, scoring six in a row to extend the set, but Lindsay Krause finally finished the set with a swing through the block and down the stretch.

Nebraska hit .364, despite a pair of late errors, and held USC to .192, though Batenhorst posted a match-high six kills on .364 hitting.

The second set saw more back and forth play than the first, with eight draws and four lead changes in the first seventeen rallies, before the Trojans managed to create a bit of separation at 10-8 and then 13- 10. However, Nebraska settled for a 5-0 run with Olivia Mauch at the service line to take a 21-18 lead.

Nebraska traded sideouts the rest of the way to take a 2–0 lead into the intermission, when USC’s seventh service error of the evening ended the set. After taking just one swing (a back row error) in the first set, Murray went off for nine kills on 15 swings in the second as Nebraska out-hit from .262 to .205.

“We were talking about it, my energy was a little bit off, and I don’t know if that was because I had one set or whatever it was,” Murray said. “Bergen and I were able to connect better in the second set. I just don’t think there were many opportunities to get me the ball and we were rolling in the first set. So I don’t think it really matters, but I think it definitely helped us get going in the second set.”

The third set looked a lot like the second early on with six ties in the first thirteen rallies, but the Huskers turned it into a rout by outscoring USC 12-3 over the next 15 points. USC’s service problems continued down the stretch with three more errors (including one on match point) as Nebraska cruised to the sweep.

Nebraska limited USC to five kills and .000 hitting in the third set.

The Huskers were one of six Big Ten teams to go 2-0 during the first weekend of conference play. They’ll look to build on that start next week with their first Big Ten road game at Illinois Thursday.