And it was one of those Sunday afternoons where sometimes less effort or energy could creep in.

But the second-ranked Huskers were strong and focused, pulling out a 25-17, 25-11, 25-13 victory at the Devaney Center.

Sunday was a day for Nebraska middle blockers Rebeka Allick and Leyla Blackwell, who combined for 18 of the Huskers’ 44 kills. Nebraska hit .404 and held Iowa to .155.

Even more impressive: Nebraska had seven aces after one error. The last time the Huskers had at least seven aces after one error was in 2017.

Coach John Cook praised captains Merritt Beason and Lexi Rodriguez for their focused effort.

“They had the team ready to play today,” Cook said. “It starts with leadership.”

The Huskers (14-1, 4-0 Big Ten), riding an 11-game winning streak, are one of two Big Ten teams to remain undefeated two weeks into the season. Penn State is the other.

Nebraska has championship aspirations and every day is a step in that process, including a Sunday afternoon game against Iowa (8-8, 2-2).

“My why is my seniors,” Allick said. “They’re really good women, including (Blackwell). You always want to see the good guys win and people like Lexi who has lost twice now (in the national championship game). And Merritt Beason.

“Because we are led by such amazing women, we want nothing more than to be able to leave this program with what they rightly deserve.”

Allick had nine kills on 12 attempts and hit .583. She also had three blocks.

Blackwell had nine kills on 13 attempts and hit .692. Blackwell played for the second game this week with injured starter Andi Jackson out. Cook expects Jackson to be back in training early this week.

Neither Allick nor Blackwell made a mistake until halfway through the final set.

“It’s always a good day when we talk to our middles and setters about running middle and they go and do it,” Cook said. “I thought we did an excellent job with that.”

Beason was also strong with 10 kills on .400 hitting. Rodriguez had a match-high three aces and added 12 points as she continued her quest to set the program record in that category. She is currently third.

Nebraska now leads the series with the Hawkeyes, which dates back to 1976, 39-0.

Solid passing allowed the Husker middles to get plenty of passing attempts and kills to start the match. Blackwell and Allick started a combined 6 for 6 in kills. Blackwell had a good feeling early in the match.

“It’s just really exciting to be able to see how hard our passers work,” Blackwell said. “And then of course we have Bergen Reilly placing the ball, and she just gives all the hitters opportunities. When we are in that flow, it is great fun for everyone to take advantage of it.”

Allick is thankful for Nebraska’s key players in serving and receiving and how their passes to Reilly at the net help get quality attempts in the middle. On Sunday, they were Olivia Mauch (12 passing attempts), Rodriguez (eight), Laney Choboy (six) and Harper Murray (six).

“They absolutely crushed it,” Allick said.

Taylor Landfair started again as outside hitter in place of Lindsay Krause.

After Landfair had two kills on 12 attempts during the first two sets, Krause was back on the court for the third. Omaha graduate Skutt had five kills while hitting .833.

“I’m just trying to make someone feel comfortable in that position,” Cook said. “(Landfair) has done some nice things in Illinois. You can’t drag people in and out all the time. So I’m just trying to really get one of those guys going.

“Lindsay came in and did a really good job tonight. I don’t know if there’s pressure when you start or whatever. We’ll keep working on it.”

Michelle Urquhart led Iowa with 11 kills on a .269 hitting percentage.

The Huskers next host No. 10 Purdue on Friday.

Iowa (8-8, 2-2) ………….. 17 11 13

At Nebraska (14-1, 4-0) ….. 25 25 25

User interface: Gibson 6-0-2, Whittingstall 7-0-1, Deery 3-0-0, Meitzler 1-0-2, Garcia 5-0-1, Urquhart 11-0-1. Total 32-0-7.

NOW: Blackwell 9-0-2, Landfair 2-0-0, Beason 10-1-2, Rodriguez 0-3-0, Krause 5-0-1, Allick 9-0-3, Reilly 2-1-0, Murray 7-2-1. Total 44-7-9.

Assists: UI 31 (Meitzler 29, Garcia 2), NU 41 (Reilly 35, Rodriguez 3, Mauch 2, Allick 1). Excavations: UI 29 (Galles 9, Urquhart 7, Lombardi 4, Malu 4, Marquardt 3, Meitzler 2), NU 36 (Rodriguez 12, Beason 5, Orr 5, Choboy 5, Allick 2, Reilly 2, Murray 2, Mauch 2 , Boesiger1).