LINCOLN, Nebraska (Nebraska Athletics) – The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 25-17, 25-11, 25-13 on Sunday afternoon at the Bob Devaney Sports Center before a crowd of 8,667.

In their 11th straight win, the Huskers (14-1, 4-0 Big Ten) hit .404 and held Iowa (8-8, 2-2 Big Ten) to .155.

Nebraska had seven aces and only one service error. The last time the Huskers had at least seven aces with one or fewer service errors was on November 12, 2017 against Rutgers (nine aces, one error). Lexi Rodriguez had three of NU’s aces to go with a match-high 12 digs.

Merritt Beason led NU offensively with 10 kills on .400 hitting and added five digs. Leyla Blackwell had nine kills on the season on .692 hitting, and Rebekah Allick had nine kills and hit .583 with three blocks. Harper Murray added seven kills on .353 hitting with two aces. Lindsay Krause had five kills on six swings (.833), all in the third set.

Bergen Reilly contributed 35 assists, and Kennedi Orr and Laney Choboy each had five digs.

The Huskers didn’t surrender an ace to the Hawkeyes. NU’s last eight opponents have combined for just seven aces.

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

Set 1: Blackwell recorded three kills and a solo block to lift the Huskers to an 8-4 lead. Iowa tied the score at 10-10 before Rodriguez went to the service line to spark a 4-0 run for NU that included kills by Beason and Murray and an ace by Rodriguez. A Reilly kill and Murray ace put the Big Red up 18-12 and forced a Hawkeye timeout. Beason scored her fifth kill to give Nebraska a set point, and Allick put up a flyover to close out the 25-17 set victory. NU hit .333 and picked a side at a 77.8% level.

Set 2: After an ace from Rodriguez and kills from Murray and Blackwell, the Huskers took a 6-2 lead. Five consecutive errors by Iowa increased the lead to 11-3. Two kills from Landfair and one from Allick sparked a 4-0 run to put the Big Red up 16-6. Kills by Murray and Beason and Rodriguez’s third ace of the match extended Nebraska’s lead to 22-9. NU closed the set 25-11, with two kills by Blackwell and one by Reilly. Through two sets, Nebraska’s middles put up 16 kills and no errors for a combined hitting percentage of .800.

Set 3: A Beason kill and solo block, Krause kill and Reilly ace were part of a 5-0 run to put NU up 13-5. Krause scored two kills and Murray recorded an ace and a kill to give the Huskers a 22-12 lead late in the third. A Krause/Allick block and an Allick solo block closed the set 25-13 and the match 3-0.

Up Next: The Huskers will take on No. 10 Purdue on Friday, Oct. 11 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The game starts at 7:30 PM and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Audio coverage is provided by the Huskers Radio Network.