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No. 5 Nebraska Wins Thrilling Game Against No. 9 Creighton – University of Nebraska
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No. 5 Nebraska Wins Thrilling Game Against No. 9 Creighton – University of Nebraska

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

Nebraska improved its season record to 6-1, while Creighton suffered its first loss and is now 5-1.

The Huskers were evenly matched 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 contributed nine kills and hit .333.

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

Nebraska had a .234 hitting percentage in the game 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 had 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 it back to 22-17, but Krause made a kill and Creighton struck 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 Murray and Jackson tied the score with kills. Three straight blocks by the Big Red made it 9-7 with Reilly and Allick contributing two. Allick added a kill as the Huskers extended their lead to 12-8. Allick and Jackson connected on three straight kills and Jackson and Murray each added a block as the Huskers took an 18-11 lead. Creighton went on a 4-1 spurt to pull within 19-15, but Jackson added a sideout kill and Krause tacked on another as the Huskers extended their lead to 23-15 after a 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 out strong with her ninth kill to tie the score at 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 in a kill for match point, 26-25. Creighton turned to Martin again for a kill to tie it at 26-26, but Reilly put Krause on a 27-26 match point. A block by Creighton made it 27-27, and the Huskers mishandled a Creighton serve to put the Jays back ahead, 28-27. Krause stepped up for the Big Red once more with her 11th kill to tie it at 28-28, and Creighton hit the net to make it 29-28 Huskers. Then Sis tied it at 29-29 with her 16th kill, but a back-row kill by Murray set up match point #4 for the Big Red. The Bluejays then put in a block and got a kill from Sis to make it 31-30, but Allick responded with a kill to tie it at 31-31. However, Sis and Martin recorded back-to-back kills to give Creighton the 33-31 victory.

Set 4: Creighton jumped out to a 7-3 lead when Nebraska called a timeout. Creighton led 10-5 before kills by Jackson and Murray pulled NU within 11-8. But the Jays responded with a 5-0 run to pull within 16-8. Creighton won the set 25-16 to force a set five for just the third time in series history. Creighton hit .306 in the set and held NU to -.024.

Set 5: With Reilly serving to open the set, Krause finished off a kill before Allick hit an overpass, and another kill by Krause made it 3-0 for the Huskers. A service error by Creighton and a kill by Beason put NU up 5-1. Allick, Jackson and Reilly added kills to put NU up 8-4 as the teams switched 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 ahead, 13-9, and Jackson finished off her 15th kill for match point, 14-9. Murray’s 16th kill ended the five-set thriller, 15-10.

Next up: NU hosts the Nebraska Classic this weekend at the Devaney Center. The Huskers play No. 14 Arizona State on Friday at 7 p.m. and Wichita State on Saturday at 2 p.m.