Andi Jackson dominated every phase of the match as No. 1 Nebraska Volleyball swept Maryland Saturday night – without Bergen Reilly.
The Huskers and Terrapins set a new volleyball record at the Xfinity Center as 15,127 fans came out to see Nebraska win 25-13, 25-20, 25-15. Coach Dani Busboom Kelly started Campbell Flynn and Ryan Hunter and turned to his bench even more in the third set as Nebraska improved to 15-0 overall and 4-0 in Big Ten Play.
“I thought it was a good performance and Campbell did a great job on offense,” Busboom Kelly said on the Huskers Radio Network. “I just thought everyone who came did a good job.”
Reilly dressed and was available, but Busboom Kelly decided to give him the night off after rolling his ankle in Thursday’s win at No. 16 Penn State.
“I just don’t know if she would have been 100%, and just with a big week coming up, I thought it was a good opportunity for Campbell, number one, and why push her with Bergen? » Said Busboom Kelly.
Flynn made the most of his start, totaling 35 assists, eight digs, four blocks and two kills while putting Nebraska at a .278 hitting percentage.
Despite working with a different setter, Jackson was the star of the night with a game-high 12 kills with a .455 average, five blocks and four digs. Her match-high 22 attacks were a season high and a new career high for a three-set match, as Nebraska’s game plan was to give her the ball often, especially in fast sets inside.
“I just thought their left side was pretty small, so it takes them a while to get up there, and they’re pretty physical when they get a full block move going,” Busboom Kelly said. “We wanted to make sure our centers stayed inside, and we thought we could beat them there, and then we worked on moving those outsides, so tonight was a good matchup, just with our physicality against theirs, to be able to develop that tear to the left a little bit more.”
However, the number that stands out the most on the stat sheet for Jackson is a new career-high six aces, accounting for more than half of Nebraska’s 11 aces as a team. Laney Choboy and Teraya Sigler added two aces each. Maryland managed just one ace against Nebraska’s service receiving unit.
“We serve a lot in practice,” Jackson told Big Ten Plus. “I know Dani talked about it. Our goal is to be the best serving team in the world, so I have to give credit to Dani because we do that a lot every day in practice.”
Sigler added eight kills on 14 attacks, hitting .423 and hitting a team-high 15 serves without a receiving error. Harper Murray had six kills with a .267 average in two sets while Hunter matched her with six kills, although she also committed six errors. In total, nine Huskers were killed.
“It’s definitely super special, and I think it shows how hard we work in practice,” Jackson said. “Everyone is so committed to this team. Not every team can say they have players that can come off the bench and change the game – Ryan, Gabby, T, Campbell, Skyler, Keri, there are so many. They can come in and change the game, and I think that’s so special and so rare. But it really shows how committed they are, like I said, and they love this program, and they’re going to do whatever it takes. When their number is called, They will step up.
Olivia Muach had a game-high 10 digs as Nebraska held Maryland — hitting .306, second in the Big Ten, before the game — to .117.
First series
The Terrapins traded blows with Nebraska early with six ties and five lead changes through the first 12 exchanges. Sigler finished to force the final tie at 6-6, sending Jackson to the service line, and the senior midfielder brought the heat as the Huskers extended their run to 6-0, creating healthy separation.
Jackson’s serve, which included an ace, sparked a shift for the Huskers as they dominated the rest of the match, cruising to a 12-point victory.
Nebraska outscored Maryland .385 to .087 with Flynn (11 assists) running the show. Sigler led the way with four kills on six errorless swings.
Second set
Maryland managed to reset during the break and got on top of the Huskers early, taking a 4-1 lead. Jackson helped the Huskers get back within one at 5-4 with three kills and an ace before 16 straight takedowns.
Nebraska finally broke the chain thanks to a poor set by Maryland before scoring two more points for a 4-0 run.
Sigler capped the run with an ace before missing his fourth serve, but after trading points, Choboy served a 6-0 run, including another ace, to take a 23-16 lead. The Terrapins won a few rallies down the stretch to narrow the final margin, but Jackson took advantage of Nebraska’s second set point with a kill on a slide.
Maryland had 10 kills before its first attack error, but the Huskers eventually caught up and surpassed the Terrapins in offensive efficiency, .364 to .321. Jackson led the way with six kills on 12 attacks, while Murray had four kills.
Third set
Busboom Kelly made some changes to the lineup to start the third, with Kenna Cogill replacing Manaia Ogbechie and Keri Leimbach starting for Murray, with Skyler Pierce later checking in to play in the front row.
Maryland got off to another strong start, winning the first four rallies, but the Huskers continued to advance until the dam broke as Jackson served up a 6-0 run, including three more aces, to give Nebraska a 7-11 lead.
The Huskers remained in control the rest of the way, eventually opening the match with another 6-0 run to earn a set point. That included freshman Gabby DiVita checking in to serve after an ace from Sigler, adding an ace of her own followed by a kill, although the latter needed a challenge as officials initially announced. Despite the significant lead, the Nebraska coach called for a review, giving DiVita his first Big Ten win and sparking a big celebration from the bench for his teammate.
“I just thought it looked like it, and why not?” » Said Busboom Kelly. “It was late in the game. That was a great swing from Gabby, so let’s take another look.”
The successful challenge made the score 24-14, and after Maryland came out on a Pierce error, the junior committed a clean violation on a Terp blocker on her next swing to end the game.
Nebraska hit just .132 in the set, but held Maryland to minus-.077 and three kills – matching the number of blocks Nebraska totaled. Jackson finished his day with four more kills in just five attacks.
Following
Nebraska will have a few days back in Lincoln before hitting the road to visit No. 15 Indiana on Thursday, completing a three-game road swing. The Huskers will return to the Devaney Center on Saturday to host No. 6 Wisconsin
“We’re going to prepare for both throughout the week, then go straight to Indiana on Wednesday, and then it’s nice to have a day in between to prepare for Wisconsin,” Busboom Kelly said.
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