Huskers Sweep Grand Canyon

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team swept Grand Canyon 25-12, 25-23, 25-18 in front of a crowd of 8,502 at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday night. 

The Huskers improved to 8-0, just the third time in the last 13 years the Big Red has begun a season 8-0. The Lopes fell to 6-2. 

Nebraska rotated its starting lineup from Friday's win over No. 22 Utah. Teraya Sigler led the team in kills with a career-high 14 and added 11 digs for a double-double, while Manaia Ogbechie recorded a career-best 10 kills on .529 hitting with three blocks. 

Campbell Flynn put up 37 assists, nine digs and five kills. Olivia Mauch wore the libero jersey and posted nine digs. 

Virginia Adriano and Rebekah Allick contributed eight kills each. 

Nebraska hit .364 in the match and held GCU to .105. NU nearly doubled up GCU in kills, 50-26.

Set 1: Ogbechie and Sigler each had a pair of kills to help the Huskers to a 6-2 lead. Adriano added one before back-to-back kills by Sigler and one by Allick made it 12-6 Huskers. After a timeout, the run continued as Boesiger served an ace, and Allick and Adriano combined for a block, before another Allick kill put NU up 15-6 after the 7-0 run. The Huskers went up 22-9 after a 6-0 run served by Adriano, which included an ace by the freshman, kills by Ogbechie, Adriano, Sigler and Flynn, and a block by Ogbechie and Sigler. The Huskers finished off a 25-12 win, hitting .533 in the set. 

Set 2: Nebraska trailed 12-10 after surrendering a 4-0 run. Ogbechie ended the run with a kill, and the teams traded errors to a 13-13 tie. GCU led 15-14 at the media timeout, but kills by Flynn and Pierce tied the set at 16-16. Allick struck for another and Sigler connected for two in a row for a 19-17 Husker lead. After GCU answered with two in a row, Sigler powered two more kills to the floor to make it 21-19 NU. Ogbechie tacked on another, and GCU hit wide as NU went up 23-19. The Lopes responded with two more kills to get within 23-21, but Ogbechie answered with a kill for set point. GCU scored the next two to cut it to 24-23, but a block by Ogbechie and Flynn sealed the set, 25-23. 

Set 3: Grand Canyon held an 11-9 lead before an Ogbechie kill and a Mauch ace tied the score at 11-11. Adriano scored from a tight angle, then hammered another shot for a 13-11 lead. The Lopes came back with two straight blocks for a 13-13 tie. Allick and Sigler posted kills for a 15-14 Husker advantage at the media timeout. Pierce came out of the break and fired a kill from the left pin to make it 16-14. Kills from Allick and Pierce extended the margin to three, 18-15, and Sigler smashed a kill from the back row for a 19-15 lead. The Huskers finished off the sweep, 25-18, holding the Lopes to -.030 in the final frame.

Up Next: The Huskers face No. 18 Creighton on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at CHI Health Center Omaha.