Big Red Overpowers Horned Frogs

The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team won its 25th straight match at home with a 25-15, 25-23, 23-25, 25-13 victory over TCU in front of a crowd of 8,695 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday night. The Huskers won both of their matches at the Ameritas Players Challenge as they swept Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday night. 

Nebraska (3-0) hit .213 and held TCU (1-1) to .168 hitting for the match. The Huskers had a 55-40 edge in kills, a 61-43 advantage in digs and led 9-0 in aces. NU also finished with 12 blocks to 9 for the Horned Frogs. Five of the 12 came in the fourth set. 

Harper Murray paced the Huskers with 20 kills on .302 hitting, and she added six digs and three blocks. Lindsay Krause tallied nine kills, and Merritt Beason added eight. 

Rebekah Allick finished with seven kills and six blocks. Andi Jackson had eight kills on .467 hitting with four blocks.  

Bergen Reilly recorded 43 assists and 14 digs for her third double-double this season. Lexi Rodriguez led the team in digs with 18. Laney Choboy added seven.  

Melanie Parra led the Horned Frogs with 14 kills. 

Set 1: With the score tied 9-9, a TCU service error put the Huskers on top, and Beason and Allick combined for two straight blocks to put NU ahead 12-9. A 5-0 Husker run made it 19-12, keyed by back-to-back kills by Jackson and a solo block by Murray. Krause added two kills around a block by Allick and Reilly to make it 23-14, and Allick put the ball down to give Nebraska set point before a TCU error closed out the 25-15 victory. NU held the Horned Frogs to a -.033 hitting percentage in the set. The Huskers had six blocks.

Set 2: TCU took a 13-9 lead after a 4-0 run. NU went on a 3-0 run with two Krause kills to bring the score to 13-12 and kills by Beason and Murray helped tie the score at 15-15. TCU made its lead 18-15, but Beason and Murray put down a kill apiece to bring the Big Red within one at 18-17. TCU grabbed a 22-20 lead, but the Big Red answered and pulled ahead 23-22 after kills by Krause and Allick. A Beason kill put the Huskers at set point and a back row attack violation from the Horned Frogs gave Nebraska the 25-23 set win.

Set 3: TCU gained a quick 5-1 lead. A kill from Jackson and an ace from Kennedi Orr brought NU within one at 8-7. Sparked by an ace and kill from Murray, the Big Red tied the score at 14-14. Murray’s fifth and sixth kills of the set helped NU gain an 18-16 lead, but the Horned Frogs tied the score at 18-18. TCU led 21-20 when a kill by Jackson and ace by Beason gave the Huskers a 22-21 advantage. The Horned Frogs scored three straight to grab set point, 24-22, and won 25-23. 

Set 4: A Jackson kill and Orr’s second service ace gave Nebraska a 9-4 lead in the fourth set. The Big Red then went on a 5-0 run to make the score 18-7, led by three kills from Murray and two blocks by Jackson. NU maintained its lead for the rest of the set, and a TCU serving error put the Huskers at match point. Reilly registered a service ace to take the set, 25-13 and the match, 3-0.

Up Next: The Huskers will hit the road to face SMU in Dallas on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The match will be televised on the ACC Network and can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network.