EAST LANSING, Mich. – The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team swept Michigan State on Friday, 25-15, 25-19, 25-15, at the Breslin Center.
The Huskers (17-1, 7-0 B1G) were in control from the middle of the first set onward, ending with a .364 hitting percentage while holding the Spartans (7-11, 0-7 B1G) to .141.
Taylor Landfair and Harper Murray paced the Huskers to their 14th win in a row with 12 kills each. Landfair hit .417, while Murray hit .333.
Nebraska served two aces with five errors, while Michigan State had one ace with seven errors. NU led in kills (48-31), digs (46-31) and blocks (6-4).
Andi Jackson added 10 kills with five blocks and hit .600. Merritt Beason had nine kills. Rebekah Allick contributed three kills and hit .429.
Bergen Reilly had 34 assists and nine digs, and Murray had eight digs while Kennedi Orr and Laney Choboy had seven.
Set 1: The Huskers got off to a 5-2 start with Beason starting with two kills and a block, while Murray had a kill and Jackson was in on two blocks. But Michigan State fought back to go up 8-6 after a 6-1 run. The teams went back and forth trading points until a 4-0 Husker run served by Beason made it 17-13 Big Red. Jackson had a kill before Murray had back-to-back kills. Another kill by Murray and a block by Jackson and Reilly put the Huskers up by five, 19-14. Nebraska closed the set on a 6-0 run to win 25-15 with three kills by Landfair, one by Murray and one by Reilly.
Set 2: Jackson had two kills around one by Reilly as the Huskers led 7-4. After MSU got within 7-6, Landfair and Murray had back-to-back kills before a block by Allick and Landfair, and another Landfair kill made it 12-6 after a 5-0 run served by Orr. Allick and Landfair again struck kills to push the score to 14-7, and Allick and Beason kills helped NU to a 19-8 advantage after a 5-0 run served by Olivia Mauch. After Michigan State scored a 5-0 run to get within 19-13, Murray posted a sideout kill, and another by Jackson kept NU on top, 21-15. The set ended 25-19 on Landfair’s ninth kill.
Set 3: NU led 7-5 after a kill by Jackson and ace by Beason. Murray, Landfair and Allick added kills as the Big Red moved to a 13-9 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Beason and Murray put NU up 15-11 at the media timeout. Murray had two straight kills, and Jackson had two straight kills, before a Landfair roll shot made it 21-13 Big Red. Reilly and Jackson combined for a block, and Jackson smashed a kill for a 23-13 lead. Beason ended the match at 25-15 with a kill.
Up Next: Nebraska will turn around to play at Ohio State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (CT)
