MATCH PREVIEW
• The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team will look to finish out the regular season strong this weekend with road matches at No. 5 Wisconsin and at Minnesota.
• The Huskers, who clinched the outright Big Ten title on Sunday in a 3-0 win at Iowa, will face the fifth-ranked Badgers on Friday at 3 p.m. at UW Field House in Madison, Wis. The match will be televised on Big Ten Network and streamed on Fox Sports.
• Nebraska will then close out the regular season at Minnesota on Saturday at 8 p.m., also on Big Ten Network and FoxSports.
ABOUT THE HUSKERS
• Nebraska (27-0, 18-0 Big Ten) is off to its best start to a season since beginning the 2005 season with a 28-0 record. Beyond that, the 2000 NCAA Championship team went 34-0 and is the only undefeated team in school history.
• The Huskers’ 18-0 start to Big Ten play is a program best since joining the conference in 2011. Since 1996 – when Nebraska began a 20-match league schedule in the Big 12 – the Huskers have gone undefeated in conference play four times, but never in the Big Ten. The last time was 2004 in the Big 12.
• Nebraska clinched the outright Big Ten title in last Sunday’s 3-0 win at Iowa. With two matches remaining this week, the Huskers have a three-game lead in the conference standings.
• Nebraska has now won four Big Ten titles since joining the conference in 2011. The years were 2011 (17-3), 2016 (18-2), 2017 (19-1, co-champions) and 2023.
• All-time, Nebraska volleyball has won 35 conference titles. John Cook has been head coach for 13 of them.
• The Huskers, who led the nation in defense in 2022, have held their opponents this season to a combined .131 hitting percentage, which leads the nation.
• Nebraska has been sharp offensively this season, hitting .286 to rank 11th nationally and second in the Big Ten. The Huskers lead all Big Ten teams and rank 12th nationally with 14.08 kills per set.
• Two-time All-American and All-Big Ten libero Lexi Rodriguez paces the Husker defense with 3.67 digs per set. Rodriguez has twice been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week this year.
• Junior opposite hitter Merritt Beason, a Florida transfer, contributes a team-leading 3.76 kills per set and adds 2.06 digs per set with 26 service aces. Beason is a four-time Big Ten Player of the Week this season and was the AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 24 following 21 kills in a 3-2 win over No. 1 Wisconsin.
• Freshman outside hitter Harper Murray is averaging 3.24 kills per set and 1.99 digs per set with a team-high 27 service aces. Murray has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times this season.
• Junior outside hitter Lindsay Krause adds 2.50 kills per set and has a .366 hitting percentage since the Sept. 29 win at Purdue, though she has not played since Oct. 14 because of an injury.
• Sophomore middle blocker Bekka Allick leads the Huskers at the net with 1.32 blocks per set to go with 1.84 kills per set.
• Freshman middle blocker Andi Jackson is off to a strong start as a Husker, averaging 2.20 kills per set on a team-high .429 hitting percentage, which ranks second among Big Ten players and 10th nationally. Jackson is also contributing 1.10 blocks per set. Jackson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Nov. 13 after averaging 2.13 kills per set and 1.13 blocks per set with a blistering .714 hitting percentage in Nebraska’s 3-1 wins over Northwestern and Illinois.
• Freshman setter Bergen Reilly is putting up 10.72 assists and 2.54 digs per set. Reilly, who leads all Big Ten players in assists per set and ranks 16th in the nation, became just the second true freshman setter to be a day one starter under John Cook (Nicklin Hames). Reilly has been named Big Ten Setter of the Week four times this year and Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice.
• Nebraska went 17-0 in home matches in the regular season. The last time the Huskers went undefeated at home in the regular season was 2017 (15-0).
• From Sept. 12-Sept. 29, Nebraska played five straight ranked teams and won all five matches. It was the sixth time in school history Nebraska played five matches in a row against ranked teams but the first time NU won all five.
• The Huskers went undefeated in non-conference play for the first time since 2016 and just the second time since 2008.
SCOUTING REPORT: WISCONSIN
• Wisconsin (24-3, 15-3 Big Ten) has two of its last three matches, at Penn State (3-1) and at Purdue (3-2). Junior middle blocker Anna Smrek (2.53 kills per set) did not play in either of those losses, however. Smrek returned to the lineup in a 3-0 win at Indiana on Sunday.
• Wisconsin ranks second nationally in hitting percentage (.308) and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.145).
• Sarah Franklin leads the Badgers with 4.12 kills per set, while Devyn Robinson adds 2.65 kills per set.
• Carter Booth ranks first in the Big Ten and second nationally in blocks per set at 1.57. Booth leads all Big Ten players and ranks third in the nation with a .445 hitting percentage.
SCOUTING REPORT: MINNESOTA
• Minnesota (15-11, 11-7 Big Ten) has won three matches in a row entering a Friday night home match against Illinois.
• Mckenna Wucherer leads the Golden Gophers with 3.20 kills per set. Reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Taylor Landfair adds 3.13 kills per set.
• Minnesota has a .227 team hitting percentage and an opponent hitting percentage of .186. Libero Kylie Murr leads the Gopher defense with 4.06 digs per set.
SERIES HISTORY
• Nebraska is 20-13-1 all-time against Wisconsin after snapping a 10-match skid to the Badgers on Oct. 21 in Lincoln. In that five-set thriller between No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Nebraska, the Huskers won the opening set 25-22 before dropping the next two sets, 17-25 and 20-25. The Huskers rebounded to win set four, 26-24, and finished off the victory in set five, 15-13. Nebraska’s last win at the UW Field House was Nov. 8, 2013. The Huskers have lost seven straight times in Madison.
• Nebraska is 37-12 all-time against Minnesota after sweeping the Golden Gophers in Lincoln on Sept. 24. Minnesota has won five of the last eight times the teams have played. NU’s last victory at Maturi Pavilion was Nov. 22, 2019.
