No. 1 Nebraska delivered a commanding performance on Saturday night, sweeping No. 22 Minnesota 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 in Minneapolis. The victory extended Nebraska’s perfect record to 24-0 overall and 14-0 in Big Ten play while marking the program’s first-ever sweep of the Golden Gophers in the best-of-five era, which began in 1982. Nebraska also stretched its streak of consecutive sweeps to 15 matches, showcasing a level of dominance rarely seen in college volleyball.
From the opening serve, Nebraska controlled the tempo. In the first set, the Huskers jumped to a 4-0 lead behind kills from Andi Jackson and Gabriella Adriano. Taylor Landfair, facing her former team, added three early kills, and a block by Rebekah Allick and Adriano pushed the lead to 14-6. Setter Bergen Reilly then ignited a 5-0 serving run that featured five straight kills, including two each from Landfair and Adriano. Nebraska closed the set hitting .588, with Jackson, Landfair, and Adriano combining for 16 error-free kills.
Minnesota responded with more fight in the second set, but Harper Murray answered with a 7-0 serving run, including two aces, to build an 11-3 advantage. Jackson and Landfair each added two kills during the surge, and Reilly contributed a pair of her own. The Gophers rallied to cut the deficit to 18-14, but Nebraska regrouped after a timeout. Jackson and Landfair delivered key kills, and a final trio of attacks from Adriano, Landfair, and Jackson sealed the 25-21 win.
The third set followed a similar pattern. Jackson opened with three quick kills, and Allick followed with two of her own to establish a 9-4 lead. Reilly’s ace and another Landfair kill extended the margin to 13-5. Minnesota mounted a 5-0 run to close within 16-13, prompting a Nebraska timeout. The Huskers responded decisively: two Gopher errors, a block from Reilly and Jackson, and a back-row kill from Teraya Sigler pushed the lead to 20-13. Murray added two late kills, and Allick closed the match with the final two points.
Individually, Andi Jackson led with a season-high 15 kills on 21 swings, hitting .619 with no errors. Taylor Landfair, playing against her former team, added 11 kills at a .550 clip. Rebekah Allick contributed 10 kills on 14 attempts for a .714 percentage. Harper Murray recorded 7 kills, 11 digs, and 3 aces, becoming the seventh Husker in the rally-scoring era to reach 100 career aces. Bergen Reilly dished a career-high 45 assists in three sets, moving into third place on Nebraska’s all-time rally-era assists list with 3,363. Defensively, Laney Choboy led with 15 digs, followed by Murray with 11 and Olivia Mauch with 8. Nebraska out-dug Minnesota 46-33 and held a commanding 55-36 edge in kills despite the Gophers’ 5-3 block advantage. The teams tied in aces at 4-4. The Huskers now head west to face UCLA on Friday at 9 p.m. CT and No. 17 USC on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT, carrying momentum that shows no signs of slowing.