Nebraska Volleyball Reunion ends with victory over USC

Wins both on and off the court for Nebraska volleyball Sunday.

The No. 2 Huskers (12-1, 2-0 Big Ten) defeated the No. 20 USC Trojans (9-3, 1-1 Big Ten) 25-18, 25-22, 25-16 in front of 8,689 fans at Bob Devaney Sports Center. However, the game was a reunion with two former members of the Nebraska team.

USC assistant head coach Tyler Hildebrand and outside hitter Ally Batenhorst received a loud, long ovation when their names were announced. Batenhorst also received the mini-volleyball from a trio of her former teammates at the launch.

Batenhorst used the “homey” atmosphere to her advantage as she finished the match with 13 kills for a .242 hitting percentage. She also dug nine balls and added a block.

Nebraska continued its strategy of feeding everyone, with Bergen Reilly dishing out 33 assists and leading the Huskers to a .245 hitting percentage. Reilly reached the 1,000 mark in three attempts.

Harper Murray shook off a quiet first set to finish with 12 kills, two aces and six digs.

The Husker middlemen started hot, accounting for half of the kills in the first set, but cooled off in the remaining two sets. Andi Jackson finished her night with seven kills, hitting .188 and just one block. Rebekah Allick contributed three kills and three blocks.

Nebraska will now play on the road for the first time in conference play, traveling to Illinois on Thursday.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Set Synopses

Sentence 1: Nebraska had six kills on its first eight swings to take a 13-8 lead. After USC cut the score to 16-12, Jackson recorded three kills and a block, Reilly added one and Murray served an ace during an 8-0 Husker run that made the score 24-12. NU struggled to close out the set, allowing USC to go on a 6-0 run before making it 25-18.

Sentence 2: USC took a 10-8 lead after a 4-1 run. Two kills from Murray kept NU close, trailing 14-13. USC extended the lead to 17-14, but a kill by Krause and a USC scoring error brought the Huskers back to within one point. A kill from Beason and back-to-back kills from Murray gave the Huskers a 19-18 lead. After a USC timeout, Beason finished with a kill and the Huskers won a challenge to take a 21-18 lead with Mauch driving the 5-0 run. Beason and Murray performed multiple kills to secure set point at 24-21. A service error gave NU the 25-22 win.

Sentence 3: NU rallied from a 7-6 deficit to 9-7 after a block from Krause and another block from Allick and Beason. Kills from Beason, Allick and Jackson helped the Huskers take a 14-9 lead, and Murray gave the Big Red a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. After halftime, Beason scored from the back row and Reilly won a battle at the net to put the Huskers up 17-10 and force a USC timeout. Reilly and Murray added more kills after the timeout and an ace from Murray helped the Huskers take a 21-11 lead. The Huskers finished with a score of 25-16.

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