Huskers Outlast No. 10 Boilermaker in Five Sets – University of Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. – The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team defeated No. 10 Purdue 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-22, 17-15 in a thrilling five-set match with a crowd of 8,715 at the bobsleigh on Friday night Devaney Sports Center.

The Huskers improved to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in Big Ten play. It was their 12th straight win and 35th straight home win. Purdue fell to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

The Boilermakers outscored the Huskers .311 to .242, and Purdue had a better hitting percentage in each of the five sets. Purdue also had 15 blocks to Nebraska's 5.5, but the Huskers still fought their way to the win. NU had six more kills, 74-68, and served three aces to just one for Purdue. The Boilermakers committed 19 service errors while Nebraska only had seven.

Merritt Beason led the Big Red with a season-high 22 kills along with three blocks and eight digs. Harper Murray recorded 17 kills, Andi Jackson had 14 kills and four blocks and Rebekah Allick had 10 kills.

Bergen Reilly recorded a career-high 60 assists and 17 digs, earning her ninth double-double of the year. Lexi Rodriguez added 12 digs and Laney Choboy had nine.

Eva Hudson led Purdue with 26 kills while Chloe Chicoine had 22.

Set 1: The Huskers led 9-5 after kills from Jackson and Lindsay Krause. Purdue responded with a 7-2 run to take a 12-11 lead. Kills from Murray and Beason put NU back in the lead, and another Murray kill put the Big Red ahead 15-14 at the media timeout. Murray came out of the timeout with an ace, but Purdue tied the score at 17-17. With the score still tied 20-20, Murray got her fourth kill of the set before Jackson followed with back-to-back kills to put Husker ahead 23-20. After a Hudson sideout kill for Purdue, Jackson scored again for her fifth kill on her fifth shot to take set point, 24-21. Beason finished the set with a kill from the back row for a 25-22 win.

Set 2: Purdue took a 5-2 lead, but Beason scored a kill and served an ace to cut the lead to 5-4. A 4-0 run for the Boilermakers gave them a 12-8 lead, and Purdue was in control, extending the lead to 19-13. A kill by Taylor Landfair and a hitting error by Purdue were preceded by a block by Allick and Landfair, and the deficit was cut in half to 19-16. After a Purdue timeout, the Boilers hit a long drive to bring NU within two points at 19-17. But Chicoine earned the sideout with a kill, and the Huskers failed on two straight swings, giving Purdue a 22-17 lead. The Boilermakers took the set point at 24-19, but the Huskers fought back with kills from Beason, Murray and Jackson to get within 24-22 and force a Purdue timeout. But Hudson finished with a kill coming out of the timeout to give Purdue a 25-22 victory, tying the game at 1-1.

Set 3: Purdue used a 4-0 run to take a 9-5 lead. A kill from Murray, a block from Beason and a kill from Jackson made it 11:11. The Boilermakers took the lead again, 17-15, but Beason and Allick responded with kills to tie the score again, 17-17. NU took an 18-17 lead after a Purdue error, and kills from Allick and Murray made the Big Red score 20-18. Chicoine scored a sideout kill for Purdue, but Jackson answered with her 11th of the night . The Huskers led 22-20, but Purdue scored three straight goals – two on Husker scoring errors – to take a 23-22 lead. After a timeout, Krause managed an overpass to make it 23:23. But another Husker scoring error gave Purdue the point, and the Boilermakers won the set 25-23 on a kill from Hudson.

Set 4: Reilly opened the set with an ace and Allick got a kill before a block from Beason and Jackson made it 5-2. Another kill by Beason and a scoring error by Purdue gave the Huskers an 8-4 lead. Beason gave the Huskers an 11-6 lead, and later in the set a block from Reilly and Jackson made the Big Red score 17-12. After a timeout, Purdue scored three straight goals to get within 17-15. Murray recorded a sideout kill and kills from Allick and Landfair kept NU on top 20-16. Landfair added another kill before two from Beason made it 23-18 NU. The Huskers earned the set point at 24:19 before dropping three points in a row. Finally, Beason scored from the back row to win 25-22 and force a move into the fifth set.

Set 5: Purdue led 3-1 before kills from Allick and Murray tied the game. The teams completed the next 11 rallies to give Purdue a 9-8 lead, and then Purdue held serve with a kill by Hudson that made the score 10-8. After a timeout, Beason scored her 19th kill to cut the score to 10-9, and Jackson tied the score at 10-10 with her 12th kill. Hudson answered for Purdue, but Beason came right back for NU to make it 11-11. Hudson put Purdue back in front at 12-11, but Murray made a big kill to tie the score at 12-12. Jackson gave NU its first lead since 1-0 with her 13th kill. After a timeout, Hudson tied the score at 13:13 with her 26th kill. But Jackson secured match point with another kill (14-13). Chicoine answered for the Boilermakers and a block from Purdue gave the Boilermakers match point, making the score 15-14. Beason hammered a kill in the back row to make it 15-15, and Landfair earned a kill after Purdue went to the net at 16-15 for another match point. Beason finished the match with her 22nd kill.

Next up: The Huskers host Rutgers at the Devaney Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on B1G+ and can be heard on the Huskers Radio Network.