LINCOLN — After dropping its first set of the season and falling behind 6-1 in the second, Nebraska needed a spark to get it going during its 10th match in the past 17 days. 

Enter Skyler Pierce and Keri Leimbach. 

After a brief cameo in the first set, Pierce returned to the match with the Huskers down 8-4 and ignited the offense and recorded three straight kills during one stretch. When her spot moved to the back row, Leimbach entered and provided tough serving and solid floor defense. 

The duo helped No. 1 Nebraska rally and earn a 24-26, 25-17, 25-18, 25-12 victory over Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon at John Cook Arena. 

Pierce finished with a career-best 10 kills on a .348 hitting percentage with three digs and a pair of blocks. Meanwhile, Leimbach notched her first career ace and added five digs and two assists. 

“Both of them played great, came in, did their job, but on top of that, did better than what we even needed them to do,” NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said about Pierce and Leimbach. “That was huge, and that’s why you come here. We have a great bench, and we’re going to use it. Today was a perfect example of that.”

The substitutes were needed after the Huskers failed to seize any momentum in the first set. Despite 10 ties, NU never led in the set. Tech went up 14-11 after three straight points and then extended its lead to 19-13 after a 5-0 run that included two aces by Laura Bieleski. 

NU rallied to tie the set at 20-all, but the Yellow Jackets (8-2) won four of the next five points. The Huskers fought off three set points but couldn’t stop No. 4 as Tech blocked Andi Jackson on the slide. 

“We were just going about Georgia Tech and just how fast their offense was and adjusting to that,” Pierce said. “I just went in with the confidence that Dani says on the bench that you have to be ready for anything. Once I got out there, I just tried to do my best to do what I can for the team."

Georgia Tech carried the momentum into the second set and scored the first five points on three kills by Zoe Humphrey and two aces from Magda Kobaidze. 

Trailing 10-4, the Huskers turned things around and went on a 10-2 run with Pierce and Leimbach on the court. Leimbach gave the Huskers their first lead of the match with an ace at 13-12. 

“It was cool. It was fun,” Leimbach said about her ace serve. “Everyone has a role in the team… In our minds we’re always ready, but we’re still gonna cheer on our teammates. Then like whenever our name’s called, we’re ready.”

Nebraska controlled the final two sets as it went up 6-1 and led 15-6 before the Yellow Jackets' first extended run. In the fourth set, Tech took a brief 8-7 lead, but the Huskers went on a 15-1 run, with the only point given up coming via a service error. 

Appropriately, Pierce ended the match with a kill to send everyone home. 

Manaia Ogbechie led the NU offense with 12 kills on a .526 hitting percentage, to go with her five blocks. Jackson added eight kills at a .545 clip while Adriano hit .357 with six kills and four blocks. 

The Huskers hit .324 for the match, with 41 assists, three kills and 13 digs from Bergen Reilly. Olivia Mauch added 12 digs while Laney Choboy chipped in three aces. 

Harper Murray and Teraya Sigler struggled from the left pin to start the match as they both hit negative in the first set. Murray finished with seven kills, and Sigler recorded four of her six kills in the fourth set after returning from the bench. 

“A lot of times in that situation, somebody’s going to come out and be really timid,” Busboom Kelly said about Sigler reentering the match after sitting out two sets. “But she took three huge swings, had a block, so that was awesome for her, and should give her a lot of confidence going forward.”

After allowing the Yellow Jackets to hit .370 in the first set, Nebraska limited them to .027 in the final three. Alida Bennour led Tech with 16 kills while Zoe Humphrey added eight kills. 

Despite the sluggish start, Busboom Kelly was pleased with the final result. NU will get a day off on Sunday before its next match on Wednesday against Creighton at Pinnacle Bank Arena. 

“It has been a long three weeks, but that was one way to challenge these guys and to be tough when maybe you’re not feeling your best,” Busboom Kelly said. “It was a really good team win, and we gutted through some things, and we got better throughout the whole match.”

After the second set, Nebraska recognized the members of the 2006 national championship team. The entire team was honored, with everyone on the court except for Busboom Kelly and Lindsay (Wischmeier) Peterson, the current director of operations. Former coach John Cook was also calling the match on Nebraska Public Media. 

Busboom Kelly said she was hoping to spend a little time after hosting 2028 verbal commits who were in town on visits. 

“It’s awesome,” she said. “The whole team’s here, so that’s a pretty big deal.”