The Husker seniors led the charge as Murray and Jackson posted season-highs in kills, Choboy added serving and defense, while Reilly led the offense to a .320 hitting percentage.
LINCOLN — After struggling to convert set points in the first two sets, Nebraska finally shut the door on a pesky Rutgers team with its second match point to open Big Ten play.
The top-ranked Huskers needed a combined 12 set points to close out the 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 sweep over what senior Laney Choboy called “the best Rutgers team” she faced in her career. NU finished with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 win over the Scarlet Knights in front of 10,497 fans at John Cook Arena.
Harper Murray said she could tell from watching film that Rutgers was much improved over the last few years when they combined to win six Big Ten matches over the last three years.
“That’s also just a testament to their coach and their program and they’ve obviously been putting in the work,” Murray said. “They played one of their best games, and honestly, I thought it was fun. I think we were excited to see them, and I think they played really well.”
The improvement was most evident at the end of each set. The Huskers led 21-13 in the first set when RU scored three straight points. After five sideouts, the Scarlet Knights turned back NU’s first three attempts to close out the set.
Rutgers (9-4) faced a similar deficit in the second set, trailing 23-13. However, it scored four points in a row before Andi Jackson broke up the streak with a kill to give NU set point. Again, the Scarlet Knights refused to go away as they went on a 5-0 run and blocked the Huskers four times. An attack error ended their hopes as NU (12-0) closed out the set on their sixth try.
The third set didn’t feature any long runs as a service error only delayed NU’s victory before Skyler Pierce sent everyone home with a kill.
“I thought Rutgers played really well tonight and did some really good things,” NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “They do some things that are a little unconventional, and it just took us a little bit to adjust to that, but I thought they battled really well.”
Teraya Sigler was in street clothes and a walking boot after suffering an injury Wednesday night against Missouri. Busboom Kelly said they are playing it safe with her and while she doesn’t have a plan yet for Saturday night’s match against Ohio State, she classified the injury as “not serious.”
Sophomore defensive specialist Keri Leimbach earned her first career start against Rutgers. She finished with three digs while attempting 10 serves over the three sets. | Nebraska AthleticsPierce filled in at outside hitter and finished with four kills, but Keri Leimbach got the start and began the game with the serve on the first point. The sophomore defensive specialist, who redshirted last year, nailed her serve and added three digs in the match.
“I was impressed with her start today and how she played, her defense and serving,” Choboy said about Leimbach. “She’s been working really hard. So I’m happy to see it come to light.”
Choboy was the star of the match from the service line, posting a run of at least 5-0 in each set and finishing with an ace and a match-high 15 digs. She attempted 28 serves, more than a third of NU’s total of 74.
Busboom Kelly said the rotation with Choboy serving is strong for the Huskers because it features three seniors in the front row: Murray, Jackson and setter Bergen Reilly. In the back row, libero Olivia Mauch, Leimbach and Choboy are there to pick up opponents’ attacks.
“I feel like every time I serve, if I can keep it in, then we can go for a run because those three in the front row are always blocking or killing the ball,” Choboy said. “I love serving in that ro(tation).”
Each NU senior posted big numbers in their fourth Big Ten opener.
Murray finished with a .323 hitting percentage and 15 kills for the Huskers, a season-high for any Husker. Jackson wasn’t too far off with 14 kills on a .632 hitting percentage. Reilly tallied 39 assists as NU hit .320 for the match.
After failing to record a block in the first set, the Huskers finished with seven stuffs. Jackson put up four blocks, while Manaia Ogbechie was in on the other three.
Skylar George led Rutgers with nine kills as the Scarlet Knights finished with a .137 hitting percentage. Rutgers libero Kenzie Dyrstad, a Papillion-La Vista South graduate, recorded a team-high nine digs.
Murray said it doesn’t quite feel like the Big Ten season yet because they are in the middle of a nine-match home stand. Once they get on the road next week, it will start to sink in.
“The Big Ten will be really competitive this year, so we’re really excited because it’s going to be really competitive, and I think we’re going to have a lot of fun,” she said.
