The Huskers Overcome Early 'Mental Slump' to Sweep Northwestern

The offense wasn’t always sharp, but Nebraska still overpowered Northwestern to earn its eighth straight sweep. 

The top-ranked Huskers recorded 22 points off their serve and block (nine aces and 13 stuffs) for a season best in three sets. They won 25-17, 25-14, 25-15 in front of a mostly red-clad crowd of 5,329 Thursday evening at Welsh-Ryan Arena. 

The Huskers (18-0, 7-0) finished with a .287 hitting percentage, just the sixth time they have finished below .300 this season. They also fell behind early in the first two sets before regrouping and running away with the set. 

After the match, NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly questioned if she had the right practice formula this week. After going hard on Monday and Tuesday, they might have eased up a bit before their showdown with No. 13 Purdue on Saturday. 

“It certainly wasn’t our cleanest match or best match of the year, but I did think some players came off the bench and did a really nice job,” Busboom Kelly said on her post-match radio interview. “I do want to give our team a little bit of grace. It’s tough to play Wisconsin (last Saturday). We come here. We have a big match on Saturday. Mentally, that is not easy. I thought we worked through some of that mental slump in Game One and got going.”

The slow start consisted of three hitting errors in the first nine points. Later, back-to-back attacking mistakes gave the Wildcats a 14-13 first-set lead. However, NU locked in and didn’t make another attacking mistake the rest of the set and finished it off with an 8-0 run. 

The second set also started ominously for the Huskers. They had no kills on their first six attacks and committed three errors as Northwestern (7-11, 0-7) took a 6-3 lead. 

The serve and block saved them as Reilly went on a 5-0 run that featured two aces and back-to-back blocks by sophomore Kenna Cogill, who teamed up with Teraya Sigler and then Virginia Adriano. 

Kenna Cogill, who was filling in for a sick Manaia Ogbechie, led the Huskers with seven blocks, while Andi Jackson added six. Reilly finished with a team-high three aces to go with her 39 assists. Jackson led Nebraska with 10 kills on a .600 hitting percentage. Sigler added eight kills at a .467 clip. 

“I loved our serving tonight. I loved the blocking as well,” Busboom Kelly said.

Nebraska added another string of five points in a row later in the set as Jackson terminated three straight attacks. Harper Murray recorded one of her nine kills, and the Laney Choboy capped it off with an ace to put the Huskers up 20-11. 

In the third set, more of NU’s reserves got in on the action. Jayden Robinson played the entire set at opposite and recorded two blocks. Skyler Pierce played outside hitter and had four kills on six swings. Keoni Williams replaced Jackson and tallied two kills on three attacks, and freshman outside hitter Gabby DiVita came on late and terminated all three of her swings. 

“Gabby hasn’t played much this year, and she took some big rips at the end there, which was great to see,” Busboom Kelly said. “Skyler did what she always does, makes an impact. Keoni, she’s been so good in practice. It’s like, how do we reward her? I’m  just really proud of her tonight and her limited action.”

Overall, 13 of the 15 available Huskers saw action, with only opposite Ryan Hunter and Campbell Flynn not getting in. 

Nebraska’s floor defense also limited the Wildcats’ attack. The Huskers finished with 51 digs, led by 12 from Sigler and Choboy. Northwestern finished with just 21 kills and a .030 hitting percentage — both were the second-lowest this season. Mara Stiglic led the way with nine kills on 31 swings. 

The Huskers now turn their attention to Purdue for a 4 p.m. start on Saturday. The Boilermakers hit .388 in a 25-19, 25-18, 25-15 sweep over Iowa Thursday night in Iowa City.