Nebraska volleyball downs Missouri in straight sets, moves on to Sweet 16

Nebraska tallied its 30th win of the season on Saturday night by sweeping Missouri 25-14, 25-19, 25-21 to advance to the Sweet 16.

The sweep was the Huskers’ 18th of the 2023 campaign and powered head coach John Cook’s squad to its 39th regional semifinal in program history. Merritt Beason led Nebraska with 12 kills and a match-high .435 hitting percentage. As a team, the Huskers hit .264 while holding the Tigers to a .089 percentage which marks the 12th time Nebraska has held an opponent below .100 this season.

A date with No. 5 seeded Georgia Tech, which bested No. 4 Florida in five sets to reach the Sweet 16 on Friday, awaits the Huskers next week. Here’s a quick recap of how Nebraska’s victory over the Tigers unfolded.

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Nebraska dominated the first with defense

Nebraska quickly shook off the fog of their opening-round match with Long Island by ripping off seven unanswered points to start the first set. The run opened with an ace from freshman Bergen Reilly which was her first of three in the 7-0 stretch. Despite the Huskers’ early onslaught, Missouri rebounded to win eight of the next 11 rallies, force a Nebraska timeout and cut the deficit to 10-8.

The Huskers maintained their two-point edge until a 4-0 run sparked by a Reilly setter dump put Nebraska ahead by five. A second 4-0 Husker stretch immediately followed and featured two blocks from Bekka Allick which helped Nebraska to a 20-12 lead. A swing from Ally Batenhorst ended the first soon thereafter as the Huskers cruised to a 25-14 victory.

Offensively, Nebraska did not have its best showing in the set. A .111 hitting percentage with six attack errors was offset by a 71.4% sideout percentage. Allick and Beason were a force at the net with five and four block assists respectively. Missouri posted an attack percentage of -.240 with 11 attack errors compared to five kills.

The Tigers also had three critical service errors in the set including a pair from Maya Sands that came after Missouri had halted 7-0 and 4-0 Husker runs.

Beason leads the way in the second

At the midway point of the second set, Nebraska built a 15-10 advantage. The Tigers remained within two points of the Huskers for much of the set with an improved hitting percentage of .250 at the midway point. Yet, Nebraska countered with some improved offensive numbers of its own notching a .478 mark in the same period.

A 5-0 run gave the Huskers firm control of the second with a 20-12 lead. Nebraska road the momentum of that rally to a 25-19 win in the set fighting off a Missouri response in the process. Beason posted four kills in the set along with three each from Batenhorst and Harper Murray lifted the Huskers to a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

Nebraska clinches victory in a tight third

Missouri took its first lead of the match by winning the first rally of the third set with a kill from Janet DeMarrais. It was a sign of things to come from the Tigers who fought off the Huskers to take leads of 8-7 and 15-14 in the third. The final of those three lead changes came on the heels of a 5-0 Missouri run.

The first two sets featured two ties and zero lead changes. In the match’s final set, there were 14 ties and seven lead changes.

The Tigers tallied its sixth one-point edge of the third on a Sierra Dudley kill that pushed Missouri ahead 20-19. As the Huskers seemed to falter, the team’s block and the Devaney Center’s crowd gave Nebraska the lift it needed. A pair of late blocks from Murray and Allick helped the Huskers gain separation and forced a Tiger timeout.

Beason put the exclamation point on the match with a pair of kills as Nebraska claimed the third set on a 3-0 scoring run. The junior transfer from Florida terminated five balls in the third as the Huskers matched their first half total of six blocks in the 25-21 win.