Nebraska Volleyball shocks Wisconsin with a sweep

No. No. 2 Nebraska shocked No. 7 Wisconsin with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 win to win in Madison for the first time since 2013 after eight straight losses. It was NU’s first sweep there since 2012.

Nebraska’s winning streak is 18, while the Huskers ended the Badgers’ nine-game winning streak and handed them their first home loss in 26 games.

The road for Nebraska in the Big Ten holds many more challenges, including six more road games, another game against Wisconsin and a road trip to Penn State.

But winning in Madison was a great start to the month.

Nebraska’s serve Friday played a major role in the victory. The Huskers had five aces — two each for Lexi Rodriguez and Olivia Mauch — and many serves forced poor passes for Wisconsin, which helped limit the Badgers’ offense to a season-worst .094 hitting percentage. Nebraska had a .202 average.

Coach John Cook was extremely proud of the result.

“Our key was to not let the crowd bother us and just play point by point, and I thought they did a great job,” Cook said on Big Ten Network. “You know Wisconsin is going to make runs, they’re going to block balls, they’re going to serve really hard. You just had to get through it, and we did well enough and we got a few extra points each set and got it done.

Taylor Landfair had 13 kills for one of her best games in Nebraska. But the Husker offense resulted in deaths everywhere, while the Badgers did not.

Merritt Beason had 11 kills, including huge kills late in sets. Andi Jackson had seven kills, Harper Murray six and Rebekah Alick three.

Outside hitter Sarah Franklin had 16 kills, but was the Badgers’ only big producer as Nebraska’s blockers wore down Wisconsin’s hitters as the match progressed. Anna Smrek had eight kills, but also 10 errors, for a negative hitting percentage.

Cook said the Husker defense was executed at a very high level.

“I think we missed our game plan of what we were trying to do just a few times,” he said. “So they were very disciplined tonight, and that’s something we’re really hammering these guys on.”

Nebraska led in blocks, 10-9; Allick had seven. Rodriguez had 12 digs and Laney Choboy had nine.

The Huskers won the first set in a surprising way: the block.

Nebraska led blocks 6-3. Some of that was the result of some good serving for the Huskers, putting the Badgers hitters in unfavorable attempts.

The Huskers’ first lead of the set was 9-8. Nebraska got kills at every turn. Jackson put a shot through two blockers. Murray dropped a tip after attacking the back row. Beason ended the set with a kill after attacking the back row.

The second set saw wild swings in momentum. Nebraska trailed, but then won seven of the next nine rallies. Then the Badgers retook the lead with a 9-1 run.

But Nebraska got the final wave, after Mauch’s serve, kills from Landfair and another set point kill by Beason.

The third set was close until late in the set. Murray served a 4-0 run, giving Nebraska an 18-15 lead. The last two runs came after hitting errors by Franklin and Smrek.

Nebraska had not only survived but thrived in one of the most intimidating places to play in sports with a large and talented team and a loud crowd that was part of the 7,229 spectators in the UW Field House.

“This is a tough place to play,” Cook said. “I love this crowd and this building is amazing. These fans are amazing and this is so great for college volleyball.