Nebraska wins Big Ten regular season title with sweep

After sweeping No. 25 Illinois 25-23, 25-20, 25-12 on Thursday night, the Huskers kept their usual postgame handshakes and on-court congratulations.

The only acknowledgment of Nebraska’s fourth straight regular-season Big Ten title came when the public address announcer told fans about the feat and their chance to buy commemorative shirts on their way out of John Cook Arena.

In the locker room, however, it was the coaches who started the party by bursting in armed with water bottles and dunking the players.

“They sprayed us. We couldn’t spray them,” said young libero Olivia Mauch. “We’ll get them back.”

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said there would be a public ceremony at some point, but he wanted to celebrate the accomplishment.

“It’s obviously a huge accomplishment. The Big 10 is arguably the toughest conference in volleyball, and for this class to be able to win it four years in a row – the seniors – is so impressive,” she said. “They have a lot of pressure to get there, and so to do it with two games left is an even bigger accomplishment. Now we can focus on the next goal, which is the Big Ten Tournament.”

The top-ranked Huskers turned in their best offensive performance against a ranked opponent in the rally scoring era, posting a .483 hitting percentage to improve on their .477 mark from Sunday, while committing a season-low six errors.

Teraya Sigler led Nebraska (26-0, 15-0) on offense with 13 kills on 19 errorless swings.

Manaia Ogbechie was surprised to hear Sigler finish with a .684 hitting percentage.

“Oh my God! What a crazy statistic,” she said. “But I’m not surprised. She hits with so much power, and now she’s opened up so much range too.”

NU’s middle blockers also made no hitting errors. Ogbechie and Andi Jackson each finished with nine kills out of a total of 26 attacks. Their hitting percentages of .750 and .643 were the third time three Huskers hit at least .600 in the same game (min. 10 att.) in the rally scoring era, and the first since 2014.

Bergen Reilly led the offense with 40 assists and finished the game with an ace.

Despite the gaudy numbers, Illinois (17-9, 9-6) put the Huskers on a tilt early on. The Illini used a pair of aces and five missed serves by NU to go up 18-13 in the first set.

After a timeout, Harper Murray stopped the momentum with a kill in the final line, after making a mistake in the previous game. With Bergen Reilly on the service line, NU won the next seven points for an 8-0 run. The scoring streak included three straight kills from Sigler and back-to-back blocks from Ogbechie, who finished the match with five tricks. Virginia Adriano capped it off with an out-of-system kill on a Mauch bump.

Mauch, who finished with 13 digs, said that even though they trailed, they had confidence in Reilly to score points and bring them back into the set.

Busboom Kelly said they just needed to keep the ball in play and reduce their errors in the service game. The Huskers hit .567 for the set.

“We were passing and serving out of bounds, so we weren’t even giving ourselves a chance to play the ball, play defense or control the game,” she said. “We just talked about getting back in control and staying calm. I felt like we were a little inconsistent at the start for some reason. I don’t know, but they did a good job of finishing that and then taking off from there.”

The Illini responded by tying the set at 21, but Ogbechie had two kills late before Jackson finished it off with his fourth kill of the set.

In the second set, Nebraska started fast with a 4-1 lead, but the Illini took a 12-11 lead after Alyssa Aguayo recorded three kills in four rallies.

Murray put the Huskers ahead for good with a personal 3-0 run on a tip kill, a backcourt kill and a service ace. She added another ace and two more kills late.

The third set remained close until Keri Leimbach came in and scored a 9-0 point to give the Huskers a 21-11 lead. Busboom Kelly said they may not always put Leimbach or Campbell Flynn in matches where they could add punch with their serve, because they save them for passing or setting, respectively.

“She makes us look like idiots because we don’t play her or she doesn’t serve in every game,” Busboom Kelly joked of Leimbach. “Keri has a great serve in practice, and every time she comes into the game, she’s proven herself. We know in the final game we’re going to need everyone. It’s just about trying to prepare more people for when their name is called in a big moment.”

Reilly ultimately finished the match with an ace.

The Illini hit .200 for the game, led by 11 kills from Paityn Chapman. Maya Harris finished with three aces.

The Huskers return to action Saturday against Iowa, which was swept Thursday to Northwestern for the Wildcats’ first Big Ten win of the season. The match starts at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on B1G+.

Although they didn’t celebrate publicly Thursday, Mauch said the Huskers were proud of their accomplishment and what they’ve accomplished so far this season.

“I think it shows how good this team is,” she said. “We continue to improve and push each other to be better every day. »

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