Nebraska Sweeps Missouri in the Second Round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament

Lindsay Krause is still out for the Huskers. In the radio pre-game interview, John Cook said that Bekka Allick is healthy and ready to go after sitting last night. She does have one hand wrapped lightly, but it that doesn’t seem to be the reason she sat. John Baylor commented that opponents facing Allick after she has been benched for a match should be very, very worried.

Let’s hope the Huskers shook off the nerves or whatever was causing them to look out of sorts last night.

Set One

Bergen Reilly started the Huskers off with an ace! That was the first of her three aces as Nebraska raced out to a 6-0 lead and forced a Mizzou timeout. Nebraska tacked on one more before the Tigers won any rallies. Missouri was not going away quietly as their block stymied the Huskers and they closed within 2 (10-8 Neb) to make John Cook use a timeout.

Nebraska made adjustments and started reading the blocks better after the timeout. Bergen Reilly must have been lectured to be more active in scoring as she attempted more setter dumps than usual against Long Island last night and has already registered a kill tonight. The Husker block is also really waking up, especially Bekka Allick. The big block is causing Mizzou to make hitting errors as they try to find a way around Husker hands.

The Tigers never regained momentm after the Nebraska timeout. Allick threw up five blocks while Beason leads in scoring with three kills (and four blockis of her own). Rodriguez has five digs.

Nebraska 25 Missouri 14

Set Two

Reilly is watching the block closely and seeing none, dumps the ball for a kill to start set two. So far, this set is more back and forth with longer rallies than the first. The Huskers are struggling to put distance between them and the Tigers. When it seems they get a little momentum, a mistake or a great play by Missouri puts a stop to that.

Laney Choboy is a wizard!! Her pancake energizes Nebraska and they finally are creating some cushion in the score (13-8 Neb). Missouri is playing well and making the Huskers work for their points. The Tigers took a timeout at 17-12, hoping to regroup and start a run. That gambit failed as Nebraska scored three straight, including a Murray ace (20-12 Neb).

Missouri got as close as five (22-17 and 24-19 Neb) before the Huskers put the set away.

Nebraska 25 Missouri 19

Set Three

Missouri scored first and went toe to toe with Nebraska through the first 10 rallies which ended in a 5-5 tie. Harper Murray had an amazing save/set all the way across the court to Ally Batenhorst, who earned a great kill.

Nebraska started to pull away (7-5) but the Tigers ran off three points to take an 8-7 lead. Early in the season, it seemed like set three was a bugaboo for Nebraska and it looks like more of the same so far tonight. At 9-9, Reilly notched her fourth ace of the night to start a 4-0 scoring run (12-9 Neb).

The Tigers weren’t done yet as they evened up the set at 14-14 and then pulled ahead 15-14. Rallies continue to be hard fought and neither team is able to seize the momentum. With the score tied at 19, a net joust went Missouri’s way (20-19 MU). A hitting error and back row attack violoation by the Tigers led to a 21-19 Nebraska lead and a Missouri timeout.

The Husker block is BIG right now (23-21 Neb).

Beason with the kill!! (24-21 Neb).

Match point. Beason with the kill!! Nebraska sweeps Mizzou!!

Nebraska 25 MIssouri 21

Stats and Thoughts

Nebraska got off to a much better start tonight than they did last night. The blocking was excellent and really frustrated Missouri. The third set continues to be a bit of a speed bump, but Nebraska powered through it tonight. As they get deeper in the tournament, they will need to avoid that.

The first Big Ten team lost tonight with Minnesota losing to Creighton. Four B1G teams are still alive, but Wisconsin and Penn State meet in the next round.

Merritt Beason led Nebraska with 12 kills and Ally Batenhorst had seven. She added five blocks and hit .435 on the night. Bekka Allick threw up eight blocks and hit five kills.

The Huskers outblocked Missouri 14-5 and hit .264. They held the Tigers to .089 hitting %.

Next up is Georgia Tech on Thursday, December 7.