Nebraska volleyball shocks Wisconsin with win for Huskers’ first win in Madison since 2013 – Beatrice Daily Sun

Second-ranked Nebraska shocked No. 7 Wisconsin with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 victory Friday in Madison, Wis.

Nebraska beat Wisconsin in Madison for the first time since 2013 after eight straight losses. It was Nebraska’s first sweep there since 2012.

Nebraska’s hitting streak is 18, and the Huskers ended the Badgers’ 9-game hitting streak.

It was also Wisconsin’s first home loss in its last 26 games. During the nine-match winning streak, Wisconsin lost just two sets.

Nebraska’s road ahead in the Big Ten has many more challenges, including six more road games, another game against Wisconsin and a trip to Penn State.

But the win in Madison was a great start to the month and moved Wisconsin out of the top seed for the Big Ten race, which is now just Nebraska and Penn State.

Nebraska’s pitching Friday played a significant role in the win. The Huskers had five aces and a lot of serves that forced bad passes for Wisconsin, which helped limit the Badgers’ offense to a season-worst .094 hitting percentage.

Lexi Rodriguez and Olivia Mauch each had two aces.

Nebraska had a .202 hitting percentage. 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 of that,” Cook said on the Big Ten Network. “You know Wisconsin is going to make runs, block balls, serve really hard. You just have some time during that time and we did a good enough job and won a few more points each set and got it done.”

Taylor Landfair had 13 kills for one of her best games at Nebraska. But Nebraska’s offense got kills from all over while the Badgers didn’t. Merritt Beeson had 11 kills, including massive ones late in the sets. Andy Jackson had seven kills, Harper Murray six and Rebecca Allick three.

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

Cook said Nebraska’s defense executed at a very high level.

“I think we just missed the mark a few times on what we were trying to do,” he said. “So they were very disciplined tonight, and that’s something that we really drive home to these guys.”

Nebraska led in blocks, 10-9, led by Alick with seven. Rodriguez had 12 hits and Laney Choboy had nine.

Nebraska won the first set in a surprising way – blocking it.

Nebraska led in blocks 6-3. Some of that was a result of good serving for the Huskers, putting the Badgers’ forwards in unfavorable tries.

The Huskers’ first lead of the set was 9-8. Nebraska was getting kills from everywhere. Jackson shot past two blockers. Murray dropped the tip on a backline attack. Beason finished the set with a kill on a back row attack.

The second set featured wild momentum swings. Nebraska fell behind but then won seven of its next nine rallies. The Badgers then went on a 9-1 lead again.

But Nebraska got the final surge, after good serving from Mauch, kills from Landfair and another set point kill from Beason.

The third set was close until late in the set, Murray served up a 4-0 run that put Nebraska up 18-15. The final two points came on errors by Franklin and Smrek.

Nebraska had not just survived, but thrived in one of the most intimidating places to play in sports with a tall and talented team and a raucous crowd that was part of the 7,229 in the UW Field House

“It’s a tough place to play,” Cook said. “I love this crowd and this building is great. These fans are great and that’s great for college volleyball.”