By james art 
The day after Halloween, No. 2 in Nebraska exorcised some demons.
The Huskers (21-1, 11-0 B1G) snapped an eight-game losing streak at UW Field House and earned their first win in Madison since 2013, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 at No. 7 Wisconsin (15 -5, 9-2 B1G). The win was Nebraska’s 18th in a row and made the Huskers’ case as the Big Ten leader.
Taylor Landfair led the Nebraska attack with 13 kills, while Merritt Beeson added 11 on .391 hitting. Rebekah Allick had seven blocks and seven kills, while Bergen Reilly led NU with 32 set assists and five digs. The Huskers’ stout defense held Wisconsin to .094 hitting. Nebraska shut out the Badgers 10-9 while serving them five aces to two.
Nebraska took control of set one with the set tied at 15. The Huskers reeled off three straight points with a kill by Harper Murray, a triple block by Landfair, Alick and Riley, then an ace by Kennedy Orr turned the set at Nebraska 18-15 and forced Wisconsin to used his first timeout. The Huskers held the lead until the end of the set and closed out the set with Merritt Beason hitting a back row kill to win the set. Nebraska’s big advantage was the block as the Huskers shut out the Badgers in the first set 6-3.
In the second set, a 7-1 run by Nebraska gave the Huskers a 12-7 lead. Three consecutive Badgers offensive errors with Lexi Rodriguez serving again forced Wisconsin to take a timeout before the media break. After the teams traded points, the Badgers established control, winning nine of 10 rallies to take a 17-14 lead after forcing Nebraska to take both timeouts. Landfair got the Huskers back in the set with three kills and a block. After back-to-back offensive errors, Landfair again had a big kill to tie the set at 21. Olivia Mauch’s ace gave Nebraska the lead and Murray followed with an ace to make it 23-21. Allick block output set point. Wisconsin denied the Huskers on the first try, but Beason again ended the set with a kill on the right pin to give NU a commanding two sets to none advantage.
Nebraska took early control of set three, winning seven of the first nine rallies. The Badgers clawed their way back into the set with four straight points to cut NU’s lead to 8-6. The Huskers led in the set until three straight Wisconsin points gave the Badgers a 10-9 lead in the third and forced a Husker break. Landfair smashed a kill down the right sideline to cap the run and tie the set at 10. A kill by Allick gave the Huskers an 11-10 lead, but the Badgers won the next rally to tie the set at 11. The set was tied at 12, 13 , 14 and 15. But back-to-back attacking errors and a Landfair roll-shot kill gave Nebraska an 18-15 lead. Wisconsin cut the Huskers’ lead to 20-19, but five straight points closed out the Nebraska win.
The Huskers are back in action Sunday at Northwestern. First serve is at noon, with a pregame at 11 a.m. on B-107.3.