No. 1 Nebraska hit .419 on its way to a 3-0 sweep over No. 16 Penn State in Big Ten women’s volleyball action on Thursday night at Rec Hall. The set scores were 25-20, 25-17, and 25-18 in front of 5,450 fans in Happy Valley.
Nebraska Extends Perfect Record in Happy Valley Sweep
The Cornhuskers stayed unbeaten at 14-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference following the straight-set victory. Penn State dropped to 9-4 overall and 1-2 in Big Ten play. Nebraska entered the match as the nation’s top-ranked squad and maintained its offensive efficiency behind setter Bergen Reilly, who tallied 33 assists and 15 digs.
Kennedy Martin led the Nittany Lions with 18 kills, while Whitney Lauenstein added 13 kills. Alexis Stucky dished out 33 assists for the home side. For Nebraska, Harper Murray paced the attack with 13 kills, and Andi Jackson contributed 11 kills and seven blocks while hitting .625.
Set-by-Set Breakdown at Rec Hall
Penn State fell behind early in the opening set at 7-1 and trailed 17-12 before mounting a comeback. Lauenstein and Stucky engineered a rally that brought the Nittany Lions within one point at 19-18 and again at 20-19. Nebraska responded by claiming five of the final six points to secure the 25-20 win, capped by a kill from Teraya Sigler.
In the second set, Martin hit .385 with seven kills, but Nebraska took the frame 25-17 by hitting .455. Reilly collected 12 assists in the second set alone to direct the Cornhuskers’ offense. The third set followed a similar trajectory as Martin added seven more kills for Penn State, but Nebraska closed out the match 25-18 behind Murray’s five kills on .455 hitting.
Penn State Hosts Iowa Next
Penn State returns to the Rec Hall court on Saturday at 7 p.m. to host Iowa. The Hawkeyes enter the matchup at 12-5 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten after dropping a 3-2 decision at Maryland on Thursday.
More on Penn State
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