Three takes from No. 2 Nebraska volleyball’s statement sweep over No. 21 Ohio State
No. 2 Nebraska volleyball (10-0) is still undefeated and has won three straight ranked matches. In their first Big Ten match of the season, the Huskers swept No. 21 Ohio State (25-14, 25-16, 25-21). Nebraska’s block, defense and offense were all clicking in their dominant effort and win.
The Huskers hit .333 and held Ohio State to a season-low .090 hitting percentage. Nebraska hopes a team win over a solid Buckeye team will set the tone for their 10-week-long Big Ten schedule.
Here are my three takeaways from Nebraska’s first Big Ten victory:
Block, defense set the tone
The Nebraska block set the tone very early in this match. The Huskers had five blocks before the 15-point mark. Opposite hitter Merritt Beason started off the fun with a solo block vs. Emily Londot to go up 3-0.
Outside hitter Ally Batenhorst, who started her second straight match, had five blocks in the first set and seven total. Her blocking made up for her hitting struggles, as she had two kills on 14 swings and was the only Husker to hit negative.
Middle blockers Andi Jackson and Bekka Allick both had five block assists. Jackson had four in the first set after teaming up with Batenhorst three times.
At the top of Nebraska’s game plan was to shut down Ohio State opposite hitter Emily Londot. They did just that as the senior had a season-low nine kills and hit a season-low .030. She had 33 of the Buckeyes’ 89 swings.
“Coach talked a lot about Londot’s attack,” Allick said. “She’s a stud. So the biggest thing for us is executing the game plan, especially when we play against big competitors, never getting outside of ourselves or trying to do something crazy, just sticking to what we know and what the team goal is.”
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Being continually stuffed is hard on hitters. Ohio State started to hit out and take risks with the ball. They had nine hitting errors and 10 kills in set one.
“It’s especially when you get those big bounce blocks because the crowd goes nuts,” Cook said. “Sometimes those are worth more than one point because it gets those hitters thinking.”
Even if the ball went through the block, Nebraska has statistically the best back row in the nation. Libero Lexi Rodriguez and DS Laney Choboy, who was back from injury, both made some incredible plays. Each player in Nebraska’s back row makes a great play or two.
After suffering a concussion vs. Stanford, Choboy came back with a huge match. She had seven digs of Nebraska’s 37 digs.
“She competes, she can fly around,” Cook said. “You saw a couple of those early rallies, there were balls that should have been down and somehow those guys are getting it up. This team competes really hard. They play really hard. And that’s how you see that and we keep doing that match after match. But a lot of that is it comes from Laney’s mindset and attitude.”
Overcome third-set let down, this time
Nebraska has struggled this season after getting up 2-0 vs. ranked teams. Creighton, Stanford and Kentucky all won set three after two big sets by the Huskers.
Ohio State came out firing in set three. Their serving improved, and with that, Nebraska’s passing went downhill. However, the Huskers dialed back in and their passing improved.
Nebraska continued to commit errors throughout the match. They had four service errors and had six of their 11 total hitting errors in the final set. The Huskers hit .200 in set three after hitting .296 and .516 in the first two sets.
Allick said after the match that Choboy made several great points about competing and adjusting in the third set.
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“She brought it up when we were talking about things that could hurt us in the long run and it’s not adjusting,” Allick said. “Because right off the bat, we’re a great team, but as Coach always says, The great teams adjust,” and that has been our weakness in the third set. So Laney made a great point. She’s like, “I hope that they would adjust if they’re down two sets or they’re just gonna get swept and set home.”
“We talked a lot, a lot about adjusting and just playing it cool and not getting outside of ourselves and I think that’s what we did tonight.”
In the Big Ten, if a team can gain moments by stringing together points or winning a set, anything could happen. The Huskers overcame their third-set letdown on Friday, but their grittiness to stay ahead or to come back will be huge throughout the season.
Offense is cruising with setter Bergen Reilly
Nebraska’s offense is cruising, with freshman setter Bergen Reilly running it. The 6-foot-1 setter’s set percentage has ranged from .440 (Stanford) to .521 (Ohio State) over the last three ranked matches.
She is making her hitters look great and vice versa. Husker opposite Merritt Beason was named the Big Ten Player of the Week and outside hitter Harper Murray is the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after two huge matches vs. Stanford and Kentucky.
Against Ohio State, Beason had 14 kills and hit .458, a season high. Her previous season high was a .438 clip vs. Kentucky in Nebraska’s last match. She added a team-high nine digs and one block too.
Murray had 11 kills and a .269 hitting percentage. She had eight digs, three assists and two blocks.
“It’s really helpful knowing that all of my attackers are up every single time,” Reilly said. “I think that that’s something we’ve really been working on in practice, especially with the middles, is getting middles up for every single play regardless. So that’s helped to open a lot of things up for the pins and then obviously get the middle’s kills and that’s been huge for us.”
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Nebraska’s middle blockers both had huge matches as well. Allick recorded eight kills and a .467 clip. Jackson was errorless with six kills on 10 swings and a .600 hitting percentage. Both middles had five blocks.
The Huskers have two very dynamic middle blockers. Setting the middle more was a huge emphasis last season. Reilly does it naturally.
Even with Batenhorst hitting -.071, Nebraska hit .333 as a team. They had a massive .516 hitting percentage in set two with only one hitting error.
Reilly runs a very consistent and balanced offense each match. She makes some great sets from all over the court. The freshman seems to be able to set anyone from anywhere on the court, one of the setters’ goals.
Nebraska’s offense will face some challenges this season in the Big Ten and beyond. Currently, they are showing great chemistry, offensive creativity and grit all over the court, especially on defense. If this team improves, they will go far this season.
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