Nebraska Smothers Illinois with Defense, Balanced Offense

LINCOLN—While Illinois dressed two liberos, Laney Choboy covered enough court for two players. 

In the second set, Choboy recorded an ace to prompt the media timeout. When the teams returned to the court, the Husker libero made a diving pancake save on Illinois’ first swing. After another dig, Tereya Sigler’s back row attack was rejected, and Choboy fully laid out facing the end line, punching the ball straight up. Bergen Reilly set the ball to Harper Murray, who recorded a kill. 

Choboy finished with 20 digs, two aces and three assists to lead the top-ranked Huskers in a 25-11, 25-15, 25-14 sweep over Illinois Thursday night at John Cook Arena. 

For as good as Choboy was on defense, NU’s offense was equally impressive. Ten different players recorded a kill, led by junior middle blocker Andi Jackson, who terminated on all nine of her attacks. For the match, the Huskers (23-0, 13-0) posted a .488 hitting percentage. 

Virginia Adriano and Murray recorded eight kills, while Sigler finished with six kills. NU only committed six hitting errors for the match. 

Reilly finished with 29 assists, seven digs, five blocks and a kill despite giving way to Campbell Flynn in the first and third sets. 

Nebraska took control of the match from the first serve and scored the first five points. The Huskers didn’t wait very long to go to their bench as Campbell Flynn and Allie Sczech entered the match with the Huskers up 16-7. NU didn’t suffer any drop off as the offense kept humming. Eight different players recorded a kill as the Huskers amassed 20 kills on 28 swings for a .714 hitting percentage.

Auburn Tomkinson accounted for four of the Illini’s seven kills in the set. In fact, Harper Murray tied for the second-most points scored for Illinois as she missed two serves. 

Nebraska’s clean attacking night ended on the first rally of the second set as Illinois blocked Murray. Illinois took a 4-2 lead before the Huskers took over with a 4-0 run. The Illini kept it close and trailed 9-8, but Nebraska won seven of the next nine rallies to pull away. Choboy had two aces in the set, and Bergen Reilly closed it out with another ace. 

The Huskers took control of the third set with a 6-0 run, which put them up 9-4. During the run, Jackson and Skyler Pierce recorded two kills. Manaia Ogbechie played the set and put up three kills and two blocks. 

Illinois (12-9, 7-5) was led by eight kills from Taylor de Boer, while Tomkinson added six kills. The Illini hit .095 for the match. 

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