Nebraska won’t be sharing the Big Ten championship this year.
After finishing tied atop the conference standings with Penn State last season, the top-ranked Huskers swept No. 17 Indiana 25-19, 25-16, 25-22 Saturday evening at Wilkinson Hall to earn sole ownership of the Big Ten title this season.
And there is still a week left in the regular season.
The Huskers won their third straight Big Ten crown and sixth since joining the league in 2011.
NU freshman opposite Virginia Adriano said they struggled at times with a great atmosphere, but she was happy to close out the match in straight sets.
“It’s a big accomplishment,” NU freshman opposite Virginia Adriano said on the B1G+ broadcast. “It is one of the main goals that we had, and it’s really good to be able to get this.”
Nebraska (28-0, 18-0) started the match slowly and committed four attacking errors on its first 11 swings and missed a serve. It appeared like Harper Murray hit another attack long, but a challenge flipped the call and sparked the Huskers.
NU won nine of the following 11 points as part of a 10-2 run that put it up 15-11. Adriano recorded three blocks on Indiana freshman Jaidyn Jager during the run and added three kills.
Adriano later added three kills for the Huskers’ final three points of the set. The Turin, Italy native finished the match with nine kills on a .412 hitting percentage and six blocks.
“When we struggle, we go back to what we practice,” Adriano said. “We try to rely on each other and give each other confidence, to come out of those moments. We tried to do that, and it worked.”
Indiana (22-6, 13-5) used a 6-0 run in the second set to go up 9-7 in the second set. However, the Huskers responded with four straight points to go back in front for good. Later, NU added five straight points in a run that featured three consecutive Hoosier hitting errors.
The third set was much closer as Nebraska could not extend its lead by more than three points. The Hoosier tied the set at 16-all after a pair of aces from Teodora Krikovic, but NU responded with a kill from Andi Jackson and an ace from Laney Choboy. After another Indiana hitting error, the teams traded side outs until the match ended on a serve into the net.
“That’s a really tough team to play. They’re always throwing different things at you, and it’s pretty easy to get caught up in that,” NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said during her postgame interview. “I thought we played our game and did some really good things.”
Murray finished with a match-high 11 kills. Jackson added nine kills at a .538 clip to go with four blocks. Rebekah Allick also recorded four blocks as she tallied seven kills. Taylor Landfair didn’t commit a hitting error for the second straight match as she had five kills on 11 swings.
Bergen Reilly put up 33 assists as she helped the Huskers hit .340 for the match. The junior setter also recorded a pair of kills, nine digs and two blocks. NU libero Olivia Mauch finished with seven digs and six assists.
The Hoosiers suffered their third home loss this season and drew a sellout crowd of 2,832. The attendance was not a new school record, as it was 25 people smaller than last year’s IU-Purdue match.
Indiana’s outside hitters (Candela Alonso-Corcelles and Jager) combined for 17 kills but also committed 15 attack errors. The Hoosier finished a .147 hitting percentage as NU outblocked them 8-1.
NU continued its streak of winning every set it reaches 20 points first, as they are now 80-0 when reaching the red zone first. Nebraska is also 54-1 in Big Ten sets this season.
While the Huskers were excited to win their third-straight conference crown, the celebration in the locker room was muted for the second straight match. NU plans to accept the trophy at its next home match: Friday against Penn State.
“I think this team is ready to celebrate at home,” Busboom Kelly said.
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