No. 1 Nebraska volleyball holds off an Illinois comeback, 3-1

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - As the conference slate starts to come to a close, Big Ten play is as competitive as ever. Four days after Northwestern took the Huskers to four sets at home, Illinois did the same.

Undefeated Nebraska hit the ground running, going up 5-1 in the opening frame after two kills from middle blocker Bekka Allick and a kill and ace from freshman star Harper Murray. Just like how they opened the set, the Huskers closed the set on a 6-1 run, finished off by an Allick kill to win 25-14. Nebraska went on to take the second set 25-14 as well.

In the third set, Illinois came out swinging. Literally. The Fighting Illini had more kills in set three than in the first two sets combined, totaling 17 in game three on .333 hitting percentage. The Huskers had two set points, but Illinois answered with four straight points, the final two coming off the hand of Raina Terry to give Illinois set four, 26-24.

In game four, Laney Choboy went flying into the bleachers to save a ball that resulted in an Allick-Murray block, putting the Huskers up 11-7 and sending all of Devaney to its feet. Later in the set, Murray served her fourth ace of the match to go up 22-19. Merritt Beason delivered her 11th kill on match point to give the Huskers the final set, 25-22.

Five Huskers had nine or more kills, with Allick leading the way with 12 and a team-high five blocks.

Nebraska improved to 25-0 on the season and 16-0 in the Big Ten. Next up for the Huskers is a home match with Michigan on Friday at 8 p.m.