Nebraska sweeps Kansas, heads to Elite Eight

The Nebraska volleyball team cruised to a win Friday night in the regional semifinal of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

The Huskers, now 33-0, swept Kansas, winning 25-12, 25-11, 25-12 in dominant fashion at a sold-out Devaney Center. The Big Red finished with a .450 hitting percentage — the third-highest attack percentage of the year. They held Kansas to a season-low .029 hitting percentage. The team finished with 41 kills, 48 digs, 10 blocks and 6 aces.

The undefeated Huskers never trailed in the match to the Jayhawks, and the middles helped the Huskers sail to a win. Rebekah Allick had nine kills on nine swings to hit 1.000, and she recorded three blocks. Andi Jackson had nine kills and a .600 hitting percentage with five blocks. Manaia Ogbechie had three kills on four swings in the third set.

Harper Murray recorded seven kills and had a match-high 10 digs. Bergan Reilly had 30 assists, while Olivia Mauch had a season-high three aces.

Heading into the third set, head coach Dani Busboom Kelly said the team's middles outperformed tonight with 10 blocks just in the first two sets.

"That's probably going to be a season-high for us," Busboom Kelly told the ESPN2 crew. "I just feel like we came out on a mission, and our goal was to block a lot of balls tonight. So it's great to see that, come out and come to fruition."

During the postgame presser, Busboom Kelly said she was especially proud of the team's win tonight considering some adversity the team was facing this week.

Star setter Reilly is battling an illness, but when asked about Reilly's condition in the postgame press conference, Busboom Kelly said "she didn't look 100%, but she played great."

The head coach said that libero Maisie Boesiger did some warmup sets before the game just in case and said she could fill in if needed. Busboom Kelly said before Boesiger was a Husker, she was the setter for her Norris High School team.

Just before the game, freshman back-up setter Campbell Flynn came out in street clothes with one hand wrapped. It was later announced that she would be out for the rest of the season with a broken pinky. Fresman outside hitter Teraya Sigler took breaks throughout the game with a wrap around her lower back. After the game, Busboom Kelly said she saw Sigler possibly tweak something during warm-ups and wanted to give her some rest as a precaution.

"It was just good to see us overcome that with a statement," Busboom Kelly said.

Libero Laney Choboy and middle blocker Andi Jackson joined Busboom Kelly during the postgame. Choboy credited the crowd for helping the team to a dominant late Friday night performance.

"As soon as we walked out today, we could just feel the vibes from the crowd," Choboy said. "They were probably the loudest I've heard for a game like this. When our crowd is like that, it allows us to keep going."

With the win, Nebraska moves on to play Texas A&M on Sunday in the Elite Eight. The Aggies rallied from two sets down to beat Louisville 3-2 in Friday's early match.

That game will be at 2 p.m. Central time and will be televised on ABC.