No. 5 Nebraska volleyball defeats in-state rival No. 9 Creighton in five set thriller

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - No. 5 Nebraska volleyball held off a reverse sweep bid from No. 9 Creighton to come away with a five set win Tuesday at the Devaney Center.

“I feel like having the resiliency in the fifth set to finish it and to finish it out how we did says a lot,” Lexi Rodriguez said. “So proud of the team for finally unleashing it tonight.”

The win marked the 28th straight home victory for the Huskers, who improved to 21-0 in their history against the Bluejays.

“The is one match of many that we’re going to play that are good, good teams and resume opportunities,” Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. The Jays entered the evening 5-0. “We’re disappointed that we didn’t seize that opportunity tonight.”

After Nebraska jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first set, Creighton never moved within five points as the Huskers took Set One, 25-19.

An Elise Goetzinger kill cut the Huskers Set Two lead to 13-11, but Nebraska answered with a 5-0 run powered by Andi Jackson. The sophomore middle turned in two kills and a block in the five-point stretch to put the set out of reach. A Bekka Allick kill served closed the set with a 25-16 victory for Big Red.

Facing a sweep, Creighton rallied for a thrilling Set Three. Nebraska reached match point four times, and on each occasion, the Jays responded. Ultimately, an Ava Martin kill sealed the 33-31 victory for the Bluejays.

Creighton rode the momentum of their set win into Set Four. Ava Martin turned in five kills in the 25-16 win to force Set Five.

Nebraska began the decisive set with a 3-0 run to set the tone. Bergen Reilly delivered back-to-back kills to pad the Huskers lead to 9-4. Harper Murray had the match point kill to hand Nebraska the five set victory, 15-10.

Creighton’s Norah Sis turned a match-high 24 kills in the loss with teammate adding 17. Murray led the Huskers with 16 kills.

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