Nebraska earned the first of what it hopes are several more titles this year when it clinched the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge crown on Saturday. Meanwhile in Happy Valley, Penn State continued its strong play with a win over Purdue, and the Mitten State was home to ranked victories for both Indiana and Michigan.
Huskers Repeat as Challenge Champs
No. 1 Nebraska defeated No. 25 Michigan State 3-1 on Saturday afternoon to clinch its second consecutive Big Ten Discover In-Season Volleyball Challenge Championship. The Huskers hit .340 as a team and recorded 15 blocks to finish with a 5-0 record in select challenge matches.
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fter dropping the first set to the Spartans 25-21, Nebraska rebounded with a strong start and finish to set two. Big Red jumped out to a 7-2 lead before ending the set with eight of the final nine points to win 25-19. By then, the Huskers had hit their stride. They never looked back after going up 8-7 in the third set and cruised with a 25-12 fourth set to seal it. Andi Jackson and Harper Murray both tallied 12 kills, while Bergen Reilly notched 45 assists and a career-high six blocks. More from this match.
With the win over Michigan State (and also Michigan on Friday), Nebraska is now 23-0 on the season and 12-0 in Big Ten play with a battle against [second-place] and No. 11 Oregon looming.
Penn State is Streaking
No. 13 Penn State extended its win streak to five matches (and eight of its last nine) on senior day in Happy Valley with a 3-1 win over No. 11 Purdue. The Nittany Lions came out ready to defend, holding the Boilers to a -.026 hitting percentage in the opening set to take the 1-0 lead, but Addy Tindall went off for Purdue with seven kills in the second set to even the score. A tight third set went to the Nittany Lions after they scored eight of the set’s final 10 points. Then in the fourth, Kennedy Martin notched nine of her 24 total kills to close out the top-15 victory. More here.
The Nittany Lions now boast the second-longest win streak in the conference behind Nebraska, with a chance to make more noise this weekend against No. 21 Minnesota and No. 8 Wisconsin.
Hoosiers, Wolverines Grab Ranked Wins
The state of Michigan was home to some more great volleyball action over the weekend. On Friday night, No. 19 Indiana came back to defeat No. 25 Michigan State in a five-set reverse sweep. Things looked bleak for the Hoosiers after the Spartans took a commanding 2-0 lead with a 25-15 second-set triumph. But Indiana came firing back, hitting .320 or better over the final three frames to grab the victory. Setter Teodora Krickovic was everywhere for the Cream and Crimson, registering eight aces (an Indiana record in the rally-scoring era) alongside 44 assists and nine digs. More from the Hoosiers.
The next night however, Michigan proved too much for Indiana, taking down the Hoosiers 3-1 to earn their first ranked win of the season. Michigan put on a hitting clinic to the tune of .358, led by Ella Demetrician (match-high 20 kills) and Cymarah Gordon (16 kills and a .379 hitting percentage). After eking out the first two sets, the Wolverines weathered the storm in the third and recovered to close out the upset in four. The recap from Ann Arbor.
See all the weekend scores and track the Big Ten standings.