Block Leads No. 2 Huskers Past No. 9 Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team opened its season with a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-15, 25-20) win over No. 9 Kentucky in the AVCA First Serve Showcase at the KFC Yum! Center. 

The Huskers posted 18 blocks, their most since 2018, and held Kentucky to a .139 hitting percentage. Rebekah Allick led the charge with 11 kills and 12 blocks, and she hit .667. Merritt Beason finished with 11 kills, eight digs and six blocks. 

Andi Jackson tallied 10 kills and hit .412 with five blocks. Harper Murray had eight kills three blocks, and Lindsay Krause added seven kills, four blocks and served three of NU's four aces. 

Nebraska hit .258 for the match. Bergen Reilly dished out 39 assists and had 11 digs. Lexi Rodriguez had 15 digs. 

Brooklyn DeLeye led Kentucky with 19 kills. 

Set 1: Kentucky jumped out to a 7-3 lead after a 6-0 run. Kills by Beason and Murray brought NU within 8-7, but the Wildcats rebuilt the lead to five, 13-8. Kentucky led 15-11 at the media timeout, but Allick, Krause and Beason terminated kills out of the break to pull the Big Red within 15-14. A swing by Beason hit fingers to tie the score at 16-16. Kentucky went back up 19-17, but a service error followed by a Krause kill evened the score at 19-19. Krause connected again for a 20-19 lead, NU's first since 3-2. After a Kentucky timeout, the Huskers posted a block for a 21-19 advantage. Jackson and Allick each recorded a kill to keep NU on top by two, 23-21. Kentucky hit wide for set point, 24-21, and Krause finished it off, 25-21, with her fourth kill. 

Set 2: Beason and Murray had early kills, and Krause served an ace for a 5-2 Husker lead. Allick and Murray tacked on kills to increase NU's lead to 8-3, and Murray and Jackson combined for a block to make it 9-3. But Kentucky battled back to within 12-11 after a 5-1 run that included back-to-back aces. After a kill by Allick regained a 14-11 Husker lead, the Wildcats ripped off three straight kills to tie the set, 14-14. Kentucky claimed the lead 17-16 before eight straight sideout rallies. A Kentucky kill made it 22-20 and the Wildcats went on to win the set, 25-22. 

Set 3: Krause started off the Huskers with a kill and an ace, and Allick and Beason added kills to help Nebraska to a 4-1 lead. A kill by Jackson made it 9-6 and started a 7-0 Husker run with Kennedi Orr at the service line. Allick had three blocks in that stretch - two with Reilly and one with Krause - and Krause had a kill before an ace by Orr made it 15-6 Huskers. Allick and Beason combined for a block that made it 18-8 NU, and Allick put down a pair of kills to put the Huskers ahead 20-10. Beason added a kill, and Jackson and Murray teamed up for a block as the Big Red built its advantage to 23-12. The Huskers won 25-15, hitting .333 in the set and holding Kentucky to .000. 

Set 4: Allick's dominance at the net continued at the start of the set as she had three blocks, including two solo, to spark the Huskers to a 5-1 start. Murray and Jackson smashed back-to-back kills, and a block by that duo made it 8-2 Huskers. Jackson had two kills to keep the Huskers ahead 10-6. Jackson had another kill before a solo block by Krause kept NU up by four, 12-8. Krause, Allick and Murray tacked on kills for a 15-10 Husker advantage, and an ace serve by Krause - her third of the match - made it 16-10. Kills by Murray and Jackson helped NU stay on top 19-14, and another block by Allick and Beason made it 21-16. Kentucky closed it to 21-18, but Nebraska finished out the match, 25-20, with kills by Beason and Allick and a block by those two.

Up Next: Nebraska hosts the Ameritas Players Challenge this weekend at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. on Friday and TCU at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.