No. 1 Huskers Prevail in Top-20 Tussle with Baylor

Manaia Ogbechie tallied a career-high 12 kills to lead No. 1 Nebraska to a 25-20, 25-22, 26-24 sweep of No. 20 Baylor on Friday night at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

 

Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 10,497 at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, No. 1 Nebraska improved to 6-0, while No. 20 Baylor fell to 5-2.

 

Ogbechie’s 12 kills came at a .571 hitting percentage, finishing with zero errors on 21 attempts. Harper Murray tallied a season-high 12 kills, and Virginia Adriano also had a season-high eight kills and hit .385.

 

Laney Choboy and Olivia Mauch each finished with a season-high 13 digs to lead the Nebraska defense. Bergen Reilly tallied a season-high 41 assists and also finished with nine digs and a team-high three aces.

 

Set 1: Nebraska took the opening set in a back-and-forth battle that saw nine ties and a pair of lead changes. The Big Red rattled off three consecutive points with an Ogbechie kill and back-to-back kills from Murray to take a 10-8 lead. Jackson’s kill stretched NU’s lead to 22-18, while consecutive kills by Sigler gave the Huskers set point at 24-19. Baylor fought off one set point before Reilly’s kill clinched Nebraska’s 25-20 first-set win.

 

Set 2: An NU error and a pair of kills from the Bears had them leading 7-3. The Huskers answered with a 5-0 run, which is Nebraska’s 16th run of at least five points this season, to grab an 8-7 advantage after an ace from Mauch. Kills from Ogbechie and Murray, followed by a block assist by Murray and Jackson, gave the Huskers a 19-15 cushion. Two straight points from the Bears brought Baylor within 23-21 before Sigler’s kill set up set point for the Huskers.

 

Set 3: Baylor took a 6-4 lead on a service error from Jackson, but the Big Red scored seven of the next eight points to take an 11-7 lead. Nebraska was the first to 15, capitalizing on a Baylor service error to lead 15-10. A block from Victoria Davis and Bailey Warren brought the Bears within one (17-16), but a kill from Murray put Nebraska ahead 22-19. Baylor scored four straight to take a brief 23-22 lead over the Huskers, but the Huskers scored four of five and closed the match with an ace from Reilly, her third of the match.

 

No. 1 Nebraska will take on Georgia Tech to wrap up its weekend. The match is set to start at 2 p.m. and will be televised on Nebraska Public Media/B1G+ and the Huskers Radio Network.