Northwestern put up a good fight against No. 1 Nebraska Wednesday, but it wasn’t enough.
The Wildcats (11-14, 5-10 Big Ten) were defeated by the Cornhuskers (24-0, 15-0 Big Ten) in Lincoln. Reigning Setter of the Week Bergen Reilly and Player of the Week Merritt Beason led Nebraska to its four-set victory.
Graduate outside hitter Julia Sangiacomo and sophomore outside hitter Averie Hernandez led NU’s effort, tallying 16 and 13 kills, respectively. Senior setter Alexa Rousseau guided the offense, dishing out 37 assists and 11 digs in a double-double effort.
The defense was led by senior middle blocker Leilani Dodson with six blocks throughout the match, while junior libero Ellee Stinson held things down in the back row and tallied 15 digs.
The ’Cats held their own to start set one. Five kills by Hernandez and three from Dodson provided enough offense to keep the score close. As NU battled with the top team in the country, it was plagued by service errors, racking up four of its 12 in the first set. Still, the ‘Cats kept the score close with Sangiacomo’s help until the Cornhuskers eventually took the set 28-26.
The second set started slowly on NU’s side of the net, with Nebraska quickly getting off to a 12-7 lead. A 7-2 run by the ‘Cats tied the score, and two blocks, two kills and a Cornhuskers error later, NU held a 19-16 lead — its first lead of the set. Despite a second wind from Nebraska, the ‘Cats pulled out a set win on a block by graduate outside hitter Maddy Chinn and Dodson.
The Cornhuskers seemed to shake off the cobwebs in set three, immediately going on a 6-2 run. Nebraska continued to make light work of NU, hitting .417, compared to the ’Cats -.074 hitting percentage. A 13-3 run brought the hosts to the finish line, and they won the set easily 25-11.
NU seemed to revive a bit in the fourth set. The ‘Cats captured the lead early and kept it until the Cornhuskers tied the score at nine. Nebraska slowly built its lead, securing a 24-17 match point. Despite a 3-0 comeback attempt by the ’Cats, the Cornhuskers took the set 25-20, and the match 3-1.
NU will look to get back in the win column at Iowa on Sunday.
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