The Nebraska Cornhuskers (19-1, 9-0) swept the Illinois Fighting Illini (13-6, 5-4) in a sweep at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Friday night.
The Huskers won their 16th consecutive match and 37th straight at home.
Nebraska recorded a .339 hitting percentage for the match and had seven blocks and five aces with only five service errors on the night. In contrast, Illinois hit .217 with three blocks and three aces, along with seven service errors.
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Merritt Beason paced the Huskers with 13 kills to go along with three blocks and a career-high four aces. Andi Jackson posted a .667 hitting percentage with 11 kills and six blocks against the Illini. Harper Murray added nine kills, along with nine digs and three blocks and Rebekah Allick had six kills and hit .385.
Bergen Reilly led the Huskers with 40 assists and 10 digs for her 13th double-double of the season.
The Huskers gained an early 7-3 advantage which grew to 13-8 after kills from Murray and Taylor Landfair apiece. Illinois got it as close as 14-12 before the Huskers went on an 11-5 run to win the first set 25-17. Nebraska had a .419 hitting percentage in the set.
The second set also got off to a 7-3 lead for Nebraska as well. After gaining a 16-10 edge, the Huskers then went up 20-13 before Illinois called a timeout. Illinois pulled within two at 20-18 after a 5-0 run, but an Allick kill gave the Huskers the sideout, and Beason and Murray recorded kills to make it 23-18. Another Beason kill finished out the 25-19 victory for Nebraska. Big Red hit even better with a .552 hitting percentage in the second set.
The third set featured a lot of fireworks as both teams remained neck-and-neck throughout.
The Huskers went up 7-5 before Illinois went on a 4-0 run to go up 9-7. Jackson had two kills to put Nebraska back up top 10-9 but Illinois regained an 11-10 advantage.
Lindsay Krause subbed in and sparked the Huskers with two kills, and one by Beason helped the Huskers go up 15-13. Illinois came out of a timeout with a 3-0 run to go ahead 16-15, and the Fighting Illini led 20-19 when Jackson terminated her ninth kill to make it 20-20.
The teams continued trading sideouts, and a Krause kill tied it 23-23. Illinois earned set point after a kill by Laynie Smith, but a Beason kill and a block by Murray and Jackson put NU at match point, 25-24. Terry kept Illinois alive with a sideout kill, but Beason and Jackson combined for a block for another match point.
Terry stepped up again for Illinois with a clutch kill, before Jackson gave Nebraska its third match point at 27-26. Jackson put down yet another kill, and the Huskers survived with a 28-26 set victory and won the match.
The Huskers will next take on the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.