Hard-Hitting Oregon Gives Its Best Shot, but Huskers Prevail in Another Sweep

Nebraska's defense adjusted to the Ducks' attack and punched back with a big block.

Nebraska middle blocker Rebekah Allick celebrates against Oregon. Allick finished with five blocks as the Huskers limited Oregon to its second-lowest hitting percentage this season. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

LINCOLN—Harper Murray wasn’t going to be late again. 

After Alanah Clemente burned her early in the match, Murray made it a point to close out to the pin quicker and limit the attacking window of Oregon’s freshman opposite. The first time Murray beat her to the edge, Clemente sailed an attack wide. A few points later, Murray recorded a solo block to set up Nebraska for set point, which Andi Jackson provided with a kill. 

The top-ranked Huskers adjusted to the hard-hitting and tough serving Ducks and earned a 25-21, 25-20, 25-12 victory Sunday afternoon at John Cook Arena. 

Murray said she changed her mentality after getting off to a slow start. Even though she can usually rely on her back-row defense to pick her up, she wanted to show up at the net. She said the solo stuff hyped her up for the remainder of the match. 

“I feel like I needed that,” said Murray, who finished with nine kills on a .391 hitting percentage. “For the team and the crowd, it just really switched the momentum. It was a good swing by her, but I was in the right place.”

It took a while for Nebraska to get going, coming off a weekend where they played at Wisconsin on Friday and then turned around for an early afternoon start time. (Oregon also had a challenging schedule after losing to Washington late Friday night before flying to Lincoln.) 

Nebraska defensive specialist Olivia Mauch passes in front libero Laney Choboy against Oregon. The Huskers allowed five aces, but passed well enough to hit .405. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Oregon finished with 35 kills, just four fewer than the Huskers, but committed 19 errors, nine of which came via NU’s block. The Ducks (13-9, 4-8) also added five aces while missing 13 serves.

Nebraska (21-0, 11-0) limited Oregon to a .162 hitting percentage, its second-lowest of the season. Senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick led the charge with five blocks on the day while Murray recorded nine digs. 

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly called the Ducks one of the hardest-hitting teams in the Big Ten. 

“They’re much better than their record, and when they’re playing well, they’re really hard to stop,” she said. “I thought we started a hair slow, but we hung in there and really hit our groove the longer it went.”

Clemente finished with nine blocks and two aces while three other Oregon players recorded seven kills. 

The Ducks led 15-14 in the first set and had it tied as late as 18-all before Virginia Adraino recorded an ace, and then Teraya Sigler notched an ace. 

The second set was also tight as Oregon was up 17-16 when the Huskers went on a 5-0 run with Sigler serving. Allick and Adriano each recorded a kill and a block assist during the run before two Ducks hitting errors. 

Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray goes for a kill against Oregon. Murray finished with nine kills and zero hitting errors against the Ducks. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

By scoring 20 points in the second set, the Ducks became the first team to reach that plateau twice in a match against the Huskers since NU’s five-set match against Creighton on Sept. 16. The Huskers have allowed 20 or more points in a set just eight times in their 40-set win streak. 

However, they became the latest opponent to fail to take a set off NU. The Huskers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set and won 10 of the final 12 rallies in the match. 

“We do a great job of adjusting quickly, and we have so many high-IQ players that they know what they’re doing wrong, and they can change,” Busboom Kelly said. “Our serving, we just get better as the games go on.”

Taylor Landfair led Nebraska with 10 kills as she hit 400 for the match. The senior outside hitter also became the first pin hitter besides Harper Murray to reach double-digit kills since Virginia Adriano put up 10 against Michigan on Sept. 24. 

Landfair has been on a productive run during the past month. Since the start of October, she has 48 kills and just eight errors with a .344 hitting percentage. Landfair said an improved connection with setter Bergen Reilly, who recorded 26 assists against Oregon, helped her productivity.

“It starts with my transition, just making sure I’m far enough back, but then also just trusting Bergen, because she is an amazing setter, and also communicating with her throughout the play,” Landfair said. “It honestly also starts at practice, but I think in games like that’s when we really excel, and that’s when it really comes full circle.”

Got our ducks in a row.

40 straight sets. | #GBR pic.twitter.com/UMn2yC5Egh

— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 2, 2025

Against the Ducks, Adriano finished with eight kills on 12 attacks. NU’s middle had a relatively quiet night as Allick and Jackson each finished with five kills. 

Even though the Huskers haven’t lost a set in a month and a half, Landfair doesn’t think they’ve reached their full potential yet. 

“There’s always room for growth,” she said. “We also go into the gym every single day expecting to get better, and I don’t think we really have found complacency yet. We’re just thriving and thriving and thriving all the way till we get to the end of the season.”

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