Murray Shines as Nebraska Sweeps No. 12 Purdue on the Road

Facing the reigning National Player of the Week, Harper Murray put up an award-worthy performance.

The Nebraska junior outside hitter finished with 16 kills against Purdue while hitting .640 with no errors. She added two aces, two blocks, four assists and five digs.

Behind Murray’s dominance, the top-ranked Huskers remained perfect in the Big Ten with a 25-23, 25-16, 25-15 victory against No. 12 Purdue Sunday afternoon in front of 2,415 fans at Holloway Gym.

“That’s a pretty impressive stat line,” Dani Busboom Kelly said during her post-match radio interview. “She was doing it from all over the court. She was getting one-on-ones in the front row. She was killing out-of-system balls. She was crushing out in the back row.”

Wollard, who won the AVCA POW award last week, finished with 14 kills for the Boilermakers. (Miami’s Flormarie Heredia Colon might have a case for the award this week after putting up 38 kills in a five-set win against No. 4 Pitt.)

Murray was at her best in the first set as she recorded eight kills on 11 swings, including the first and last points.

The first set was a back-and-forth affair as neither team led by more than three points. After the Boilermakers went up 10-7, NU responded with four points in a row.

Right on track. pic.twitter.com/rYe6aoMzfx
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) October 12, 2025

Andi Jackson tied the first set at 21-all with a kill and then put the Huskers in front with an ace. Purdue tied it up at 22, but Murray recorded a kill and Bergen Reilly an ace. After a sideout, Murray ended the set with a back-row kill.

Jackson also started hot with seven kills on 10 swings, and he finished with 12 kills while hitting .450. Busboom Kelly said the Boilermakers (13-3, 4-2) were focused on the Huskers’ middle blockers early, allowing for Murray to go off.

“We really needed her to play that well in game one, or we would have lost that stuff for sure,” Busboom Kelly said.

Wollard also got off to a hot start with eight kills in the first set, but the Huskers adjusted to her attack and limited her to six kills and three errors on 14 attacks during the final two sets. Busboom Kelly said NU’s block was a little slower to close on Wollard, but got better as the match wore on.

“You can prep, you can prep, you can prep, and then when you see it live, you might be a little bit surprised,” she said. “Our block just did a much better job. And I also thought we were just more aggressive, and we came up a little passive at the net early on.”

Both teams ran off four points in a row early in the second set, with the Boilermakers up 8-7 after their streak. However, NU took control by scoring a point on its serve on five out of six rotations to go up 18-13. The Huskers then scored the final six points of the set with a pair of kills from Taylor Landfair.

The Huskers carried the momentum into the third set and won eight of the first nine rallies. Murray recorded a pair of solo blocks and two kills during the stretch, while Mauch chipped in an ace. NU cruised from there and forced the Boilermakers, who hit .186 for the match, to change setters to find a spark.

Grace Heaney, an Elkhorn North graduate, added six kills, while Akasha Anderson finished with five for Purdue.

NU freshman opposite Virginia Adriano struggled a bit, finishing with three kills and four errors. Busboom Kelly said she got a few tough sets in the second set and couldn’t pull out of the funk.

Nebraska senior Allie Sczech finished with five kills on eight swings after entering the match late in the second set. | Nebraska Athletics

Senior opposite Allie Sczech entered the match late in the second set and put up five kills on eight swings. Busboom Kelly had an inkling that Sczech would make a big contribution based on how she had been practicing.

“It just felt like it was kind of going to be Allie’s day, and it even felt like that before the match,” she said. “We’re just lucky that we have the depth.”

The Huskers finished hitting .349 for the match as Reilly tallied 44 assists and 10 digs. Allick and Landfair started a bit slow, but each finished with six kills.

Nebraska (16-0, 6-0) remains perfect in the Big Ten and has yet to drop a set in league play. Combined with Wisconsin and Indiana losing this weekend, the Huskers are alone in first place in the conference.

Busboom Kelly said earning wins against Washington and Purdue will help them later in the year. She was particularly impressed with how the Huskers adjusted to the challenges presented to them by the Boilermakers and stayed one step ahead.

“Purdue came out on absolute fire, and we were really steady and didn’t get flustered,” Busboom Kelly said. ”We stayed with our identity and what makes us great, which is our balanced offense and set in middles. (Allick) makes some errors, and we don’t go away from her. It’s all signs of a great team that’s continued to develop in the six sets this weekend.”

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