Nebraska Takes Down No. 11 Wisconsin in Straight Sets for Another Sweep

MADISON, Wisconsin — After watching Nebraska dominate nearly every aspect of the match against his team, Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield had a very blunt assessment of the Badgers’ opponent.

“That’s the best team in the country right now,” Sheffield said after getting swept by Nebraska. “If you’ve got aspirations of going toe to toe with them at the end of the season, and they’re the standard, right?”

Only a night where three other top teams in the country suffered defeat, the top-ranked Huskers left no doubt as to their supremacy with a 25-22, 25-19, 25-13 victory over No. 11 Wisconsin Friday night in front of 7,229 fans at the UW Field House.

BEWARE THE CHILDREN OF THE CORN 🌽☠️ pic.twitter.com/9yhKg737MY
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 1, 2025

No team had hit better than .296 against the Badgers this season. Nebraska finished with a .349 hitting percentage. Wisconsin tied a season-low with three blocks and finished with a .175 hitting percentage, its third-lowest this season. The Badges’ 13 points in the third set were the fewest they had scored in a set since putting up 11 against Texas on Sept. 1, 2024.

While the Huskers (21-0, 11-0 Big Ten) were taking care of business, No. 2 Texas, No. 6 Arizona State and No. 7 SMU all suffered five-set losses. Meanwhile, NU stretched its sweep streak to 12 and has now won 37 sets in a row.

Sheffield also heaped praise upon NU junior setter Bergen Reilly, who amassed 38 assists, four blocks and three kills. He said his stats showed the Huskers had one of their worst passing performances of the season, but still hitting above .300 was a testament to Reilly and her hitters.

“Bergen is probably the best player in the conference,” he said. “This is the best offensive Nebraska team and so even if you're able to score, their ability to side out pretty quick is pretty impressive.”

Harper Murray led the Huskers with 15 kills, but Reilly’s distribution to the secondary attackers helped NU pile up points.

Middle blocker Andi Jackson added 12 kills on a .600 hitting percentage while Rebekah Allick tallied seven kills and six blocks. Landfair finished with six kills on 12 swings. Those three attackers combined for 45 swings without an error and a .556 hitting percentage.

Jackson said Reilly played “lights out” and kept Wisconsin (15-4, 8-3) guessing on where the ball was going.

“She has such a high volleyball IQ,” Jackson said. “That’s really where it comes from, is she knows who’s on and even if they’re not, she knows she’s going to get you the ball. She messes with their defense. She makes it really, really hard for other teams to read us.”

Even when Virginia Adriano struggled in the first set with no kills and two errors on four attacks, Reilly stuck with her and gave her better sets as the match wore on. The freshman opposite recorded five kills with a .500 hitting percentage in the final two frames.

For as lopsided as the final result was, the first set was a battle with the Badgers battling back after falling behind 18-13. UW freshman middle blocker Natalie Wardlow, a Lincoln Southeast graduate, ran off five points in a row, including back-to-back aces to tie the set up.

Nebraska players celebrate during their sweep at No. 11 Wisconsin on Oct. 31, 2025. — Nebraska players celebrate during their sweep at No. 11 Wisconsin. | Nebraska Athletics

Allick recorded three kills down the stretch and teamed up with Landfair for a big block that put NU up 22-19. Then, on set point, Reilly fed Murray until she recorded her seventh kill of the frame as she traded attacks with Wisconsin’s Mimi Colyer.

“Harper was exceptional, especially in game one when it was tied, it felt like she was just raising her game to another level,” NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said.

Nebraska, which wore long-sleeved black jerseys with last names on the back for the first time in program history, also set the tone in the first set with its defense. Freshman outside hitter Teraya Sigler recorded five digs in the set and finished with a career best 14 digs. Libero Laney Choboy added 10 digs, and Olivia Mauch chipped in seven as the Huskers finished with 54 digs, 14 more than UW.

Sigler was often in the back row when Colyer was in the front row for the Badgers. The two-time All-American outside hitter tallied 14 kills, seven of which came in the third set, but finished with a .239 hitting percentage, nearly 80 points lower than her season average.

Sigler relied on her instincts in the back row to help pile up the digs. She said Colyer has a good arm swing and is a crafty hitter, so it came down to getting ready to dig whatever came at her.

“Half the time, I just got hit by the ball, and it went straight up. Half the time, I made a move to it,” the freshman outside hitter said. “I think me, Laney and Liv, and everyone back there had a mindset of ‘We’re gonna go get these balls.’”

After the second set was tied at 4-all, Nebraska pulled away by scoring points on the next four service rotations and took a 15-7 lead. The Badgers got as close as 17-13 after another ace from Wardlow, but the Huskers sided out the rest of the way to claim the set.

Nebraska showed its maturity and killer instinct in the third set as it used a pair of 6-0 runs to vanquish any hopes the Badgers had of making a rally.

All treats tonight! 🍬🍫🍭 #GBR pic.twitter.com/ndOqMNho0Y
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) November 1, 2025

Murray served the first scoring streak, including an ace, while the UW band played too long and on top of her serve. By the time UW recorded a side out, it was down 11-5. Then, Choboy added an ace as she put the Huskers up 21-9, and fans started to head to the exits to continue their Halloween festivities elsewhere.

Jackson said they are a mentally tough team and have learned how to close out matches. During her freshman year, NU would commonly lose focus and drop a third set after winning the first two. Now, with a much older team that has more experience, they have developed a killer instinct.

“We know how to close out games,” she said. “The mental toughness aspect has been huge for us. It just comes with a level of maturity and more knowledge of the game.”

With the victory, the Huskers won the first-ever Big Ten Discover Challenge, finishing with a perfect 5-0 record in challenge matches, which were played on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in October. Purdue also went 5-0, but the Huskers won the tiebreaker with a perfect 15-0 record in sets.

Nebraska is back in action on Sunday and will host Oregon at 1 p.m. The Ducks (13-8, 4-7) lost straight sets to Washington in Seattle late Friday night.

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