Sheldon: 3 Quick Sideouts from Nebraska's Five-Set Win Over Creighton

The Huskers survived some sloppy moments, Virginia Adriano settled her nerves, and Nebraska remained unbeaten against the Jays in front of another NCAA-record crowd.

Nebraska had to sweat for a third five-set win over Creighton in four years, but remained unbeaten at 24-0 all-time vs their in-state rival Tuesday. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraska found a way despite not playing its best ball

This was not a firing-on-all-cylinders performance, and yet the Huskers found a way to win. I’m not sure how many times I’ve written a variation of that sentiment in my time covering the program, but it’s not infrequent.

So the Huskers should celebrate a victory over a team that’s always up for them, and doing so in front of a crowd of 17,675 fans – an NCAA indoor record for a regular-season match. 

Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray fires an attack against Creighton. Murray finished with a match-high 17 kills. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“A really fun match to be a part of, and the crowd was awesome, I thought, for both sides,” Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “It was just another example of why this state makes volleyball so special.”

But there’s a list of things Nebraska needs to improve. Just a short list: Serving tough, out-of-system attacking, and, as has been the case in the entire early part of the season, serve receive.

In a back-and-forth match, Creighton at times looked like the group that was handling the moment better. The Jays got brave swings from their star outside hitter Ava Martin that the Huskers would love to distill, bottle, and ship back to Lincoln. Especially in Game 4, when Nebraska couldn’t hold on to leads of 15-11 and 22-20.

The Huskers gave Creighton three points on errors late in the set, helping the Jays extend the match to a fifth set for the third time in the last four years.

But it was Nebraska whose nerves settled in the finale, despite getting aced twice to open the fifth. Freshman opposite hitter Virginia Adriano delivered two more kills to start a 7-2 run that put the Huskers in control.

Nebraska opposite hitter Virginia Adriano had 13 kills in Tuesday's win over Creighton. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

And after putting away just four kills in the first four sets, senior middle Rebekah Allick used touch that was more velvet than violent to score three kills on tips over the Creighton block late to help seal the win.

“We kind of went back to what we’ve been trusting all year and just started playing our game,” Busboom Kelly said. “ I think that’s a great sign of where we’re headed is when we can play our loosest volleyball in the fifth game.”

Virginia Adriano was a difference maker

It’s clear that Busboom Kelly is giving the Italian freshman every opportunity to win the opposite hitter job, and stretches like Adriano’s brilliant third set show you why.

Adriano had kills on all seven of her attacks in Game 3, plus added a pair of aces to give the Huskers a comfortable 25-18 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Adriano accepted Busboom Kelly's challenge during the intermission and put Creighton on its heels with a tough serving run in Game 3. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Coming into the match, Adriano was hitting just .133 on the season and committed a few errors early before catching fire in Game 3. She had three kills in six rallies to push Nebraska to a 15-9 lead, then went back to serve and ran off four straight points, including an ace.

After the Bluejays evened the match with a win in Game 2, Busboom Kelly told the team during intermission that they needed to trust Adriano to get kills.

“She came out of the locker room and killed a bunch of balls, then got her serve going. You can see what a weapon that is when she trusts it,” Busboom Kelly said. “ I thought it was a huge game for Virginia, and we really need that as a team.”

Creighton and Nebraska set a new attendance record with 17,675 fans at the CHI Health Center, the largest indoor crowd for a regular-season game. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Maybe no one needed to hear it more than Adriano herself, who admitted she battled butterflies in the early part of the match.

“I would say I relied on my teammates because I was kind of scared, honestly,” she said. “Anxiety, stress, it’s a lot. It’s high in this kind of game.”

If Adriano can become a force offensively on the right, it opens up Nebraska’s attack and helps relieve pressure from Harper Murray and Taylor Landfair in rotations where Adriano is in the front row.

Creighton may not be elite, but they’re really good again

It’s easy to dwell on some of the frustrating aspects of Nebraska’s game on Tuesday. Sometimes I need to remind myself to examine the team - still unbeaten, by the way - with a little more grace.

Creighton put plenty of pressure on the Huskers themselves with outstanding out-of-system play to extend the match to a fifth set. The Bluejays were the aggressor from the service line and kept Nebraska out of system plenty.

Creighton players celebrate a point against No. 1 Nebraska. The Bluejays lost to their fourth top-five opponent of the young season. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The Jays’ senior outside hitter Ava Martin, who led CU with 16 kills, is a bona fide star. Tuesday, she regularly tooled Nebraska’s blockers and showed off impressive range.

Creighton has themselves an excellent setter, too, in Cal transfer Annalea Maeder. The senior from Switzerland wants to attend medical school after her playing days are done, and she operated the Jays’ offense cleanly, despite a .173 attack percentage, which, while pedestrian-looking on its face, was the highest allowed by Nebraska so far this year.

Senior middle blocker Kiara Reinhard had 11 kills and just one error. She’ll team with Ohio State transfer Eloise Brandewie to give Creighton the best middle duo in the Big East.

Creighton is now 5-5 but four of the losses have come to Nebraska, Texas, and Louisville - all Final Four contenders - plus a Penn State team that still had starting setter Izzy Starck at the time.

The Jays will be heavy favorites to win another Big East title.

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