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Three Quick Reactions to Nebraska's Sweep over Oregon

Nebraska volleyball's trip to the Pacific Northwest for back-to-back top 20 matchups started strong as the Huskers completely overpowered the Ducks.
Abbie Harris|
Nebraska Volleyball's Harper Murray celebrates with teammates, Manaia Ogbechie, Virginia Adriano, Bergen Reilly, Teraya Sigler, and Olivia Mauch
Nebraska Volleyball's Harper Murray celebrates with teammates, Manaia Ogbechie, Virginia Adriano, Bergen Reilly, Teraya Sigler, and Olivia Mauch | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Nebraska is coming into what may be their most difficult weekend of the season, starting with No. 12 Oregon on Saturday night then playing No.18 Washington on Sunday afternoon. Coming into their first match at Oregon, Nebraska not only had the pressure of a top 15 opponent and another record-setting crowd to play for. There were two undefeated streaks on the line: Oregon's perfect home-record and Nebraska's perfect record.

Nebraska came out at their absolute best, dominating the first two sets. Oregon, led by 2025 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Alanah Clemente, fought back in the third. After the media timeout, however, Nebraska went on a 10-6 run to sweep (25-13, 25-16, 25- the Ducks and hand Oregon their first home loss on the season.

Read on for three instant reactions to the Huskers' 24th win of the season.

Lessons Learned From Last Week's Slow Start

Last weekend, Nebraska began both matches slow and flat, dropping the first set against Michigan and Michigan State. This weekend, it seems the Huskers completely flipped the script and played at the level they were expected to play at.

The change felt instant. Oregon's first point came from Nebraska's only attack error of the set and the Duck's first attack came from Clemente at the 7-2 mark. The Huskers didn't get their first block until the 17-7 point but unlike last weekend, there were multiple touches that slowed the ball down and allowed the backrow to get one of their 12 digs. Oregon ended the match hitting .148 with only 8 kills on 27 swings.

Nebraska, on the other hand, took one more swing (28) and had more than twice the kills (17) with only a single error. Six players ended the set at .500 or above, led by Andi Jackson's .625 and Virginia Adriano's .600 hitting percentages. Bergen Reilly's 14 assists guided the team to a .571 for the set.

Service Pressure Cooked the Ducks

In the pre-game radio show, head coach Dani Busboom Kelly said one of the keys to the game was getting the Ducks' offense out of system by serving tough. The Huskers only had two service aces but, what's harder to see in the stat book, part of Oregon's offensive issues were caused by tough serves that led to overpasses and easy kills for the Huskers or pulled setter Mariana Crownover off the net, making their offense more predictable and less effective.

This was most clear during the third set when the Huskers weren't quite as effective from behind the service line and the Ducks were able to set up their high-paced offense. At the media timeout, Oregon only trailed Nebraska by one point and had six kills, their highest at that point in any of the sets.

Fan's Taunts Egged Harper On

On October 1, Penn State's student section taunted Harper Murray for her past. She responded by rattling off 17 points off of 13 kills with one error (.400 hitting %), two service aces, and four blocks. So you'd think other fans would have learned not to poke the bear but apparently Oregon didn't get the memo. When Murray went back to serve, fan's chants of "D-U-I! D-U-I!" could be heard, presumably to get into her head.

And they did.

But maybe not in the way they hoped. Instead, Murray casually had 14 kills on 24 swings with one error (.481 hitting %), one ace, and three blocks. Of the Husker's 75 points, she accounted for 22% of them.

She wasn't perfect, of course, but has clearly learned to channel her emotions in ways that positively benefit her team. And while I think it's poor sportsmanship to use that time in her life as a taunt during a volleyball game, if fans are going to keep giving her an excuse to play at such a high level then who am I to stop them.

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Abbie Harris
ABBIE HARRIS

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