It was a different starting lineup, but a familiar result for the Nebraska volleyball team on Thursday.
Merritt Beason continued her upward trajectory of recent weeks, leading the Huskers with 10 kills and seven blocks against Illinois in a 25-18, 25-22, 25-17 win in Champaign, Illinois.
Nebraska (13-1, 3-0 Big Ten) has 10 straight wins since its only loss of the season against SMU.
Nebraska’s lineup changed when sophomore middle blocker Andi Jackson wasn’t available due to an undisclosed minor injury. Leyla Blackwell, a transfer from San Diego, played solid in her place with six kills on .385 hitting and three blocks.
In addition, Taylor Landfair earned the start at outside hitter in place of Lindsay Krause. Landfair had eight kills on .207 hitting with a team-most 29 attempts. But after a couple of hitting errors by Landfair in the third set, coach John Cook subbed Krause into the match.
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“(Landfair) started fading there. She hasn’t played in a battle like that,†Cook said postgame on the Huskers Radio Network.
Krause had one kill and one block in her short time in the match.
Harper Murray had nine kills on .348 hitting with 11 digs. Rebekah Allick had a team-best nine blocks to go with four kills.
The match was the first of two matchups between sisters Bergen (Nebraska) and Raegen (Illinois) Reilly. They’ll play again in Lincoln in about three weeks.
Raegen played as a serving specialist, finishing with four digs and five set assists. In the second set she served a 4-0 run that put Illinois in position to win the set before Nebraska’s late comeback.
Bergen Reilly dished out 30 set assists as Nebraska hit. 305. She also had eight digs and three kills.
Illinois (8-5, 0-3 Big Ten) was led by outside hitter Raina Terry with 13 kills.
Illinois had the offense to hang with the Huskers at times but was crushed by 11 serving errors, including six in the first set that allowed Nebraska to mount a comeback. Nebraska meanwhile had five aces and just one serving error for the match.
And Nebraska’s strong serves also contributed to 18 hitting errors for the Illini – nine more than Nebraska.
In the second set, Nebraska was trailing late, before Lexi Rodriguez served a 5-0 run that included an ace serve.
“We did a great job serving,†Cook said. “We were stressing them, and I could see the confidence in our servers tonight.â€
Husker serving specialist Kennedi Orr had two ace serves.
“Kennedi is a competitor. She competes. She goes in there believing she’s going to get a run,†Cook said.
-- Brent C. Wagner